Sundance 2022: "Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul!" Review
It’s in the title. Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul! is a satire that takes aim at megachurch culture. There’s no denying that Writer/director Adamma Ebo nails this southern baptist story. It’s the type of comedy that may make some church folk uncomfortable because of how much bitter truth it tells via the medicine of humor. It’s a scathing dissection from a personal, intimate, inside view of this church denomination that will make you think and is worthy of conversation.
The film starts by introducing us to Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) and Pastor Lee Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) within Wander To Greater Paths church sanctuary. They are gearing up for their reopening of the church since scandal shut it down. In anticipation of the Easter Sunday return, they have hired a documentary film crew to capture their day to day preparations and show them in a positive light.
We’re slowly pulled into the lifestyle of the Childs. Pastor Lee wears designer clothes. His obliviousness to how conceited he is is matched only by how much he dims his wife’s light in order to shine. It’s obvious he has insecurities and we slowly discovery some of the demons plaguing him. We also get a glimpse of the crushing weight of religious culture, patriarchy and ego gone wrong with Trinitie bearing that load.
Three 6 Mafia’s “Popping My Collar” sets the tone for the film. Not only does the song kick the film off, but throughout it we hear strings and chords from the song that stitch parts of the film together. It’s a song about dressing fresh and pimping for money. It’s a subtle acknowledgement of how this film’s pastor does the same thing to his first lady and congregation in the past. By dressing the part and pimping Trinitie for her ideas, he has created his winning persona. In fact, throughout the film music tells a part of this story in ways that the writing doesn’t. With an unforgettable “Knuck If You Buck” scene, we see the dual nature of the Childs. The pastor and first lady should not be singing the unedited version of the song, but they hit every word. It’s actually an analysis of the dual nature of any human being. We all have good and bad inside. The pressure to appear sinless while being human is what the scene touches on.
Regina Hall is absolutely fantastic as the First Lady. She plays a wife who is holding everything in and portraying a public image of happiness while bitterness, hurt and resentment lay just under the surface. The nuance Hall displays in moving between fragility and strength is noteworthy. In a heartbreaking scene she wears praise makeup (white face with black lips and eyebrows) to try to get people passing by to honk for Jesus.
Sterling K. Brown’s Lee Curtis feels bi-polar as he pushes forward hitting highs and lows from scene to scene. He’s an emotionally abusive husband, masquerading as a man of God. He believes his own lies and forces those closest to him to stroke his narcissism. At first glance, Brown seems to have an easy role but his choices ground the character that may have been less complex on the page.
I didn’t grow up Southern Baptist, but I understand what growing up in a church community looks like. The truth is, a church is a group of imperfect people striving to do the right thing according to the Bible. Ebo’s world has a familiarity that comes from having grown up in a Southern Baptist church and questioning what was seen, both good and bad. The scandal of the film is ripped from the headlines, but the deeper questions being asked come from a personal place. So while this may be a satire, it’s also a manifestation of the artist’s wrestling with their upbringing that we can all benefit from in Honk being a jumping point for further conversation!
Rating: B+
Sundance 2022: "Master" Review
Writer/director Mariama Diallo takes a look at systems, racism, and the haunting of assimilation in Master. Billed as a horror film, it’s not the typical horror in terms of jump scares but rather the real horror of the affects of racism. Master has plot holes riddled throughout it, but its themes are worth exploring.
Gail Bishop (Regina Hall) is the new Master at a predominately white college in New England. As she is settling into her role, college freshman Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee) is settling into hers. The campus has a lot to offer: parties, new friends, education, and hope for the future. As Zoe first steps on to campus with big, beautiful curls in her naturally curly hair. As she acclimates to the new environment, we see her hair straighten and look change.
Simultaneously, Bishop is trying to get acclimated to her new home as a Master, but strange things start to happen. Maggots appear in odd places; mini statuettes representing a Mammy, slave and other racist emblems seem to be hidden within the house. It doesn’t help that rumors of the occult and a witch are a part of campus lore. In fact, Jasmine’s room belonged to a black girl who died under mysterious circumstances and something seems to be coming after Jasmine.
As a mystery starts to unravel, the link between past trauma, how black people deal with it and assimilation becomes more clear. Hall shines as an allegory for black people who “make it” and have to uphold an image of perfection while being human. Or do they? This is the question that Diallo puts before us. Do we still have to put up a front to be accepted while slowly killing ourselves on the inside by not showing up authentically?
The cinematography in the film uses muted earth tones. The brown skin of the main characters fade in to wooden tables, desks and chairs in different scenes. While in comparison, their white counterparts pop out of the environment. This smart decision by Diallo and cinematographer, Charlotte Hornsby, is one of the most subtle but brilliant choices in the film. This need to fit in to the point where the main characters fade into their surroundings is a move that the audience may not notice at first glance but feel subconsciously.
The film is a little off kilter in its handling of its characters. One particular storyline drops off abruptly without questions being answered. Another storyline concludes in such a way that will cause reflection. There is something that Diallo is trying to say and in this case perhaps the mixing of genre throws it off or at a script level some beats could be fleshed out. However, this is a good conversation piece for after the lights come up in a theater or at home.
Rating: B-
American Black Film Fesitval 2021: "Liam White" Review
Harold Jackson III’s latest film Liam White: The Forgettable Life of Liam White explores the life of a dying man as he tries to tackle what his life means to others and himself. It’s an exploration of death, life, and the people who shape us in between.
