★★★ Actress Franka Potente makes her directorial debut with the emotionally captivating new drama, Home. Ex-felon Marvin (Jake McLaughlin) has been in jail for 17 years after committing murder, and now he’s finally returning home. Things aren’t the way Marvin left them at all—one of his closest friends, Wade (Derek Richardson) is now a burnt-out … Continue reading SFFILM 2021: Home
SIFF 2021: Mogul Mowgli
★★★ Co-written by Oscar nominee Riz Ahmed, the inspirational new drama Mogul Mowgli sees the seasoned actor once again stepping in the shoes of a disabled musician. Zed (Ahmed) is on the cusp of a hard-earned world tour when an illness cripples his mobility. Zed is forced to move back in with his family, embrace … Continue reading SIFF 2021: Mogul Mowgli
Oxford Film Festival 2021: Reunion
★★★★ Reunion, hailing from promising director and writer Jake Mahaffy, blends magical realism, psychological thriller, slow-burn mystery, and shocking terror into an impressive and haunting modern horror yarn. Ellie (Emma Draper) has always had a troubled relationship with her mother, Ivy (Julia Ormond). Heavily pregnant, Ellie returns to spend time with Ivy, who is busy … Continue reading Oxford Film Festival 2021: Reunion
SFFILM 2021: Strawberry Mansion
★★★ Strawberry Mansion is a trippy and bizarre film about a dream auditor (Kentucker Audley) sent to audit an old woman’s dreams that’s filled with muchness to the point of explosion. It tries to cram in so many ideas that it becomes overwhelming. Bizarre, poetic dialogue adds only a thin layer of understanding to the … Continue reading SFFILM 2021: Strawberry Mansion
SIFF 2021: Too Late
★★ Too Late is a horror comedy that fails to find the perfect balance of the two genres. A reliance on stale stand-up comedy acts to drive the story along is a bit lazy. For some reason, the constant ‘several weeks later’ passages of time and stand-up routines add the feel of vignettes. Occasionally, one … Continue reading SIFF 2021: Too Late
SFFILM Festival Roundup
For 2021’s virtual San Francisco International Film Festival, I decided to do things a little differently. I will be updating with a small blurb for each film I watch from the festival, which will also be a good way to track my initial reactions and feelings about each one. Read on for my exclusive coverage. … Continue reading SFFILM Festival Roundup
SIFF 2021: Wyrm
★★★ In the first five minutes of Wyrm, the quirky new comedy from writer/director Christopher Winterbauer, our shy lead Wyrm (Theo Taplitz) gets told by a friend that his sister just got fingered yesterday—“thought you should know!” This early zinger sets the tone for a film that instantly reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen … Continue reading SIFF 2021: Wyrm
SBIFF 2021: We Burn Like This
★★★ I assumed We Burn Like This would delve deeper into heritage and Judaism in its exploration of a Holocaust survivor descendant. Instead, it focuses more on the lead’s relationship with religion than with Jewish culture. The new drama, part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, is a modern coming of age story. It … Continue reading SBIFF 2021: We Burn Like This
SBIFF 2021: Coast
★★★★ Tender and rousing music adds flavor to Coast, the feature film debut of directors Jessica Hester and Derek Schweickart. On surface level, it’s a coming-of-age drama film about 16 year old Abby (Fatima Ptacek) as she figures out where she belongs in the world, while working on a hometown history paper. What does she … Continue reading SBIFF 2021: Coast
Panic Fest 2021: Captive
★★★★ Captive, formerly titled Katherine’s Lullaby, is a slow-burn horror/thriller from skilled writer/director Savvas Christou. Teenage runaway Lily (Tori Kostic), fleeing her abusive father, gets kidnapped and held against her will by a delusional older man (William Kircher) convinced she’s actually his daughter. In order to survive, Lily must play pretend for as long as … Continue reading Panic Fest 2021: Captive