Finally Dawn hinges on the collision between fandom and stardom. Even being set far before today’s times of social media-driven celebrity access and a massive cycle of multi-pronged tabloid coverage, the matinee stars of cinema still carried a hold over awestruck commoners. Their mere public presence added to their legend. Finally Dawn grants a fan a night with her idols, a scenario that radiates with potential dream fulfillment.
Read MoreWhen done well, the emotional catharsis of human stories within peril can be just as impactful as the escapism and heroics, all without sacrificing the heady science fiction of the premise. The Danish film Eternal, enjoying a limited theatrical release after a run on the festival circuit, has this particular sort of ambitious aim.
Read MoreThe hypothetical consideration of time traveling for love, even in this medically induced manner of Daniela Forever, carries an instant appeal. That commonality of challenging the human condition of mortality in favor of romance has tickled our brains and pulled our heartstrings before in movies, big and small.
Read MoreHomage was clearly the goal of Danny Turkiewicz with Stealing Pulp Fiction. Matching Tarantino, our two leads of Rudnitsky and Soni are a mismatched pair of buddies with loser exteriors and ambitious interiors with their own acronym-filled lingo and hangout vibe. Jonathan and Steve are a pair classic QT chatty Cathys who incessantly talk and finish each other’s sentence. Choosing some easy traits to match, the movie is edited into several titled chapter sections, includes similar musical cues, and emulates some of the framing and slow-motion camera moves of Quentin’s motifs and techniques.
Read MoreFilming for Familiar Touch was done in collaboration with the residents and staff of Villa Gardens Continuing Care Retirement Community in New York. Backed by casting agent Betsy Fippinger (Eighth Grade and Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret), 67 residents, 13 staff members, and 12 caregiving and geriatrician consultants were credited for their involvement in making the movie, granting a tangible and uplifting authenticity that we’re being shown a positive standard of care and not an entirely sugarcoated movie version, just to perk up a plot with conflict.
Read MoreIn the central performance of Thirsty, Jamie Neumann lays this character bare. In each scene representing a defining choice—whether it’s a buoyant stump moment impressing the gathered public or a privately tormented decision—the actress shows emotional mettle that is tangible, mature, and impressive. Harsher truths and consequences rightfully burn here.
Read MoreAmid all the pressures she puts on herself to be a responsible mom, flexing artistic muscles and sparking the creative synapses of music creates a new balance in Nora’s life. It’s safe to say every parent watching Nora needs to carve out some self-care time in their schedules to do their own just-for-you enrichment activity, whatever it may be.
Read MoreThe Kiss (Kysset), the most recent film from Oscar-winning Danish director Bille August, a two-time Palme d’Or recipient, has finally arrived in limited theaters for North American audiences. Set during the onset of World War I in August’s native country of Denmark, The Kiss is adapted from novelist Stefan Zweig’s 1939 book Beware of Pity. Thematically, that titular emotion of pity from the source material courses through this film’s every vein.
Read MoreThere’s a compelling playfulness in The Trouble with Jessica where viewers’ rooting interests are worked like a seesaw. At certain junctures, we question who the true victim or victims are. We might even want our present party to get away with this dangerous little ruse. By the same token, other revelations tilt us to want to see their noses rubbed in shamefulness, guilt, and remorse. Like any sure-handed cinematic riddle, Matt Winn keeps pushing the teeter-totter at the right times, dropping question marks all the way until the end.
Read MoreTo say it most simply, The Legend of Ochi is a go-out-and-get-dirty movie. It is a methodical trek of a self-reliant kid left to their own devices, though none of them are of the smart or touchscreen varieties. Emanating from its very foreign, rustic setting, seemingly light on modern amenities, this is a no-tech, rocky, mossy, and muddy fairy tale that most studios don’t make anymore. Go ahead and call it a lost art.
Read MoreFor a movie remake not to be seen as a sign of creative bankruptcy or lazy nostalgia bait, the new film has to offer something new. Do the borrowed themes and storylines fit the current times after the passing years since the original? That begs the more important question: Is there something substantive or new to say that’s worth updating? The new rendition of The Wedding Banquet adamantly answers those questions positively.
Read MoreAs a short film, Death is Business dips its toe into the seedy underworld of murder-for-hire. For the specific and highly coordinated type of crime being committed on screen, the toe being dipped isn’t coming out explicitly bloody. It may even look stylishly clean, but make no mistake, there is an unchecked dirtiness clinging to the extremities. With an intellectual meticulousness matching its felonious acts, Dirty Business puts diabolic impetuses under an intriguing microscope.
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