Liam White (Shaun Woodland) is a writer whose glory days may be in the not too distant rear view. He’s trying to write his next big thing when he finds out he has terminal cancer. Trying to get his house in order, while internally wrestling with this news, Liam goes on a journey to talk with family and friends. Adrianna (Sasha Wakefield), Liam’s seemingly long time partner with no real commitment, walks in step beside him through this journey.
The opening sequences of the film stumbles around with glimpses of Liam’s day to day activities. It mirrors the character’s internal battle as a struggling writer. Throughout the story audio between the scenes is handled similarly. L cuts (when the audio from the preceding scene continues to play over footage from the following scene) and j cuts (when the audio from the next scene plays in the preceding) are used throughout the film to support this stumbling storyline and vibe. It’s important to note this because the film doesn’t play out in the standard format of editing but rather capriciously moves through time and space.
Making his third collaboration with Jackson, Woodland’s performance reeks of preparation. He plays Liam subdued in such a way that you can almost see the cloud over Liam’s head. His internal thoughts are rushing as he tries to come to grips with an expiration date on his life, which manifests in a disconnect in his eyes while interacting with people and going through the motions of what’s left of his life. He’s the center of gravity within a hypnotic film and his performance is an anchor.
Perhaps like our own lives, most of the actors in this film feel like character actors fulfilling a scene not only in the movie but for Liam’s life. It’s truly an ensemble film in which each performance builds the supporting cast around him. Seasoned actors Jasmine Guy and Terrence “TC” Carson give strong performances as Liam’s parents. While their on screen time isn’t extremely long, their presence is felt, allowing their eyes and physicality to do the work of expressing years of bitterness, anger, resentment and regret. We also get a who’s who of DMV actors like Chad Eric Smith, Rick Kain, Tamieka Chavis, and Michael J. Patterson filling in bit parts like the pros they are. If you know you know!
Jackson gives special attention to the world around Liam. Specifically, he looks at the environment of DC that seems to be passing by Liam. Or is it Liam who glides through the District? Usually precise with his camerawork, Jackson breaks the 180 degree rule in a scene right after Liam finds out he’s terminally ill. While it could have been the confines of spacing on set, I have to believe this is done purposefully to subtly throw off the cinematic world much like Liam’s has been. While life doesn’t cut together in a montage like film our memories do. Some memories we can relive precisely and others are a quick glimpse of what was and we are led down that path visually throughout the film. Any of Jackson’s work has something to be aware of from a technical aspect and it’s the editing and visual/audio montages in this one that is important to the storytelling.
Liam White is perhaps Jackson’s most “artsy” piece to date. Most of his films have a direct address of a subject matter through dialogue. Here, sometimes what’s not spoken is important. This film is more of a mosaic that collectively speaks. You have to see the forest for the trees or this movie may be a self titled, self fulfilling prophecy in being forgettable. However, if you let the hour and twenty six minute run time tell you a bigger picture of life from a birds eye view, you just might pause long enough to reflect on your own! Perhaps that’s the point.
Rating: B
Sundance 2021: "CODA" Review
I was lucky to catch “CODA” on the last day of Sundance. By the time I did, it had already broken records as the highest selling film at the festival at a whopping $25 million. So for me, it was like sipping an expensive pour of bourbon; I had to see what $25 million tasted like! While I ingested it with other senses, the film that focuses on the bond of a deaf family had my eyes pouring out tears and belly full of laughs. In short, the film is worth the hype.
The film is a remake of the 2014 French dramedy “La Famille Bélier”. “CODA” stands for Child of Deaf Adults. Within the film, Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the only hearing member of her family. The Rossis are a hardworking, tight knit fishing family living near the coast of Massachusetts. Ruby works on the boat with her father Frank (Troy Kotsur) and brother Leo (Daniel Durant). She acts as interpreter and intermediary between worlds for her family. Her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin) is a former model and her father’s passion for his beautiful wife is never not on display, even if it humiliates Ruby.
While Ruby works early morning hours with her father and brother, she attends high school with other teens her age. She decides to take a chance and audition for the school choir, led by Bernardo Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez). Bernardo is a character, stating that you can save yourself the embarrassment and call him Mr. V if you can’t roll your R’s. He’s the exact influence that Ruby needs to motivate her to audition for Berklee College of Music.
The clash of Ruby’s desire to go to college and her family’s need for a no cost interpreter to keep their business running is the center of the conflict in the film. However, it’s the layers of issues within that conflict that makes the film so moving. Each family member wrestles with issues of inadequacy. Leo feels as though he isn’t appreciated enough as the older brother who seems to be looked over by his parents. Ruby feels like an outsider as the one in four who can hear. Her parents depend and lean too much on Ruby for assistance, missing or refusing to see that she needs to breathe and be independent.
The film is full of beautiful, moving, and laugh out loud moments. It spotlights relationships within the family and the family bond as a whole. The ensemble cast is absolutely stellar, boasting of Academy Award worthy performance for all the right reasons. The Rossi family use American Sign Language to communicate throughout the film and thus the physical and subtle nuances of their performances are even more powerful. Director Sian Heder captures the importance of communication within her cinematic family and what communication means for the deaf community through framing and sound.
