Don’t Watch Yourself, Watch the Movie: ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’
Jane Schoenbrun isn’t one for subtlety. Although their sophomore breakthrough “I Saw The TV Glow” was derided by some for…
Review
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Caretaking and Friendship Intertwine In the Stunning Drama ‘All of a Sudden’
“All of a Sudden” is the third film from Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi to compete in The Cannes Film Festival…
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‘The Meltdown’: How Should a Missing Person’s Story End?
The “missing persons” subgenre of film is a strange one — repetitive at times, nearly impossible to perfect, yet often…
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‘Propeller One-Way Night Coach,’ made by, for and about John Travolta
Flaunting a skin-tight beret and suspicious beard, John Travolta walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday…
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‘Drunken Noodles’ Review: Lucio Castro’s Quaint Second Feature Threads the Needle Between Drama and Fantasia
In his sophomore feature ‘Drunken Noodles,’ filmmaker Lucio Castro captures a plethora of these quiet moments, contrasting them with euphoric tableaus of various gay dalliances. The film spiritually evokes a space between two worlds: the hushed atmosphere of a cruising site and the unburdened revelry of one of Sal Salandra’s canvases (the real-life artist who inspires a crucial character in the film). Inside of this delicately drawn world, protagonist Adnan — a graduate student house sitting for his uncle in New York City while working at a small art gallery — seeks to fulfill his desires.
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Magical Girl Transformation: Alice Maio Mackay’s ‘The Serpent’s Skin’
For all that feels familiar about “The Serpent’s Skin” — a horror film featuring demonic possession, witchcraft and characters connecting…
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Caught Between Tragedy and Utopia: A Review of Liz Sargent’s ‘Take Me Home’
Within minutes of the feature, L. Sargent’s intention to shift away from her proof-of-concept 2023 short becomes obvious. Though captured by different cinematographers, both films share similar documentary-style camera work and capture a tone of devastating and tender social realism. A striking difference, however, is the father’s, Bob’s (Victor Slezak), absence in the short and significant presence in the feature, in which he almost completely replaces Anna’s fellow adoptee sister, Emily (Ali Ahn). This drastically shifts the film from a depiction of sisterhood to one of parenthood complimented by sisterhood.
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Repetition and Hopelessness in “Taste of Cherry”
The Independent was invited to cover “Taste of Cherry” during the Boston Festival of Films from Iran at the Museum…
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“Nirvanna: The Band – the Show – the Movie” the Review
The film is a celebration of a style that has largely disappeared from mainstream media. The comedy relies almost entirely on pop culture references and situational humor. It is a return to a simpler style of comedy, similar to that made by early YouTubers who had little but their friends and a webcam. While it still has that “early internet” feeling, Johnson and McCarroll find a way to make it relevant. Meta 4th-wall breaking and seamless restitching of never before seen archival footage are used tastefully rather than shoved in the viewer’s face. The movie is almost entirely set in real Toronto locations, harkening back to the 2000s style of mockumentary filmmaking popularised by projects like “The Office” and “Borat.”
