Captain Fantastic
Though it certainly has its charms, Captain Fantastic’s sweet moments and eccentricity fails to mask the serious flaws that begin to surface in the film’s second half.
Shannon Page
Free State of Jones
Free State of Jones is inspired by real events that took place in Jones County, Mississippi following the United States’ civil war. As expected, Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club) is impressive as Newton Knight, a former army medic who lead an armed rebellion against the confederate army. The film also features strong performances by Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a freedwoman named Rachel, and Mahershala Ali as a former slave named Moses who joins Knight’s movement.
Wylie Writes’ 2016 Mid-Year Report
We’re halfway through the year, which means it’s time for Wylie Writes’ recap of the best and the worst films of 2016. Sometimes, these early gems fall through the cracks once Oscar season rolls around. Let these choices remind you which films you should still check out, and which movies should stay unnoticed on your moviegoing radar.
Hot Docs 2016: ‘Cheer Up’ and ‘How to Build a Time Machine’
Cheer Up (DIR. Christy Garland) By: Shannon Page Miia is the coach of the Ice Queens, a teenage cheerleading team from Finland’s Article Circle that regularly places dead-last in national competitions. Determined to win, Miia travels to Texas to learn the art of winning from the world champions, Cheer Athletics, and returns to Finland with the intention of turning her team around. The pressure that she puts on her girls to become the best pushes the…
Hot Docs 2016: ‘The Pearl of Africa’ and ‘Putuparri and the Rainmakers’
The Pearl of Africa (DIR. Jonny von Wallström) By: Shannon Page Director Jonny von Wallström’s first full-length documentary is the story of Cleopatra Kambugu, a transgender woman living in Uganda who is forced to leave her country after a bill is passed making her gender identity punishable by life in prison or even execution. The Pearl of Africa follows Cleo as she travels from Uganda to Thailand for sex reassignment surgery.
Hot Docs 2016: ‘Bobby Sands: 66 Days’ and ‘Off the Rails’
Bobby Sands: 66 Days (DIR. Brendan Byrne) By: Shannon Page Bobby Sands, a member of the Irish Republican Army, was only twenty-seven years old when he died in prison in 1981 after refusing food for 66 days. Sands was the first of ten IRA prisoners to die as the result of a hunger strike in protest of their status as regular criminals, as opposed to political prisoners.
Hot Docs 2016: ‘De Palma’ and ‘League of Exotique Dancers’
De Palma (DIR. Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow) By: Shannon Page Directed by Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha!, Mistress America) and Jake Paltrow (Young Ones), De Palma is a love letter to twentieth-century cinema and an engaging look into the mind of an artist whose career has been nothing if not eclectic.
The Saver
Edited and directed by Wiebke von Carolsfeld, The Saver follows Fern (Imajyn Cardinal), a newly orphaned 16 year-old who tries to avoid her mother’s fate – and Youth Protection – by becoming a millionaire. Following the advice she finds in a book called How to be a Millionaire, Fern aims to save every penny from the live-in janitor and dishwashing jobs she is able to get by lying about her age. The film is based…
Life Off Grid
Jonathan Taggart’s bare-bones documentary about people disconnected from electric or natural gas infrastructure has a loose, unpolished feel. It’s a fitting accompaniment to an exploration of people who live in a way that many of us would find bafflingly inconvenient.
Knight of Cups
Even long-time fans of Terrence Malick’s particular style of experimental filmmaking might find his latest effort Knight of Cups verging toward self-indulgence.