Based on real events, the story portrayed in this layered film occurs in 1996 in Ethiopia, just three years after women were granted equal rights under the law. In the capitol city of Addis Ababa, social services have been established to assist women and girls, including free legal aid. Meaza Ashenafi (Meron Getnet) heads the […]
One challenge at the Toronto International Film Festival is having enough time to check out films and directors that you may not know, in search of a gem that you (and thousands of others) can discover and claim as your own. Fortunately, a handful of shot-in-the-dark experiences were among the most memorable this year. A […]
The first 10 minutes of Momentum features a ludicrously awful bank heist. The thieves are dressed all in black with motorcycle helmets, and their jumpsuits have what look like computerized, pulsating reflector tape. They all speak through voice distorters, presumably to skirt identity, but in actuality they sound like Cylons from the old Battlestar Galactica. […]
Gimmicks and tricks have been around since the birth of cinema, whether it be Cinemascope, 3-D, or Smell-o-Vision (thank you, John Waters). The ones that stood the test of time generally enhance the overall cinematic experience. Others, such as the Dogme 95 movement and, please God, found footage films, fade into the collective memory of […]
There’s a sequence in the narco thriller Sicario where we’re just watching characters driving. More specifically, it’s protagonist Kate (Emily Blunt) in a big black SUV in the midst of other big black SUVs and Mexican police patrol cars barreling through Juarez, Mexico. They’re transporting a criminal kingpin who’s part of a Mexican drug cartel. […]
In Ashby, clichés and tongue-in-cheek quips abound. Set in a high school where students strictly adhere to stereotypes, the jocks and the geeks keep to themselves. But lo, one Very Special Boy (Nat Wolff) has just enrolled. Will he be doomed to geekdom forever or will he man up and ascend the high school social […]
Written and Directed by Arne Birkenstock Produced by Birkenstock, Helmut G. Weber, Thomas Springer & Edward MacLiam Released by KimStim German with English subtitles Germany. 93 min. Not rated Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery is more straightforward than earlier explorations of skullduggery in the art market, from Harry Moses’s Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? […]
Directed by Jon Watts Produced by Cody Ryder, Alicia Van Couvering, Sam Bisbee, Andrew Kortschak and Watts Written by Watts and Christopher Ford Released by Focus World USA. 88 min Rated R With Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Camryn Manheim and Shea Whigham One of the ballsiest young figures in film today, writer-director Jon […]
Written, Produced, and Directed by Alex R. Johnson Produced by Johnson, Paul Biedrzycki, Pat Cassidy, Charles Mulford Released by Traverse Media USA. 93 min. Not rated With Beth Broderick, James Landry Hébert, Skyy Moore, Jason Douglas, and Ashley Rai Spillers “I don’t live in a world of maybe, I live in Texas.” This is just […]