Short reviews of two documentaries: Even Hell Has Its Heroes, about the NW rock band Earth, and Satan Wants You about the Canadian roots of the Satanic panic.
Author: Chris Burlingame
SIFF 2023: NW Connections: Poets and Puns
Two local documentaries, both making their world premieres at SIFF, are reviewed (and recommended!).
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a wonderful adaptation of a remarkable book
When I first learned that a movie for the Judy Blume classic novel of adolescent angst Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, I couldn’t help but feel cynical. It’s hard not to be considering how many great books I cherish have been turned into forgettable adaptations over the past few years. It brings me great joy to report back that the new film adaptation of Margaret is…quite good.
Judy Blume Forever is a loving tribute to one of the world’s most beloved authors
Judy Blume is such a wonderful subject for a documentary it’s almost a surprise that we’re just getting a doc about her life now. A career-spanning film about Ms. Blume’s life is long overdue. Besides being an almost-universally beloved author who has more people that confess to her (mostly adolescents) than the Pope, she just radiates warmth.
The Broken Lizard team tries to tell the story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I don’t think they read the book
In this telling from the Broken Lizard team (Super Troopers, Club Dread), the time is 1186 France and Quasimodo (Steve Lemme) makes torture devices. He’s a loveable, harmless, area man who builds torture devices for a living. There’s a rivalry between the power-hungry King Guy (Jay Chandrasekhar) and the power-hungry Pope Cornelius (Paul Soter). From what I can tell, France has never had a King Guy and Pope Cornelius reigned from 251 to 253 AD.
I saw Renfield so you don’t have to
To its credit, Renfield doesn’t take itself seriously for even a moment. That’s usually fine but the jokes and gags here fell flat almost 100% of the time. I wish there was a sense of cleverness to the humor, but there just isn’t. The acting (save for Cage) is unconvincing and the action scenes are campy (in a bad way).
Sam Now is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Even though I am fast-developing a reputation as the easiest-to-cry member of the Seattle film press, I don’t think there’s anything I could’ve done to emotionally prepare for how powerful and quietly intense this movie is.
Rodeo is an exciting film from a first time director and a first-time star
In the first few moments of the thrilling new movie Rodeo, we learn that its protagonist Julia is a lone wolf and antihero. She doesn’t make friends easily, she blows off work, has alienated her family, and she steals whatever she wants or needs. Her one passion is motorcycles.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline is as radical and as potent as its title suggests
It’s hard not to sympathize with the environmental activists turned ecoterrorists at the heart of the potent new movie How to Blow Up a Pipeline. Eight young persons have so much justified rage from the cruelties of American capitalism that they find the best course of action to blow up an oil pipeline in West Texas. This movie is a meticulously planned scheme about how the photogenic gang of eight plans to commit their act of terrorism.
Less (Michael Jordan) is more in Ben Affleck’s Air
You don’t become the most dominant athlete (not basketball player) of your era without creating an incredible story along the way. The story of how Michael Jordan became the most marketable sports superstar before his rookie NBA season began is told in the new movie Air. If there’s anything Ben Affleck and screenwriter Alex Convery know, it’s that the story of Michael Jordan is best told the less Michael Jordan talks.