You’ll have to judge for yourself if this film should be valued at $25 million. Much like bourbon, your taste may be different but there are certain films that universally strike a chord and resonate. “CODA” certainly is a winner that deserves the buzz and accolades it will receive!
Rating: A
Sundance 2021: "Searchers" Review
I have no idea what online dating is like. I’ve been married for twelve years and missed online dating when I was single. In a world ravaged by the COVID-19 virus, the exposure of our need for human connection is even more abundantly clear. Director Pacho Velez documents what searching for someone to date is like for a diverse group of New Yorkers across age, gender, and sexual orientation. It’s a fascinating look at human nature that uses dating as a cover to explore what makes us tick.
Velez uses a rig in which his subjects look into the camera while scrolling through dating apps. The glass in front of the camera lens reflects the computer screen for the subject to see. Think of it like a teleprompter that shows the computer screen instead of a script. As his subjects scroll, center punched in the frame, they talk about who they see, what they’re interested in or why they make the decisions they make.
This technique is fascinating because it’s as though his subjects are looking at you at times, but our voyeurism as an audience member and connection to the people in front of us is made even stronger. It’s like looking through a one way mirror as someone gives their private thoughts and opinions on what they’re seeing. How each person judges the profiles in front of them is unique to them while universally familiar. In fact, we judge the judgers in front of us on the screen as audience members creating a connected loop. None of this is imposed by the filmmaker, but naturally occurs due to film technique and human nature.
Throughout the film, Velez occasionally cuts to side conversations with his interviewees. These interviews explore the culture behind online dating, various apps and personal desires. These moments of vulnerability and sincere explanation are what makes the documentary charming and captivating. He also captures moments of public displays of affection, engagements, and wedding photos being taken in the midst of this pandemic. These slices of life pin a moment in time within the frame. It’s a moment of someone’s happiness that we can swoon over, the happiness we aspire to attain, this moment of isolation and masks, and a bit of the dream we all may concoct in our heads as to what love is.
Our common desire and need for relationship is on full display throughout the documentary. How we meet new people and how our past relationships effect those interactions is what makes the tapestry of our lives. “Searchers” is a special film that will have you search your own thoughts, relationships and interdependence with others.
Rating: A
Sundance 2021: "White Wedding" Review
Great films expect you to catch up to it and writer/director Melody C. Roscher understands that. “White Wedding” is a short film that throws you into it and asks you fill in the blanks as it moves along. It starts with the mother of the groom (Mary McMillan) realizing she made a huge mistake. She rushes to tell her daughter, Kelly (Emily Davis), that she made a mistake in hiring the band. It seems the bass player, Bower (Curtiss Cook, “Counselor”), is the bride’s estranged father.
The instant conflict is there. On what should be Bella’s (Nabiyah Be) happiest day, it could instantly be a bittersweet one, marred by her father’s presence. As not to spoil the short, the rest of the film is pushes us toward an inevitable meeting, proving the power of short filmmaking.
Roscher understands the premise of her short, the characters within, and how to deliver the story to the audience. She fills the frame with wedding guests and things you’d expect to see at a wedding. The claustrophobic look at times adds to the tension building in the story. Cinematographer David Paul Jacobson channels a Fincher-esque color palette with lightly desaturated warm colors. A huge tilt of that hat goes to the Art Department on the look of the setting. You’re thrust into the midst of a wedding in progress and you’re quickly invested.
This is an example of a filmmaking team firing on all cylinders to create a cohesive and enjoyable story. The film works as a short and could be a part of a bigger film. Either way, the transition from longtime producer to writer/director for Roscher seems like a smart move and I look forward to seeing more from her!
Rating: A
Sundance 2021: "Marvelous and The Black Hole" Review
We all have to deal with pain and grief at some point in our lives. While there may be books and manuals that address how we cope with grief, it effects us all differently. “Marvelous and The Black Hole” is a funny, poignant look at how one young woman deals with loss, while gaining lifelong wisdom along the way.
Sammy (Miya Cech) is a teenage delinquent by definition. She has a chip on her shoulder after losing her mother. It doesn’t help that her father has a new love interest, Marianne (Paulina Lule) who happens to have her toothbrush and clothes lying around the house. Her older sister is entrenched in gaming. So everywhere Sammy looks within her family, she feels like her mother is being forgotten. To try and turn his daughter’s attitude around after she gets into some trouble, Angus (Leonardo Nam) gives her an alternative of taking college courses or going to a camp for troubled youth. It’s like Bill and Ted consequences, except Sammy is a one woman show with enough personality to cover both.
While ditching the Intro To Small Business summer course to tattoo herself in the bathroom stall (her form of cutting), Sammy bumps into Margot (Rhea Perlman). Margot is a magician with a soft spot for Sammy; she sees herself in her. She can see through her angry exterior and soon a relationship emerges. In part, it is forced upon Sammy as her instructor says she must learn from Margot as a business mentor. As time moves forward, a clear appreciation for one another and the wonder that magic creates shines through.
Margot tells Sammy that “Magic is about making an audience feel something.” Even though we’ve seen this story before, writer/director Kate Tsang certainly makes her audience feel something as she slowly melts Sammy’s heart over the course of the film, which in turn melts ours. The quote is representative of so much within the movie and in life as Sammy tries to bury her feelings to not feel the pain of loss, but simultaneously tattoos herself to feel alive. Wisely, like the magicians in her film, Tsang unpacks all the anger Sammy harbors through a certain sleight of hand by telling a universal story, using comedy and giving us endearing characters.
