Sonia Kennebeck’s newest documentary examines the nature of truth via a twisty, conspiracy-filled case.
Category: Reviews
Stillwater plumbs the depths of an American abroad
Although director Tom McCarthy borrows heavily from the Amanda Knox story, Stillwater is hardly a ripped-from-the-headlines docudrama. Instead, he wisely takes inspiration from the situation of a daughter whose study abroad ends with imprisonment for a gruesome murder she claims not to have committed as the jumping-off point for a different kind of tragedy in three acts.
Jungle Cruise is a ride worth taking, despite the lengthy trip
Jungle Cruise, based on the Disney World amusement park ride of the same name, begins in the early 1800’s with Lily (Emily Blunt) and MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) McHughton attempting to convince a bunch of stuffed shirts to allow them to borrow an artifact that they believe will lead the two to a tree with healing powers beyond anything the world could imagine. Lily manages to nab the artifact without permission thoroughly pissing off an ominous German military man who desires the same magical healing only to help the German army in WWI. He then pursues them throughout the film as the perpetual baddy causing havoc. After a number of mishaps and deceptions Frank (Dwayne Johnson), a gruff yet charming riverboat captain, agrees to take the siblings through treacherous terrain to find the ancient tree, hinting at designs of his own. A lot of dad jokes, some love/hate chemistry between Lily and Frank, and a bit of danger leads us to their final destination where they face off with several enemies while attempting to gain their prize.
By being “good,” Old is M. Night Shyamalan’s best movie in twenty years
It almost appears hyperbolic to say Old is M. Night Shyamalan’s best film in decades, but he’s produced more shit over the past twenty years than what can be safely extracted through Jair Bolsonaro’s nose. It’s been a wild fall from grace where the director was telling magazine writers after the success of his breakthrough The Sixth Sense that he figured out the formula for making hit movies, and then he basically turned into Max Bialystock after his follow-up Unbreakable (his best movie, IMO). After a series of box office bombs, people began booing when his name was shown in trailers.
That’s not to say that Old isn’t ridiculous. It very much is. It’s camp, but it leans into it.
An attempt to tell a tragic true story, Joe Bell ends up being a fundamentally misguided movie
It is hard to shake the feeling that Joe Bell was designed with an Oscar nomination for acting in mind, though along the way it ended up forgetting to make an engaging film to justify such an award.
How It Ends is a meandering yet heartfelt look at the end of the world
A film that proves to be fleetingly sweet, How It Ends is a pandemic creation where absurdity and sentimentality are given priority over substance.
Here After is a single-shaming, frustrating take on love
An attractive forty-something, semi-successful actor from New York, Michael (Andy Karl), dies single. He’s told by a magical CEO (Christina Ricci) in a high rise in the sky that he has to find his soulmate to ascend and there’s a ticking clock to find them before he literally ceases to exist. So… eternity with a partner or you literally disappear never to be heard from again; useless and unloved.
NBFF 2021: Ayar, The Witches of the Orient
Two films that were featured in this year’s North Bend Film Fest have unusual takes on what “experimental documentary filmmaking” might look like.
NBFF 2021: Superior announces an exciting new voice
Erin Vassilopoulos’ debut feature takes daring stylistic risks that pay off in this tense tale of misplaced identity, familial reconciliation, and feminist empowerment.
NBFF 2021: Tailgate, Luchadoras
A tense Dutch horror flick and an inspiring Mexican documentary, both available virtually via NBFF through the end of the weekend.