Dispatch: Sundance Film Festival Selections to Watch For in 2022
As Sundance Film Festival rolls on and more films premiere, it’s easier to see just what a stellar line-up this year’s program is, another round of the intriguing, the entertaining […]
Kids Can Learn Sign Language, Storytelling and Teamwork with Sweet Animated Video Calvin Can’t Fly
Jennifer Berne wrote the storybook Calvin Can’t Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie in 2010, and her second cousin Sarah Michaelson directed and produced a video version last year. […]
Dispatch: Sundance Film Festival Continues with Impressive Remakes and Disappointing Returns
Living Remakes are always a tricky prospect, and one probably shouldn’t engage in remaking one of the greatest movies ever made unless one has something new to say on its […]
Dispatch: On Its Second Day, Sundance Film Festival Offers Films That Impress, Underwhelm and Unnerve
Just two days in and the 2022 Sundance Film Festival has featured a number of noteworthy premieres, from documentaries about royalty (both literal and of the music industry sort) and […]
Dispatch: Day One at an All Virtual (Again) Sundance Film Festival
With the Omicron variant of COVID-19 raging across the country, the organizers at this year’s Sundance Film Festival made the agonizing but important decision to cancel the in-person portion of […]
Review: The Velvet Queen Glimpses Wildlife and Landscapes Untouched by Human Influence
Cinema as escapism is nothing new, but how we choose to transport ourselves through film can mean different things to different people. The last film I saw on the big […]
Review: A Scream “Requel” Brings a Now Classic Horror Franchise into a New Generation
When it debuted in 1996, Wes Craven’s Scream, written by Kevin Williamson (who also wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer and would go on to create Dawson’s Creek), made a […]
Interview: Action Star Michael Jai White on Choreographing Fights in The Commando, His Blaxploitation Trilogy Plans and Filming During the Pandemic
For the better part of 30 years, actor Michael Jai White has been someone I’ve admired for being one of the few action stars who also can go toe-to-toe with […]
Review: Nelson Algren Documentary Pays Delayed Tribute to the “Dostoyevsky of Division Street”
Michael Caplan’s documentary about Nelson Algren is a love letter to the gritty Chicago of the past as well as an homage to Algren, perhaps America’s most under-appreciated author. Caplan […]
Review: A Hero Superbly Explores Ambiguity, Uncertainty and the Inherent Flaws of Human Nature
Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi relishes in the ambiguous; or rather, it may be that he excels at exploring the most genuine aspects of our human nature, the fact that very […]
Review: What Female-Driven Spy Thriller The 355 Lacks in Plot, It (Mostly) Makes Up for in Action
The legend of Agent 355 is that she was likely America’s first female spy, in operation during the American Revolution, but that she died without anybody knowing her real name. […]
Review: See For Me, with Intriguing Performances, Puts an Interesting Twist on the Home Invasion Thriller
Thanks to a few choice story elements, the second feature from director Randall Okita (The Lockpicker) rises above its B-movie foundation in telling the story of blind former skier Sophie […]