Green Room
Green Room is unappealing – that’s a compliment. Dishevelled characters, dingy lighting, seedy locations, and punk tunes that sound like they’ve been chewed up and spit out contribute to the stress within this thriller.
Reviews
Miss Hokusai
The animation featured in Keiichi Hara’s anime Miss Hokusai is terrific. A single cell has the ability to represent the humility and emotion of its characters, along with the imagination the film can achieve. What’s peculiar and disappointing is how these images don’t make a cohesive film when edited together.
Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party
Dinesh D’Souza could’ve been a decent documentarian, but that potential has been critically harmed by Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. Judging by this drastic misfire, I’m thinking that maybe the filmmaker’s next project should be a popcorn political thriller loosely inspired by his own far-right, abrasive political opinions.
The Violin Teacher
The Violin Teacher is a conflicting feature. The music is beautiful and the message is inspiring, but the story’s pace constantly swings back and forth from tight captivation to a sluggish crawl. Sérgio Machado’s film is both the most uplifting film I’ve seen lately, and the most boring.
Lights Out
Lights Out, really, only has two good scares. And, you saw both of them in the previews. Despite that, there’s something about David F. Sandberg’s harmless horror flick that warms me over nonetheless.
Rampage: President Down
As someone who has known Uwe Boll for his frantic filmography of sloppy video game adaptations, his mediocre and too dramatic action/thriller Rampage: President Down is actually a breath of fresh air.
The Hotel Dieu
After a blow-up at a house party over a drunken bad decision, brothers Luke and Travis (Andrew Rotilio and Charlie Hamilton) drive home in a huff and are struck by a pick-up truck. Travis receives minor injuries, but The Hotel Dieu follows a blinded Luke as he endures a strenuous recovery and discovers romance while staying at the hospital.
The People vs. Fritz Bauer
The People vs. Fritz Bauer is a good film driven by a stellar central performance by Burghart Klaussner (Good Bye Lenin!).
The David Dance
The David Dance is a stage-to-film adaptation from actor/screenwriter Don Scimé. I haven’t seen his original stage play, but I can figure out a couple of things from the movie: Scimé is a passionate artist who cares very deeply about the themes acknowledged in his work, but not enough compromises have been made by director Aprill Winney to make his original material fill feature film britches.
Who Gets the Dog?
Who Gets the Dog? is destined for cable. And, not even for high profile airtime. It’s the type of fodder that plays in the background while you wrap this year’s Christmas gifts.