★ Willem Dafoe has a storied history of making what you would classify as ‘unconventional’ movies. His filmography, which includes mainstream selections like Spider-Man, is also host to the stunning-but-strange The Lighthouse (a personal favorite) and the violent, brazenly bizarre Antichrist. Siberia, the new highly symbolic dream-exploration drama, is—bar none—the most frustrating and baffling film … Continue reading Film Review: Siberia
Genres
Film Review: The Birthday Cake
★★ A simple glimpse at the cast list for The Birthday Cake was enough to get me on board, featuring a wide array of actors from shows I love. Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl, You), Ashley Benson (Pretty Little Liars, Spring Breakers), Jeremy Allen White (Shameless), David Mazouz (Gotham)… the list goes on and on. Throw … Continue reading Film Review: The Birthday Cake
Film Review: An Unquiet Grave
★★ The disturbing setup for indie Shudder entry, An Unquiet Grave, is almost too good to be true. A grieving husband, Jamie (Jacob A. Ware), and his wife’s twin sister, Ava (Christine Nyland, who also wrote and produced), get together with a strange promise: Jamie has discovered a way to bring back his deceased wife. … Continue reading Film Review: An Unquiet Grave
Film Review: The Superdeep
★★★★ Every horror movie with a wintery setting and a large cast of characters seems to be some riff on The Thing in one way or another. Welcome to The Superdeep, a goopy and nasty body horror flick with impressive creature design and horrifying imagery. And yes, this too owes quite a big deal to … Continue reading Film Review: The Superdeep
Film Review: Sweat
★★ Sweat tries to give us a glimpse into the world of runways and celebrity culture. Beyond that, though, it attempts to prove that age-old adage of “celebs! they’re just like us!” Sylwia (Magdalena Kolesnik) is a hugely popular influencer whose opinion and friendship is valued and craved by nearly everyone around her. She searches … Continue reading Film Review: Sweat
Tribeca 2021: The Novice
★★★★ Writer/director Lauren Hadaway’s dour, waterlogged thriller The Novice is driven by Isabelle Fuhrman’s explosive performance as obsessive rower Alex. It is a tense and enthralling debut feature, brimming with harsh imagery and fully-forming Alex’s troubled character. While I expected a bigger crescendo of dramatic release at the end, this is an impeccably directed and … Continue reading Tribeca 2021: The Novice
Tribeca 2021: No Man of God
★★★ Serial killers are all the rage these days. Similar to Netflix’s dark drama series Mindhunter, director Amber Sealy and writer Kit Lesser (Sinister) present No Man of God, which examines charismatic murderer Ted Bundy (Luke Kirby in an uncanny portrayal) through interviews and analysis amongst the creation of FBI profiling. The true crime film … Continue reading Tribeca 2021: No Man of God
Tribeca 2021: No Future
★★★ No Future is one of the more interesting dramas on the 2021 Tribeca Film slate. Led by a trio of great performances from Charlie Heaton, Catherine Keener, and Rosa Salazar, writer/director duo Andrew Irvine and Mark Smoot craft a film that tackles addiction, grief, and relapse. While the simplistic script takes few chances on … Continue reading Tribeca 2021: No Future
Tribeca 2021: Catch the Fair One
★★★★ (Written by Allison Brown) Catch the Fair One caught me off guard as one of the stronger Tribeca contenders I’ve seen yet! With its dark, gritty and gloomy turns, it is impossible to not be engaged in Kaylee’s struggle to find her missing sister, Weeta (Mainaku Borrero). The film invokes notes of Taken, with a female edge; … Continue reading Tribeca 2021: Catch the Fair One
Tribeca 2021: Love Spreads
★★ If a band struggling to work through writer’s block sounds like your idea of a good time, Tribeca’s Love Spreads might scratch your musically-inclined itch. The quirky dramedy charts successful band Glass Heart as they go on a 5 week retreat at Rockfield Studios to record their all-important sophomore album. Arguing over song compositions, … Continue reading Tribeca 2021: Love Spreads