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Film Review – Burnt
Burnt lacks anything worth biting into. We have Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper), former wonder chef who wrecked his life with booze and drugs and now three years later is clean and heading to London, desperate to open a new restaurant and this time earning three stars in a travel…
READ MOREFilm Review – A Brilliant Young Mind
A Brilliant Young Mind is an overly sentimental film that wants us to feel for its characters but uses shortcuts and time jumps instead of interactions to give them any kind of connection. To begin with we have a pretty traditional narrative starting point with Nathan (Asa Butterfield), a kid genius…
READ MOREFilm Review – Golden Shoes
Generic is too kind a term for Golden Shoes. This predictable children’s film throws every stock character and overdone circumstance at the screen in some bizarre attempt to be inspiring. Christian (Christian Koza), a young boy, dreams of being a great soccer player because, beyond his love…
READ MOREVFF Film Review – Tempête
A melancholy look at a man trying to do right by his kids, Tempête could be slow at times but was able to create a realistic look at what it takes to change one’s fate. Dom (Dominique Leborne), a long time fisherman, works many boats on the docks. He enjoys…
READ MOREVFF Film Review – Italian Gangsters
Attempting to be introspective, Italian Gangsters tries telling the traditional gangster story in a different way but lacks enough insight to make these criminals interesting. Gangsters as a concept are inherently interesting, they live the life that none of us could yet we cannot help but glamorize the sense of freedom…
READ MOREFilm Review – Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine is everything you want in a biopic documentary: able to look at the subject through a human lens, able to acknowledge the faults as much as the success of the person, and able to realize that the complexity of an individual can never be…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Wanted 18
The Wanted 18 is a well-meaning tale to show the unfairness of the Israelis in their treatment of the Palestinians but it lacks any form of a hook to grab our attention. Directors Paul Cowan and Amer Shomali try a different method of telling the story of Israeli occupation…
READ MORESIFF Film Review – People Places Things
People Places Things wants to be its own version of American Splendor or Ghost World, taking art and lonesomeness to express something about the human condition, but director and screenwriter James C. Strouse falls sadly short of his aspirations. Will (Jemaine Clement) is our prototypical…
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