All in Film Review
What I most want to get across in this review is that I felt that the story contained real truths about lives that are often diminished by society at large. Between the life or death madcap adventures and evasion of the police, there are real moments of mom angst and frustration that come across as nakedly real.
I’m not going to mince words on this one: this was a grueling film watching experience and it has left me dazed. How, in this day and age, are we still allowing such obviously bad and irrelevant films to be made?
The current trend of coming-of-age LGBT teen comedies is creating real and relevant change for millennial teens, and it does my heart good. In the same vein as the recent release Love, Simon, the story focuses on the point-of-view of a closeted teenager.
Set in both Los Angeles and the main character’s hometown of Austin, Mr. Roosevelt proves to be endearing, honest, and fixedly personal in a really invigorating way.
Kirby Dick is probably one of my favorite documentarians thanks to his work on films such as This Film is Not Yet Rated, The Invisible War, and The Hunting Ground.
This is also a film about American upward mobility, and what it is to be American; since it is also talking about Wallace’s Infinite Jest. For those who love Wallace this is essential viewing, and a good precursor for anyone who toes the line between brushing off huge works and diving into them head first.
This film is written by and starring Mark Duplass in one of his most devastatingly raw performances to date. Sarah Paulson co-stars in an equally amazing capacity, and the director is newcomer (and former cameraman) Alex Lehmann. Small in scope, but brutally honest about the depth of young love, this is a film that deserves all the adoration it has gotten.
Again, the story is a simple one: Man is drifting away from wife and child, man wants something new, man recognizes someone new, man tries to see where it goes, and it bites him in the ass. Again, this story is framed by the condition Fregoli delusion, which is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise.
Few people know just how ridiculously cursed The Beach Boys were. Whether you’re looking at their histories of drug use, domestic abuse, drummer Dennis Wilson’s connection to the Manson murders, or the events of Brian Wilson’s life, the band undoubtedly had it rough.
James C. Strouse is swiftly becoming one of my favorite indie directors and writers with the inclusion of this Jessica Williams star vehicle. She previously starred in his 2015 film People, Places, Things where she played a talented student in a graphic writing class. In this film she is the principle character, and my goodness, does she shine through in all her exquisiteness.
This concept is automatically interesting and is in line with a burgeoning trend in horror filmmaking. Much like last year’s Don’t Breathe, this is a story that starts with the victimization of a helpless individual, but the narrative swings around quickly when their true identity is revealed.
Money Monster is a swift and calculated thriller that stars the always dependable George Clooney and Julia Roberts, as they deal with a hostage situation on live television that begets the unravelling of a mass conspiracy, all in a lean 98 minute runtime.
Good romantic comedies are generally only made in the independent film community, because many of the tropes and calamitous plot devices used in mainstream, Hollywood rom-coms have become clichéd. The Big Sick holds the distinction of being the biggest payday for a Sundance released film on record, as Amazon paid $12 million for its distribution rights
Political thrillers are only good when they focus on the intrigue and maneuvering of a person or entity, and not the actual political climate of our modern day. As a perfect example we have Miss Sloane, which is more of a vehicle for the incomparable Jessica Chastain than it is a true takedown of the gun lobby.
Tomm Moore has already charmed us with his other Irish inspired animated film The Secret of Kells, but this is far superior. Moore showcases all the fantasy and light of Irish fairytales using a modern setting, crisp animation, kooky side characters, and mystical backgrounds
Joan Didion’s legendary writings have been chic for forty years, and not only did she capture the counterculture and the rock n’ roll lifestyle of the sixties, but she saw its end with the Manson murders.
Heart is an undervalued commodity in filmmaking. Big films try to sneak it in, like they do humor and romance, but it always comes off as sloppy and insincere. In John Krasinski’s second directorial effort The Hollars, heart is the base of this small yet thoughtful indie.
While the poster suggests this story is all about mother-daughter relations, it actually centers on the mother, Marnie Minervini (Susan Sarandon). Marnie moves to Los Angeles from New York to be closer to her middle-aged daughter, Lori (Bryne) who finds her widowed mother to be meddling.
Sick-lit has become a formidable genre of YA ever since the blockbuster success of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. It’s spawned similar books, films, and television shows, and there’s generally an element of romance attached.
