Drama
Madeline’s Madeline
Madeline’s Madeline is a one-of-a-kind. I can’t remember the last time a movie was this uncomfortable yet so rewarding and fulfilling.
Breath
By: Graeme Howard Simon Baker’s directorial debut Breath (adapted from the international best seller by Tim Winton) is, at first glance, a by-the-numbers coming-of-age surfing tale. However, the audience is treated to a thought-provoking surfing drama that succeeds in capturing the raw nature of the sport, while also exploring the spontaneity of youthfulness and the joyful exploration of curiosity, fear, and self-understanding.
Support the Girls
Some of this year’s most endearing performances get buried by Andrew Bujalski’s faulty filmmaking in Support the Girls.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
As people grow up, ideas are suggested to them from various sources to help craft their life in a certain way. However with The Miseducation of Cameron Post, co-writer/director Desiree Akhavan makes an argument about the search for personal individuality which is not only liberating, but absolutely valid. Adapting Emily M. Danforth’s novel of the same name, Akhavan shows audiences that no matter what customs or beliefs are enforced onto another person, their voice and personality…
Euthanizer
By: Trevor Chartrand Helmed by Finnish filmmaker Teemu Nikki, Euthanizer is one moody, atmospheric and, frankly, zany thriller. Between overlapping tones and strategic musical cues, this movie blends genres in a way that just shouldn’t work, but somehow does – it’s like combining the sweetest strawberries with jalapenos and raw sewage. Euthanizer somehow creates a sweet, yet spicy, story that will leave a bad taste in your mouth (in a good way).
Shock and Awe
Woody Harrelson, James Marsden, Jessica Biel, Milla Jovovich, Rob Reiner, and Tommy Lee Jones. These actors all play key parts in Shock and Awe, a political drama Reiner directs. Unfortunately, they’re all overqualified for this generic vehicle.
Angels Wear White
While it isn’t a perfect film, Angels Wear White is a bleak, meditative examination of girlhood and power.
Boundaries
By: Nick van Dinther In Boundaries, director Shana Feste tells a story that’s loosely based on her relationship with her father and their shared life experience; which makes it surprising that one of the movie’s biggest setbacks is how cliché it is, and how it lacks realism.
