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SXSW Film Review – Ktown Cowboys
Based off the popular online series, Ktown Cowboys (2015) follows five friends as they navigate their lives in the Korea Town district of Los Angeles. I’m not familiar with the series, but director Daniel ‘DPD’ Park (who shares story credits with Jeff Hoffman and Danny…
READ MORESXSW Film Review – Nina Forever
One of the strengths of brothers Ben Blaine and Chris Blaine’s Nina Forever (2015) is how it can’t be classified within any particular genre. It has some gruesome and disturbing elements, but it’s not really a horror film. It has some moments of humor, but it’s…
READ MOREFilm Review – Home
DreamWorks’ animated adventure Home (2015) is the cinematic equivalent of cotton candy. It’s colorful and sugary sweet, but disappears almost immediately after consumption. There’s not much substance going on here, and whatever emotion it tries to reach toward remains on the surface at best. That’s not…
READ MORESXSW Film Review – Ava’s Possessions
Jordan Galland’s Ava’s Possessions (2015) starts off in midstream. When we first meet Ava (Louisa Krause), she has just gone through an extensive exorcism held by Father Merrino (John Ventimiglia). Once back in control of her body, Ava realizes that she has been possessed for…
READ MOREFilm Review – It Follows
Writer/director David Robert Mitchell taps into something special with It Follows (2014). With minimal use of gore and bloodshed, Mitchell has created a truly terrifying film. This is not your standard horror fare. It’s smarter, more deliberate, more thoughtful, and better executed than others. It…
READ MORESXSW Film Review – Sneakerheadz
If things had gone a different way, I could have very well been a subject of David T. Friendly and Mick Partridge’s Sneakerheadz (2015). As a kid I played sports, particularly basketball. When I entered high school, I got into break dancing. In both areas,…
READ MOREFilm Review – Insurgent
When last we saw Tris (Shailene Woodley) in last year’s Divergent (2014), she was on the run with her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), love interest Four (Theo James), and all around smart ass Peter (Miles Teller) from the evil Jeanine (Kate Winslet) and the clutches…
READ MOREFilm Review – Cinderella
At first glance, one may think that Kenneth Branagh directing the latest version of Cinderella (2015) would be something of a headscratcher. In hindsight, he was the perfect choice to handle this material. Trained by Shakespearean theater, Branagh has been endowed with the type of…
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