Wrath of Man
Wrath of Man is a good example of a movie exceeding expectations. Even if it’s just a slight change in elevation, it still counts in the long run.
Crime
Breaking News in Yuba County
Breaking News in Yuba County is a strange crime-comedy that’s both overdeveloped and undercooked. The movie has a stacked cast of comedic character actors and, it’s true, the audience can’t help but enjoy watching these actors in motion. However, since the story builds off of a deceitful faux pas in such convoluted ways, movie goers also can’t help but grow exhausted and impatient.
The Dissident
By: Trevor Chartrand Informative and eye-opening, The Dissident is a haunting documentary that’s shockingly timely and relevant, especially considering last week’s siege in Washington. Among other things, this film demonstrates the dangerous potential of social media when used in the wrong way.
Beyond the Woods
By: Jolie Featherstone Brayden DeMorest-Purdy’s feature film debut, Beyond the Woods, is a mind-bending, slow-burning crime drama where lost and troubled individuals burn like smoking flames flickering against the bitter-cold, snow-capped landscape that threatens to consume them.
The Kid Detective
The Kid Detective has done the best job, in recent memory, explaining why a mystery’s leading sleuth is such a sad sack. The enigmatic and eccentric personality has become such a cliché in the genre, that the audience just expects and accepts the detective to be grizzled, or unhappy, or an unpredictable hot head. In The Kid Detective, Abe Applebaum (Adam Brody) carries those traits, but writer/director Evan Morgan provides compelling motivation which fuels Brody’s top-form…
The Tax Collector
Filmmakers like to carve out their niche. For instance, George A. Romero had the horror genre and, more importantly, he clung on to zombie culture. He was always experimenting with the undead. If his ideas didn’t pan out, he moved on to the next project with more ambition than before. In a similar vein, writer/director David Ayer (Suicide Squad, Bright) likes the action genre and, more importantly, he’s clung on to gang culture and its…
Battle Scars
I don’t think it’s always required for a filmmaker to have an opinion about war if their movie is about war. Sometimes, the movie simply exists to entertain or educate about a significant historical event. But, if a filmmaker was to tell a story about the effects of war (primarily the long-term psychological impact), I feel like the filmmaker should use the platform to send a message about the value of combat.
Target Number One
Daniel Roby’s deftly directed thriller Target Number One fictionalizes the true story of a Quebecois drug addict who was imprisoned in Thailand as a result of a set-up by Canadian intelligence in the 1980s. Taking some of its procedural cues from Spotlight, Target Number One is a kinetic, uncompromising look at the impacts and importance of journalism on the overreach of power in counter-intelligence.
Things I Do For Money
Things I Do For Money could be compared to 2004’s You Got Served, which is a movie I thought I wouldn’t be referencing 16 years later. Yet, here we are.