Drama
Film Review – Room
Room has been playing to critical acclaim since its September release at the Telluride and Toronto International Film Festivals. I cannot ignore a film that stars Brie Larson anymore since I discovered her performance in Short Term 12 at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film…
READ MOREFilm Review – Truth
Truth tells the story of a 60 Minutes story controversy that happened in 2004. The film is based on the memoir of 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes entitled Truth and Duty: The Press, The President, and The Privilege of Power. Producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett)…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Keeping Room
There are a lot of interesting ideas running through The Keeping Room (2014), although I’m not so sure it fleshes any of them out thoroughly. Directed by Daniel Barber and written by Julia Hart, this is a reexamination of the classic western motif. Themes such…
READ MOREFilm Review – Beasts of No Nation
Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation (2015) is a harrowing, surreal, and often times bleak portrayal of a reality many of us shy away from. There is no denying Fukunaga’s talent as both a screenwriter and director. Hot off his success of True Detective, Fukunaga…
READ MOREVFF Double Feature – Wednesday, May 9 and Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?
Wednesday, May 9 Vahid Jalilvand’s Iranian film Wednesday, May 9 (2015) delves into what it truly means to be compassionate to your fellow neighbor. If you have one piece of bread in your hands, but hundreds of starving people asking for your generosity, whom would…
READ MOREFilm Review – Number One Fan
What would be like to meet someone you really admire? I thought about this idea a few times. We all have that person we look up to outside of our inner circle, whether they’re an entertainer, athlete, philosopher, and so on. They exist on this…
READ MOREAn Appreciation – Lost in Translation
The beauty of life is that it is not made up of plots. We don’t go through our daily routines in three act structures where our actions slowly build up to a climactic peak. Most times, we move within our own bubbles not knowing where…
READ MOREFilm Review – Mississippi Grind
Depictions of gambling addiction in film have captivated audiences for decades. The formula is as simple as it is brilliant: bad decisions, often resulting in the loss of friends and family + pitying bookies and no-nonsense loan sharks + reckless abandon = cinematic gold. While…
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