In I Lost My Body, a hand separated from its owner after a tragic accident tries to make its way back home. Quick review: I Lost My Body has an extremely absurd premise but thanks to some powerful storytelling, it turns out to be one of the most reflective perspectives on life I’ve ever seen…
When Smeerensburg's new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions. Quick review: Even with its stellar hand-drawn animation, a clunky story followed by questionable morals makes Klaus a lump of coal rather than the holiday treat it so desperately wants to be. Where…
Bird Box doesn't bring anything new to the post-apocalyptic thriller genre despite a strong third act and solid performances. Bird Box certainly has the pedigree of a great movie behind it. The Netflix-produced movie is directed by the Emmy-winning director of The Night Manager Susanne Bier—she pulled off an upset against The People v. O.J. Simpson—written by the Oscar-nominated…
The Perfection follows two students of a renowned music academy whose first encounter leads to sinister results. 30-second review: The Perfection's first half portends a sharp and tense psychological thriller with two committed performances by Allison Williams and Logan Browning as the former and current star students of a prestigious music academy respectively. But one…
High Flying Bird is a masterfully constructed drama that tackles the professional sports business with as much intrigue as a heist movie. 30-second review: High Flying Bird doesn't clue you into its real intentions until the very end, that doesn't make the journey to get there any less compelling. Steven Soderbergh is a master of storytelling…
Dumplin’ is the cinematic equivalent of comfort food. It’s warm, filling, satisfying, and exactly what you’d expect, but that’s why it works. Dumplin’ fills a feel-good movie shaped void in 2018. And while it doesn’t completely subvert the formula it applies it incredibly well to this touching coming-of-age story of self-love directed by Anne Fletcher—best…
Calibre is a lean and oppressively dark thriller set in the Scottish Highlands that announces Matt Palmer as an exciting new filmmaker and Jack Lowden as a star Calibre at the beginning is interspersed with sweeping, silent shots of the Scottish Highlands. The shots are beautiful but foreboding and isolating. Slowly the film closes in. The shots…
Alex Strangelove, now streaming on Netflix, is a coming out dramedy with an identity crisis despite a charming lead performance by Daniel Doheny. Netflix's Alex Strangelove follows on the heels of Love, Simon, the first LGBT teen movie from a major studio. Love, Simon succeeds mostly in part to its lack of self-importance. It treats protagonist Simon as any…