Miya Cech delivers a sincere performance as Sammy. She displays Sammy’s inner turmoil without falling into the angsty teen stereotype. Rhea Perlman reminds us that a veteran actor can bring a certain magical touch to a character that infuses said magic throughout the film as a whole. The overall ensemble is solid, but Cech and Perlman are certainly the heart of the film.
On one hand you could simply say that “Marvelous and The Black Hole” is the story of a young girl who gets the Madea treatment- if Madea was a magician and the script and characterization was way better. Tsang gives us a heartfelt examination of mentorship, grief, and the bond of family you’re born into and the family you make. It’s a great reminder and a fun watch!
Rating: B+
"Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation" Review
In just over two months, Woodstock, the legendary landmark music festival, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. To commemorate this occasion, PBS and director Barak Goodman, who previously directed some documentaries for PBS on their American Experience series, have created a documentary about what led up to the events of the music festival and the festival itself. In short, Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation is a nicely done documentary that also serves as a time capsule for what was happening around the time.
Over the span of three days, (technically four days but due to severe storms during the third day, the performers were pushed back by some hours so that it wrapped up that following morning) in August 1969, more than 400,000 people descended upon a dairy farm in New York. It was a last-minute relocation since the original site was no more due to the city pulling out; 32 acts performed on-stage, sometimes in not that great of a condition. The organizers, working around the clock, knew they ran out of time, since the grounds weren’t even remotely close to being done. This could have gone so incredibly wrong. And yet, by some divine miracle, the organizers pulled this event off, with some bumps on the road.
The format that Goodman employed for the film reminded me a lot of what Peter Jackson did last year with his fantastic documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, in that we never cut back to any talking heads, but have sound bites talk over the carefully selected photos and footage that Goodman and his team tracked down to place in the film. The sound bites range from the organizers of Woodstock, the writers of the documentary providing historical context, those who attended the festival, and even a couple of the musicians who played at Woodstock. So, all in all, it’s a diverse array of talking heads. As you watch the documentary, and see how everything came together, it’s incredibly fascinating that Woodstock didn’t become the 1960s version of the Fyre Festival, since the organizers knew the event wasn’t even remotely ready to go. It’s a marvel that this didn’t become an outright disaster. The archival video from Woodstock is a thing to behold.
Even if you knew absolutely nothing about Woodstock or the significance of the festival, this does a good job in giving the audience an overview of the times surrounding the festival, and a nice history lesson of how everything came to be. At 96 minutes, the pacing is smooth in that it never feels like it’s dragging its feet. The film highlights certain areas, so that each section can stand on its own, from the counterculture movement that was growing to the development of the festival. I had a basic knowledge of the casual information of the festival, so I was surprised with what I learned from this documentary with knowledge and comparison of the modern day Fyre Festival disaster. Even though Woodstock came down to crunch time, the orchestrators were able to focus on what they needed to complete, prepare for the worst, and even make the event free.
With what Woodstock could have done better is allow more of the musicians to talk about their experience playing at the fabled festival, even though we hear from some of the musicians who performed. I don’t know if it was the case that some of the musicians are dead, the archival audio wasn’t that good, or if they weren’t asked or turned down this documentary, but it would have been nice to hear more about their time up on that stage. Also, there were times where the documentary, especially during the first third of the film, relied more on the photos where it became a little bit like a powerpoint presentation.
Overall, if you grew up hearing about Woodstock, or were one of those people who attended this unforgettable festival, then Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation is for you. It’s only fitting that for a festival that’s celebrating its 50th year, we look back on what this meant for so many people. As I mentioned before, this is nicely made, and absolutely mind-boggling that with the images that Goodman puts on display here, this festival didn’t fall by the wayside and collapse. Now, let’s see if they do any follow-ups about Woodstock 99, which didn’t go exactly according to plan, or if the upcoming one that the organizers are trying to get off the ground comes to fruition.
Rating: B
Tribeca 2019: "Slay The Dragon" Review
A secretive gerrymandering initiative launched 10 years ago threatens to undermine democracy as we know it, “Slay the Dragon” depicts the everyday people fighting this practice to make their votes matter.
Per the documentary, a well-funded partisan initiative poured money into state legislative races in key swing states to gain control of their redistricting processes and used high-tech analytics to dramatically skew voting maps based on demographic data after the 2008 election. The result is one of the greatest electoral manipulations in U.S. history, one that poses a fundamental threat to our democracy and exacerbates the already polarized atmosphere in Congress and state houses across the country.
Gerrymandering is the practice of redrawing electoral maps to serve the party in power. It is not a new philosophy, however. In fact, it has been around for centuries. But in today’s hyper-partisan political arena, it has been taken to unprecedented extremes, fueled by the elimination of corporate campaign contribution limits and the availability of vast amounts of personal information.
This documentary, directed by Barak Goodman and Chris Durance, is enlightening even for the well informed citizen. It is beautifully infuriating and begs for a call to action. It is polished like the politicians it presents and perfectly articulates the waning faith in democracy across the country. It is bias to a fault, but listening to Chris Janikowski—with all the wiles and smiles—boast his “redmapping” project of 2010 is stomach-turning. That is, I’m all for this bias narrative.
