Written and directed by Edson Oda, Nine Days is a metaphysical film that follows a lonely man named Will, played by Winston Duke (Black Panther, Us), who is tasked with interviewing human souls and deciding which one will be given a chance to live. One soul in particular, Emma (Zazie Beetz), is an independent thinker who resists the tasks Will assigns and forces him to examine his own existence.
The latest efforts from the Toronto-based comedy collective Daisy Productions are two different takes on a fantasy vs. reality theme. #BasicBAEs, directed by Dennis Alexander Nicholson (Kitty Mammas), is a short film that follows the individual lives of friends who primarily communicate through social media. Thank U, Ex, a hybrid show directed by Maddie Rose that incorporates theatre with taped segments, chronicles the love life of a hopeless romantic with a chip on their shoulder….
By: Jolie Featherstone Wes Anderson’s latest feature is a dazzling ode to the joys of the printed word and the spirit of the American wanderer.
One of the most compelling movies of the year is the minimalist drama Mass, a bottle drama led primarily by its four outstanding leads (Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd, Reed Birney). The actors portray parents from two families, reeling from a tragedy involving their sons. After prior detached conversations, they decide to convene at a mutually chosen location – a church basement – while a mediator is stationed outside.
Halloween Kills is an ambitious take on a sequel. While the film picks up where 2018’s Halloween ended, this isn’t a movie about the franchise’s villain Michael Myers or his prime victim Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Instead, it’s a movie about Haddonfield and the mournful community who have been living in fear; being given a tormented reputation by its infamous serial killer. The locals, having not felt protected by the town’s law enforcement, rally…
In general, the horror anthology is a devastatingly underrated genre. Brian and Jocelyn Rish’s Grave Intentions is a great example of how entertaining this format can be when done right.
From the Academy Award winning team who brought you Free Solo comes The Rescue, a documentary that chronicles the 2018 search-and-rescue of the Wild Boars soccer team who were trapped in a flooding cave in Thailand.
Every so often, an overly confident filmmaker comes along to lighten the mood around taboos. There was Josh Lawson’s comedic approach to bizarre sexual fetishes in The Little Death, then Dave Schultz’s tasteless handling of suicide and death in Considering Love & Other Magic, and now Stephen Wallis with Defining Moments, an exhausting flume of individual stories dealing with heavy subject matter (like mental health) and the writer/director’s unbearably quirky perspective.
