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Film Review – First Reformed
The slow zoom into the First Reformed Church with “old-school” opening credits gracing the screen with an iconic scrolling type-face presents a pleasing introduction to writer and director Paul Schrader’s First Reformed. We meet an introverted, middle-aged pastor, Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke), tasked with leading…
READ MORESXSW Film Interview – Brady Jandreau – The Rider
With all the films I’ve seen this year so far, The Rider is my favorite film of 2018. I saw the film as part of SXSW 2018 and had the pleasure of speaking with Brady Jandreau, who plays a partially fictionalized version of himself. The…
READ MORESXSW Film Review – The Rider
Once in a while, I will go blind into a screening. Sometimes it works wonderfully, and other times, it does not. Having not much to go on except for a photo of a young man and a horse and the title, The Rider, I took…
READ MORESXSW Film Review – Wildling
“Do you want to hear a story?” That is how Wildling opens, with Daddy (Brad Dourif) speaking both to the small child, Anna, and the audience. Anna is laying in a small bed in an attic, and she is told of these harmful creatures named…
READ MORESXSW Film Review – American Animals
It was not until the director, and writer Bart Layton walked onto the stage at the Paramount Theater at SXSW 2018 and his previous film, The Imposter, was mentioned that I realized what exactly kind of film I was about to see. If you are…
READ MORESXSW Film Review – Lean on Pete
Lean on Pete is film distributor A24’s latest release, and it also screened at SXSW 2018. The film is based on the novel by Willy Vlautin with the script written and directed by Andrew Haigh. The story revolves around Charley Thompson (Charlie Plummer), a teenager living…
READ MOREFilm Review – Gringo
If you have seen the trailers for Gringo, the cast is appealing, and the kidnap caper plot looks entertaining. The use of a marijuana drug in the plot may lead you to think this is a stoner comedy, but that is far from correct. The drug is…
READ MOREFilm Review – Annihilation
The craziest and weirdest film so far of 2018 is Annihilation. The trailer gave off major Arrival vibes, but as the end credits roll, it is a film that will have the audience in major debates about what it is they just saw.
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