Reviews

Painted face with the text, "Venus as a Boy"

Venus Personified

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Courtney Gardner reviews Ty Hodges’ new film, Venus as a Boy. The film challenges our assumed stereotypes as it follows a small groups of friends as they navigate adulthood in Los Angeles.

A man and woman on a fire escapte staring out at morning in New York City.

20th Annual Tribeca Festival June 9-20

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Senior Film Critic Kurt Brokaw reviews the 2021Tribeca Festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary. He spotlights the Warner Bros. musical In the Heights and Michèle Stephenson’s Stateless, two movies tied to the Dominican Republic in two very different ways. He also reviews Coded, Ryan White’s short documentary about J. C. Leyendecker, and The Queen of Basketball, Ben Proudfoot’s documentary on basketball pioneer, Lusia Harris-Stewart.

Two women sitting at a restaurant.

The Evolutionary Turning Point

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Film critic Courtney Garnder takes a look at Mari Walker’s feature debut, See You Then and all the messy parts of old relationships that bubble to the surface when people reunite.

A young woman smiles and holds her younger brother.

Let the Armor Fall Away: “Lupe”

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Lupe is the directorial debut of Andrè Phillips and Charles Vuolo. Lupe tells the story of the film’s namesake, a young transgender Latinx woman who has recently immigrated to New York City from Cuba. During Lupe’s childhood, her sister Isabel went missing and was believed to have been taken to New York City, where she… Read more »

A man and woman are inside, the windows covered by newspapers.

“I Trapped the Devil” Review: An Indie Holiday Nightmare

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The sinister Christmas movie I Trapped the Devil was released on April 26, 2019, following its debut at the Imagine Film Festival. Josh Lobo wrote, directed, and edited this 80-minute seasonal horror film that centers around Steve (Scott Poythress), a paranoid man living alone who gets an unexpected visit from his brother Matt (AJ Bown)… Read more »

young woman in a wedding dress with bagels.

“Shiva Baby” Review

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In the holy season of Passover, what could make a moviegoer feel more connected to the spirit of the season and their family traditions than a film about Jewishness, sex, family expectations, bisexuality, body image obsessions, sugar daddies, career choices, and cheating? First-time writer/director, Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby brings us an intersection of all these… Read more »

A man leans against a wall as a second man lays his head on the other's lap.

The Vulnerability of ‘Monsters’ in “Unforgivable”

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Last April, the Human Rights Watch stated that the conditions in which El Salvador inmates live are inhumane. El Salvador’s prisons have a maximum capacity of just over 18,000 prisoners, but they are currently holding more than 38,000 individuals. Upon entering the penitentiary, you will notice thousands of individuals trickling out of cramped cells. Gang… Read more »