The Miseducation of Cameron Post, 2018. Directed by Desiree Akhavan Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Jennifer Ehle, John Gallagher Jr., and Forrest Goodluck. SYNOPSIS: Teenager Cameron is sent away to a “de-programming” centre when her relationship with another girl is discovered. But instead of helping her follow a more conventional lifestyle, it makes her […]
Sundance London 2018 Review – The Tale (2017)
The Tale, 2017. Directed by Jennifer Fox. Starring Laura Dern, Isabelle Nelisse, Jason Ritter, Elizabeth Debicki, Ellen Burstyn, and Common. SYNOPSIS: Documentary maker Jennifer seems to have it all until a story she wrote at the age of 13 is discovered by her mother. It’s about a special relationship with an adult and Jennifer realises […]
Sundance London 2018 Review – Leave No Trace (2017)
Leave No Trace, 2017. Directed by Debra Granik. Starring Ben Foster, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Jeff Kober, and Dale Dickey. SYNOPSIS: Father and daughter, Will and Tom, have lived off the grid for years on a nature reserve on the edge of Portland. But their cover is blown by accident and they’re removed from their home […]
Sundance London 2018 Review – Never Goin’ Back (2018)
Never Goin’ Back, 2018. Directed by Augustine Frizzell. Starring Maia Mitchell, Camila Morrone and Kyle Mooney. SYNOPSIS: Jessie and Angela, high school dropouts, are taking a week off to chill at the beach. Too bad their house got robbed, rent’s due, they’re about to get fired, and they’re broke. It’s been a while since we’ve […]
Chicago Critics Film Festival 2018 Capsule Review – First Reformed
Hope and despair is the equivalent to the metaphorically persuasive angel and the devil on the shoulders of one of God’s lonely souls, a pastor at the titular First Reformed church. The establishment is about to celebrate its 250th anniversary regardless of the fact that attendance has gone the way of the dodo (among other […]
Chicago Critics Film Festival 2018 Capsule Review – Fast Color
It is movingly fitting that one of the only superhuman-based films centered on women (in this case, generations of women with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and her growing star power, underrated television character actor Lorraine Toussaint, and youngster Saniyya Sidney bonding and making amends while also going even further back reading ancestral passages from a handed diary) focuses […]
Chicago Critics Film Festival 2018 Capsule Review – Bodied
Whatever opinions one may have on rap music, specifically battle rapping, are strongly advised to be left at the door; either way, you’re coming away from Bodied (backed by notable industry talent comprised of producer Eminem, writer Kid Twist, and go-to music video director Joseph Kahn) with an updated perspective. However, the real pleasant surprise is just […]
Chicago Critics Film Festival Capsule Review 2018 – Damsel
Robert Pattinson is a lover, not a fighter. Playing a businessman named Samuel in the days of the old West, he decides to travel across the country to reunite with his beloved fiancé Penelope (Mia Wasikowska, who I’ll have you know right off the bat is more than just the titular damsel in distress) believing […]
Chicago Critics Film Festival 2018 Capsule Review – Beast
As Beast goes on the question shifts from “is Pascal a serial killer?” to “if Pascal is a serial killer, are these two perfect for each other in a demented Natural Born Killers kind of way?”, which is where Michael Pearce likes to repeatedly flip the motives and truth on the audience. The trick never fully wears thin, but […]
Chicago Critics Film Festival 2018 Capsule Review – American Animals
The turning point where American Animals finally won me over and will for anyone else not entirely sold, boils down to a third act reveal that makes clear why writer and director Bart Layton has chosen to include documentary-style cutaway interviews to the real-life subjects of the Transylvania University art heist incident (now middle-aged, and if my […]