That being said, we also experience hope in the form of Katie Fahey, a Michigander who forms the group Voters Not Politicians working to bring a measure onto the state’s ballot to require an independent group—not the legislature—to draw these aforementioned lines. And in Wisconsin, an activist group challenges the state’s redistricting in a case that makes its way to the US Supreme Court. Voters Not Politicians breathes life on the fire that is hope, and offers a glimmer of positivity in a documentary that is otherwise quite depressing.
Unless, of course, you are a conservative reader. As a year in politics, 2010 was the dam break that opened the levy to a tsunami of republican reform, bringing in a wave of conservative laws and bills in its aftermath. The writing on the wall, however, is that America is getting more diverse, more educated, and the republicans feel their time is dwindling.
Any practice that allows for elected officials to dismiss accountability is an unsafe one. More importantly, you can draw a direct line—no pun intended—from oppressive voter ID laws to election results. If it weren’t for a compelling narrative structure, I would’ve stormed out of the theater. It truly was a well done documentary, but above anything else, “Slay the Dragon” reminds us what is wrong with our democracy. It is split at the seams and we have to find a way to heal the wounds.
Grade: B
Tribeca 2019: "17 Blocks" Review
In 1999, nine year old Emmanuel was gifted a video camera. What he captured of his family over the following years would be the most poignant home movie ever cut together. “17 Blocks,” a film by journalist, bestselling author, Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker, creator of Found Magazine and contributor to public radio's This American Life, Davy Rothbart, is a profound narrative piece that takes the ‘Boyhood’ approach to storytelling and blows it out of the water.
“17 Blocks” chronicles—over two decades—a family, which like many, deal with their share of hardships. Cheryl, the matriarch of this ever-growing family, is raising her three kids alone. She is funny and charismatic, always harboring dreams of becoming the next Marilyn Monroe. Her dreams, however, are thwarted by responsibility and a cancerous drug addiction. These tendencies surely rubbed off on her kids who lacked a proper father figure. All but Emmanuel. Emmanuel had a lust for life, a drive and compassion for those he cared for. The only one in his family to graduate high school, Emmanuel had big plans of his own. Until it was all over in a second. The opening shot of this documentary shows a rainbow touching down over Southeast Washington, D.C. However, this story is not all rainbows and butterflies.
The year Emmanuel was shot by two, masked robbers, there were over one-hundred homicides in D.C. alone. The Sanford family and Rothbart have offered us this incredibly intimate insight into their world plagued by gun violence, poverty and addiction. The home-video aspect of much of this ninety minute non-fiction piece, feels invasive. We see what Emmanuel sees. Chilling and all the more impactful. We learned from Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” that children offer a unique perspective to narratives replete with sadness and maturity because there is a youthful spirit that contests the tragedy head on with ignorant beauty. Emmanuel’s home video offers the cruelest of memories while he smiles through it all. His infectious spirit lives on in his young nieces and nephews who miss him dearly.
There are bright moments amidst all the sorrow, but the film begs the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? A truly introspective twist of emotions, both equally saddening as infuriating. But Cheryl offers a sage response to all the pain in her life in saying, “Hope is real, hope is alive, it’s what keeps us going, hope for better, hope for tomorrow.” Although she also recognizes that “some pain doesn’t go away.”
There is a moment when Emmanuel’s sister Denise is scrubbing his blood off the walls of their tiny apartment with a t-shirt rag as Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” plays in the background and her children look on asking, “Where is uncle Emmanuel? Where is uncle Emmanuel?” To which all I can muster is a thank you to the Sanford family for being brave enough to share their story with the world. This film rips at the heart with focused blows. It is relentless. It is a cinematic triumph, but more importantly, it hopefully evokes change out of the people who have the ability to make an impact in these communities.
As a wise woman once said, “Hope is real, hope is alive, it’s what keeps us going, hope for better, hope for tomorrow.” I like the sound of that.
Grade: A
Tribeca 2019: "Blow The Man Down" Review- Crime Thriller With Coen Brothers Feel
If the death of their mother wasn’t difficult enough on the Connolly Sisters (Sophie Lowe and Morgan Saylor), now they have to maintain the family business, pay for a large home they cannot afford and deal with the strange behavior of their late mother’s friends. Then one of them kills somebody. If they want to, Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy are going to be making films for a long time. Both graduates of Wesleyan University, Cole and Krudy teamed up for their first feature with “Blow the Man Down”—a bold first film that, although presents some familiar story beats, offers a gripping narrative that exudes originality.
“Blow the Man Down” begins in song, a fisherman’s hymn you may hear at a bar. The song resurfaces in the film at different occasions as if the images on screen are merely the poetry between the lines of the song. I’d like to think the captain of the fishing boat, boasting his aria, is sitting us down to tell us a tale from long ago over a few pints. This approach to the narrative evokes a classic Coen brothers feel, like a “Fargo” set in Maine. It is the darkest of comedies but the humor works and this writing tandem knows exactly when to implement it.
The film is a mystery, a thriller, full of the classic tropes: the bag of cash, the hidden murder weapon. And to stress further, the discoveries of the above by our protagonists feels convenient at times, as if to only serve in pushing the plot forward. I must admit, however, this is a stretch for a criticism. The development of character and story is handled with aplomb. It is clear these two storytellers focus heavily on their characters.
