By: Jeff Ching ReBroken is an ambitious and unique exploration of grief that qualifies as a thriller, drama, horror and a mystery. It’s an unpredictable puzzle that the audience slowly pieces together. But despite that selling point, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend Rebroken. I will always applaud a filmmaker for taking risks over playing it safe. However, I didn’t enjoy this experience, which could’ve been fixed had the film built an essential emotional connection to the material.
By: Jeff Ching The movie title Infrared is pronounced (infa-red), to which I bet that most people not familiar with the camera setting would pronounce it (in-fraird); or maybe it was just me? Just getting that out of the way now, as this is a title that deserves respect and to be pronounced properly.
Written and directed by health reporter Alex Liu, A Sexplanation is both a personal portrait of Liu’s own relationship with sex and an examination of the current debate surrounding sex ed in the United States.
Writer, director, producer, and actor Michelle Ehlen is probably best known for the lesbian comedy trilogy Butch Jamie (2007), Heterosexual Jill (2013), and S&M Sally (2015). Though she still brings the laughs, Ehlen treads slightly more serious ground with Maybe Someday, a tender and mature exploration of grief, love, and memory.
Every so often, I like to fall down a movie’s rabbit hole. We all like when a movie can take us to an escape, but I’m talking about being taken completely out of my element to be enlightened about a subject I’m absolutely clueless about. I’ve taken this trip with faith-based movies before (notably War Room): I wasn’t moved by the movie but I appreciated the experience. I was hoping Stronger By Stress was going…
By: Trevor Chartrand Short film writer/director Blake Ridder is on the right track with his feature-length debut Help, but the movie struggles to tell a cohesive story. This neat little thriller is tidy and simple, but ultimately falls apart during its goofy, over-the-top final act. While the film has some decent visuals and an acceptable sense of pacing and style, it’s hard to take the narrative seriously.
The Surprise Visit features a small ensemble of actors who seem to be challenging each other. Only they’re not inspiring each other, they’re competing against each other for who can exaggerate the most. And director Nick Lyon is letting his cast “duke it out”.
