Hilarious up-and-comer Cooper Raiff returns to Sundance with his indie sensibilities channeled through a deeply emotional season of television. Give a warm welcome to Hal & Harper, Raiff's bittersweet dramedy that charts decades of fractured family history and complex sibling dynamics. In a surprising development, the two leads, played by series creator Raiff (Cha Cha … Continue reading Sundance 2025: Hal & Harper
Film Review: Nutcrackers
★★ The filmography of writer/director David Gordon Green is something of a marvel, particularly when considering his forays into multiple different genres that are as dissimilar as they come. Some may find laugh-out-loud joy in his Pineapple Express or Your Highness stoner comedies, while others channel a sadistic kind of glee at Green's underrated Halloween … Continue reading Film Review: Nutcrackers
Film Review: Empire Waist
★★★★★ (Written by Intern, Sean Barry) With a new generation of filmmakers making their voices heard each year, themes which previously were totally undiscussed are implemented in contemporary cinema. Body dysmorphia would never be showcased on screen even thirty years ago, but Empire Waist shines a bright spotlight on the subject. It takes an unflinching … Continue reading Film Review: Empire Waist
Tribeca 2024: Rent Free
★★★★ There's nothing quite like an LGBTQIA+ indie gem at any given film festival. This one, co-written and directed by Fernando Andrés, hones in on the platonic best friendship between two men as they attempt to live a full year fleeting from place to place without paying any rent. Aptly titled Rent Free, those who … Continue reading Tribeca 2024: Rent Free
Film Review: Longing
(Written by Intern, Sean Barry) ★ Longing, Savi Gabizon’s remake of his own 2017 film, is unable to reach the emotional depths it aims to achieve. Plagued with script errors and bizarre character choices, one wonders what an audience should feel by the end. People disappear for long stretches of time, and mostly everyone seems … Continue reading Film Review: Longing
Film Review: Wicked Little Letters
★★★★ A film claiming to be "more true than you'd think" is always a great way to immediately snatch audience attention. Wicked Little Letters, set in the 1920s, hones in on what was allegedly the worst letter crime ever. In the sleepy town of Littlehampton, a wave of curse-word-laden handwritten letters swept across the desks … Continue reading Film Review: Wicked Little Letters
Film Review: Scrapper
★★★★ Last year’s drama, Aftersun, debuted to critical acclaim, and garnered a surprising Oscar nomination for rising star Paul Mescal. Finding myself in the minority of viewers that simply did not connect with that film’s scattered-memory aesthetic and light storytelling, I was a bit concerned that I would feel similarly about Scrapper, winner of the … Continue reading Film Review: Scrapper
Film Review: As They Made Us
★★★★ Stories about loss and preparing for one’s death are often bleak, somber affairs that do little for the viewer beyond making them run for the Kleenex. I love a good tearjerker as much as the next person; however, an undeniable amount of skill is required to seamlessly blend the genres of drama and comedy. … Continue reading Film Review: As They Made Us
SXSW 2022: I Love My Dad
★★★★★ I have heard of just about every type of catfishing story (many of them thanks to watching years worth of MTV’s Catfish episodes), but a father catfishing his son? That’s a new one! SXSW film I Love My Dad, written and directed by lead star James Morosini, is multifaceted in its approach to laugh-out-loud … Continue reading SXSW 2022: I Love My Dad