St. Vincent co-stars Bill Murray and Naomi Watts are briefly reunited in The Friend, a pandering would-be weeper from Bee Season filmmakers Scott McGeehee and David Siegel who are adapting Sigrid Nunez’s novel of the same name. While New York writer Iris (Watts) wrestles with her conflicted emotions over her mentor Walter (Murray) after he takes his own life, the writer takes on the additional challenge of caring for Walter’s elderly Great Dane, Apollo. Driving home how everyone…
Home Free is the feature-length directorial debut from trailblazing indie producer Avi Federgreen (Moon Point, Lifechanger, Things I Do For Money). The movie is a routine family drama that, frankly, comes as a surprise considering this is the type of movie formula that Federgreen must be hip to. However, maybe he’s wearing that producer cap of his and channeling what audiences want. Certainly, there’s an audience for Home Free. With premium cable outlet Hollywood Suite being one…
Surly lawyer Glenn “Joseph” Feldman is certain that a former business partner was profiting from a hidden stash of stolen Nazi gold. In fact, Joseph’s infamous conviction becomes detrimental to his career and personal life, and has brought on a defamation lawsuit against him by his old friend. His skeptical and inquisitive daughter, Alex, wants to help bring closure to this chapter with some tough love and some outsider expertise. Billie Mintz’s documentary looks slick…
The Penguin Lessons is a period dramedy that sings a familiar song but director Peter Cattaneo knows how to play this music really well. With The Full Monty and Military Wives under his belt, it only makes sense for Cattaneo to keep churning out audience-friendly biopics that are inspired by, or based on, true stories. Steve Coogan (of Greed and Alan Partridge fame) portrays Tom Michell, an educator who travels to Argentina to teach English to teenage boys and…
Thank You Very Much is, most likely, the closest audiences will get to understanding comedian/performance artist Andy Kaufman. With his first documentary since 2002’s Making Marines, and having a prominent background in directing for television since then (including Netflix’s children’s show Waffles + Mochi), Alex Braverman shows competence as a returning documentarian. He also exudes confidence when trying to unpack the uncomfortable genius of Kaufman’s routines and many personalities. Though the film itself occasionally takes on…
The understanding that animals in their natural habitat lead a healthier life than caged and displayed animals is, I hope, a generalization that everyone can agree on. Even though this is safe to assume, seeing comparative footage of these two examples can act as such an eye-opener. In Lucy: The Stolen Lives of Elephants, activist/filmmaker Fern Levitt exhibits this same comparative method to educate viewers on the controversies of captured elephants. As a launchpad for…
Jonathan Majors gives one of the best performances you’ll ever see in Elijah Bynum’s Magazine Dreams. Bynum’s sophomore feature (co-produced by Nightcrawler filmmaker Dan Gilroy) is centred around an aspiring bodybuilder, Killian Maddox (Majors), who works as a bag boy at a local supermarket when he isn’t pushing himself at the gym or demonstrating his muscular build at competitions. Maddox takes his passion for body building very seriously, which also means that Killian eats, sleeps, and breathes his…
Vampire Zombies…from Space!: if you think that title tries hard to impress the audience, wait ’til you see the movie! Vampire Zombies…from Space! aims to be a pastiche of black-and-white creature features of the 1950s. Director Michael Stasko (co-writting with Alex Forman) nails the visual attributes of this era, yet always remembers that he’s making a cornball comedy. The best jokes in Stasko’s film are the gags that don’t necessarily satirize the genre or the period,…
Going from one perception of dystopia (O’Dessa) to another, Can I Get a Witness? proposes a much “sunnier” version. At least, on the surface. Canadian filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming pitches a reality where the Earth’s sustainability is balanced and resolved. The only trade-offs being that nobody can use technology or travel or live past 50. If you’re reaching that age, an end-of-life ceremony (of the sacrifice’s preference) is prepared where you’ll self-euthanize yourself. In your presence, as…
Take dystopian science fiction, spike it with musical numbers, and add a delayed pinch of satire – you just whipped up a glass of Geremy Jasper’s O’Dessa. The film is punchy and boasts confidence and attitude and, yet, still doesn’t feel like it completely commits to its concepts. Jasper condenses, what feels like, a self-penned series into a single movie. But just like what usually happens with trilogies, a strong start is followed by a…