This film boasts a powerfully female-led cast which features Annette O’Toole, June Squibb and is helmed by Margo Martindale who is a force to be reckoned with. Martindale plays Enid Nora Devlin, a businesswoman who presides over an eerie bed-and-breakfast called the Ocean View. Except, the place is a brothel. Enid has been running this joint for years, and although she now flies solo, once had the help of her friends. As the criminal operation soon unfolds, it threatens to unveil the disturbing underbelly of this seaside town.
The photography of the film is beautiful. The geography of the area certainly lends itself well to a majestic looking picture, laden with intense blue hues. While pleasant to look at, the thrilling nature of the story acts like a car crash—impossible to look away from. What Krudy and Cole steer clear of, however, is the ominous-music-thing-lurking-in-the-corner-bit. Of course, this twist is refreshing in that we have but the performances to lean on for the thrill.
After premiering at Tribeca this April, “Blow the Man Down” is still looking for U.S. distribution, but I have no doubt Krudy and Cole will find their audience. This is a true ensemble piece. A film that introduces two cinematic voices that, as Loren Hammonds puts, “won’t soon be forgotten.”
Grade: B+
Tribeca 2019: "Other Music" Review- A Cacophony of Memories
“Other Music” is one of this year’s feature documentaries at Tribeca, a film about a record store that opened in the East Village in 1995. If I took away anything from this documentary, however, it is that Other Music was not just a record store.
This documentary was directed by married couple Puloma Basu and Rob Hatch-Miller, an LA-based team that has specialized in music video production and recently collaborated on the soul music documentary feature Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows. The film chronicles the store’s 20-year history and features artists and bands such as Regina Spektor, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Strokes, Interpol and TV On The Radio. The record store, which closed in 2016, was a solace for the independent musician. It was a destination for artists, industry representatives, music lovers and wanderers alike. It was a place where bands were formed and friendships blossomed. Other Music created an environment that supported musicians and allowed bands to grow, which ultimately served as a great influence on the music scene in New York City.
As retail stores lose business to online shopping, Other Music reminds us how human interaction can help nurture a community. When you enter the store there are shelves replete with vinyl, many of which records are labeled with a hand written note card. A professional vote of confidence for the work. There is also something gratifying about owning something tangible you spend money on. The spirit of this record store certainly lives on in a world dominated by online streaming services. The film does a great job focusing on employees of the store as well as customers who frequented the shop, and these customers cried when the store closed. I may have even broken down watching this film and I never had the chance to go there before it closed, but I digress.
From a storytelling perspective, Basu and Hatch-Miller succeed in chronicling a beginning, middle and end. They take you on a journey that offers great company and even better music. They extinguished my only criticism of the piece with a cacophony of noise, but I had to wait until about two-thirds the way through the film. From an editing perspective, the cuts could have been more inventive, creating a rhythm to compliment the narrative. But as the story neared the end and the store closed, the directors made their own music. It was a beautiful and emotional ‘Trashing the Camps’ style tune that satisfied the itch for something more self-reflective.
It is important to note that I don’t typically end a review in personal anecdote, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t articulate the profound impact this film had on me. As the credits rolled the theater erupted in applause, I calmly rose from my seat and exited quietly so as not to disturb the fellow movie goer and I walked. I walked to 15 E 4th St, just blocks south from the theater. There’s a coffee shop there now, one of many in the area. But just a few years ago was a record store that changed many lives.
Basu and Hatch-Miller welcomed me into their world of groove and funk, rock and roll, pop and disco, they sat me down for a history lesson and spit me out onto the streets of New York looking for an album that could fill the vacancy they created. In a world cluttered by noise, this film broke through it all with a heartfelt focus and all I can say is ‘thank you.’
Rating: B+
Tribeca 2019: "East of The River" Review
Not every life is a fairy tale, but every life has moments of levity, beauty, and love that can be found in them. East of The River is a day in the life film about a young girl who doesn’t seem to have the best life, but she’s making the best of it. Teonna (Ayiana T. Davis) is unexpectedly suspended from school. After trying to find out why and getting no answer, the only question she has is if she can still get breakfast. Suspended and forced to hit the streets, Teonna links up with her friend Malik (Malachi Mack) who seems to ditch school often. They find Sara (Steloni Mason), who has given up school completely for money opportunities in the streets.
Sara takes Teonna and Malik on an adventure through Washington, DC and east of the Anacostia River. Teonna’s admiration of the older, seemingly more sophisticated Sara is seen through lingering shots of Teonna’s eyeline gazing up at her. Director Hannah Peterson has certainly picked up a few things after serving as a production assistant for Shawn Baker’s The Florida Project. Her use of first time actors to tell this story makes it soaked with authenticity. Peterson’s constraint in allowing a scene to breathe and take shape permits the audience to live in the moment with this group of teenagers. They may not make the most ethical decisions, they’re the kids you wish would be quiet and sit down on the metro, but this is life for them. These are the cards they’ve been dealt and this is how they deal with it.
East of The River is a short that could very well be turned into a feature down the line. Its characters are fully developed and interesting to watch. If nothing else, it’s a good reminder that you can find beauty in the little things of life, and sometimes that gratitude can overcome your surroundings.
Tribeca 2019: "Noah Land" Review
A thoughtful and provoking debut from Cenk Ertürk, “Noah Land” immediately grabs you with a nostalgic score whose auditory familiarity is appropriately somber.
Coming to terms with his terminal illness, Ibrahim (Haluk Bilginer) asks his son Ömer (Ali Atay) to drive him to the village in rural Turkey where he was raised. However, Ömer soon realizes there is an underbelly to this request that slowly surfaces. In short, Ibrahim wants to be buried beneath a tree he planted as a boy. This tree, and more specifically this land, however, had been in dispute which is what cast Ibrahim’s family away from the community years ago. Since, the land has become a holy site of sorts, deemed the “Noah Tree” after the Biblical figure whom the villagers believe first planted it. Ibrahim, adamant of his just burial, must convince his ever-conflicted son for help while he too battles his own demons: a divorce and an insatiable anger brewing out of unaired grievances between himself and his father. Sentimental perhaps, but it is unclear what Ertürk is aiming for with this film. A slow-burning, dry drama that leaves you questioning how you feel about any of it all.
Ertürk uses a conventional color palette nicely throughout, replete with fiery oranges and deep-sea blues. He also uses earth tones as a crutch and the natural beauty of the landscape, for which no one could be faulted. Not as much a conversation piece but more a declaration of fact: rural Turkey is beautiful. Of course, then, Ertürk uses the tree as a central motif to bleed through the photography and color design of the film.
While the score offered a soft blanket to rest on, the sound mixing needed work. Oftentimes too loud, the SFX of breathing felt more like an editing misstep than a creative choice. But the issues didn’t stop there. The film’s problems begin almost immediately, as Ertürk throws the audience into the deep end without explaining how the principal characters connect or even why they act the way they do. Let us begin with the first scene with Ömer and Ibrahim. Ibrahim, sick and elderly, struggles to get out of the car and even more so on his walk into the nearby convenience store. Yet his son, Ömer, not only doesn’t offer to help him, but takes a piece of gum out of his mouth and wedges it into the lock of the passenger side door so that his father must sit in the back. Without the context of their relationship, Ömer’s action appears unnecessarily cruel. Even when we learn more about Ibrahim’s abandonment of Ömer and his mother, it is difficult to sympathize with him.
That being said, as Ibrahim states, “there is a very fine line between revenge and justice,” and Ertürk is using the character to explore that idea. And while Ömer’s relationship with his father is sensibly complicated, it’s his relationship with his ex-wife, Elif (Hande Dogandemir), where things really get muddled. This, of course, is not to discredit the characters themselves because all three actors give incredibly evocative performances. Simply put, Ertürk hasn’t given the audience the means to understand their unique perspectives.
In a thematically driven narrative where metaphor is ubiquitous, it is expected that Ertürk wouldn’t stick every landing. But I’d be doing a disservice to dismiss this film entirely as a failure. It has a plethora of redeeming qualities that would bring me back for a second viewing, including an ending that makes you question—what is it in our dreams that causes us to act in the present? The longer we spend with Ömer and Ibrahim it is clear the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, and at its core, this film paints that picture nicely.
Grade: C+
"Family" Review: Family Over Everything?
Family is one of those movies where you take a despicable person, give them a small redeeming quality, and put them in a position or on an adventure that changes their lives positively, somewhat. So why watch a movie about a person you probably wouldn’t like in real life? Well with writer/director Laura Steinel at the helms and laugh out loud performances from Taylor Schilling and Kate McKinnon it’s definitely for the laughs and quirk.
Kate Stone (Schilling) is a career-focused woman who is oblivious to everything outside of working hard and climbing the corporate ladder. That includes her co-workers feelings, what comes out of her mouth and spending time with her estranged family. So when her brother (Eric Edelstein) calls her to come watch her niece, Maddie (Bryn Vale), it’s not a surprise that she’s reluctant.
The fish out of water aunt quickly learns Maddie’s habits, like going into the karate dojo led by Pete (Brian Tyree Henry) after ballet. Kate’s not good at babysitting. Laser focused on work, she leaves Maddie at a gas station where she meets a young juggalo (think Dead Head but Insane Clown Posse) who shows an interest in her. Kate also let’s her eat all the chicken parmesan she wants at night. Yet, the longer she hangs out with Maddie, she sees the part of herself that went cold after being ridiculed in her youth. It’s the ability to save her niece’s spirit that helps her heart grow three sizes.
This film is all about comedic timing. Schilling shows a comedic range that Orange Is The New Black fans may not have seen before. McKinnon makes brilliant choices that only she could as the nosy, fit mom next door. While Brian Tyree Henry’s awareness and ability to respond in a scene is so fun to watch. Steinel’s preparedness to get all the cast on the same page in setting a tone for the film is admirable.
Family is an indie, film festival lover’s film. You have to be willing to stay on board throughout the decrescendos in plot to move to the next funny moment. The life lesson and heart of the story has been done before, but it’s still an enjoyable retelling of it. A reminder to celebrate our eccentricities, and have your family’s back regardless is always welcomed.
Rating: B-
Sundance 2019: "Dos Fridas" Review
Dos Fridas is a dualistic film that reflects upon life and death while toying with reality and imagination. The history behind Frida Kahlo’s life is not well known and Dos Fridas is inspired by traumatic events that happened to her towards the end of her life (she passed away at age 47). The film beautifully portrays how Kahlo dealt with those events mentally and physically.
The film follows the relationship between Kahlo and her newly hired nurse Judith (played by Maria de Medeiros) who also suffers similar experiences as Frida. Writer/director Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez also acts as Frida Kahlo in the film with a commanding presence that demands attention. The film mixes reality with imagination and the past with the present, which is developed through Mexican folklore, surrealism and existentialism. It is not a “feel good movie” in the least bit and the film even forces the audience to contemplate the meaning of life. It is important to note that the name Dos Fridas is a nod towards one of Frida Kahlo’s oil paintings called The Two Fridas, this painting is a double self portrait. The film cleverly reflects opposing things, which is also portrayed in The Two Fridas.
An important part of Dos Fridas is the almost all female cast. The lead actors are female, the supporting actors are female and there aren’t that many speaking roles that are men. With that being said, most of this film passes the test for feminist film theory, women are in powerful roles, the focus of their conversations is not about men, and they are fully clothed. These minor details may not seem too important to an average viewer but this is a big change from the norm in traditional Hollywood films. Deliberate actions to uphold women positively in cinematic art is poetic in itself and Dos Fridas exposes a new realm of beauty.
Alongside the strong casting decisions and feminist approach, the film is filled with Mexican Folklore, from Mexican sugar skulls, to the mariachi performing in Frida’s backyard; the film interprets the Mexican culture in a beautiful way that depicts the truth of Frida’s heritage. Through surrealism and expressionist techniques, Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez creates a narrative that is reflective of Luis Buñuel (the iconic Latino filmmaker) who created the 1952 film Mexican Bus Ride. Both of these films don’t follow a sequential timeline in regards to the narrative, which is common practice of Luis Buñuel; both films also create uncomfortable scenes through intense drama. Even though the stories within these films are both somewhat sad, they are told with such content of the Mexican culture that the beauty of it shines through regardless.
One relative piece of Mexican culture that stands out in the film is the traditions in embracing life as well as death, while not being afraid of the afterlife. Frida Kahlo oftentimes painted very violent pieces of work because it was her way of escaping the pain in her life; this film portrayed that sorrow in a realistic yet artistic way. This approach to portraying Frida Kahlo in her raw emotions makes this film incredibly expressionistic in a way that is unsettling but it also makes the viewer ponder the meaning of life. This is also portrayed through what is fake vs reality in the film; things dramatically change without any preemptive warnings- very much like Luis Buñuel films. If you are a fan of films that follow a strict narrative, this is not the film for you; however if you do enjoy that type of cinematic approach, you’re in for a ride.
Ultimately, this film is a love poem to Frida Kahlo and the Mexican culture. It reflects upon resilience through pain, freedom of artistic expression, as well as freedom of sexuality. The actors in the film create a wonderfully surreal story that exposes a new light into Frida Kahlo’s tough life. This film is truly a gift to the Mexican art community, and the Latino art community as a whole. It unapologetically speaks truth of things that are oftentimes overlooked within Frida’s life, and creates a reflective story through her trauma. I truly enjoyed Dos Fridas as a Latina filmmaker myself, and I would highly recommend viewing this film when you’re in an existential mood.
Rating: A
Sundance 2019: "Sweetheart" Review
One of the hidden gems to come out of Sundance this year is Sweetheart. Shipwrecked on an island, a young woman must not only survive the elements but fend off a malevolent creature that comes out of the ocean at night. On the surface, that description may not sound very appealing, but the execution is delicious!
Jenn (Kiersey Clemons) has just washed up on the shore of an island that she learns is deserted. Along with her, Brad (Andrew Crawford) has hit the sand, but the large piece of coral in his side spells doom. Before she can grab Brad some coconut water (literally), he’s gone. Alone on the island, Jenn quickly assesses what she has at her disposal for survival. The life jackets she and Brad wore, a flair gun, and a suitcase won’t get the job done, but it will do.
After exploring the island a bit, she finds the remains of what seems to be a family that landed on the island as well (both skeletal and their material belongings). As night falls, she buries her friend, only to find blood soaked sand and palm tree leaves where he was in the morning. As the film moves forward she finds that she’s not alone and you may be able to guess what happens, but it’s not as predictable as you may think in getting to the end.
Writer/director J.D. Dillard has written a smart, female heroine in Jenn. She is able to survive on the island by fishing, cooking, and eventually finding ways to analyze what she’s up against in this nocturnal monster. As an audience, all we know about Jenn is what we see from the shipwreck, but Dillard also brings in more characters to give us some backstory on Jenn and why she may be the survivor she is.
Sweetheart would be a here today gone tomorrow monster tale if not for its creative screenplay. All jump scares are earned here, and the monster is scary in appearance and sound. In fact, Dillard understands that less is more and therefore creates an environment that audiences can be invested in because our imagination fills in the gaps of things we don’t see. Clemons gives a standout performance as most of the movie is on her shoulders. Sweetheart is a survive the night(s) camp horror/thriller that belongs in and bolsters the genre.
Rating: B+
Sundance 2019: "Luce" Review
Luce explores the delicate line between the perceptions that people have of other people versus the truth of who they are. While our individual experience is on a spectrum, human nature and history has placed its construction of race in boxes in order to “understand” each other. This film allows its main character to work within the constraints of those boxes to exploit the system in a powerful way that puts some of those ideals on trial.
Luce Edgar (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) was adopted from war-torn Eritrea by his white parents, Amy (Naomi Watts) and Peter (Tim Roth) at the age of ten. His parents helped him get through years of therapy to heal wounds from being a child soldier, and sacrifice to provide him the best life possible. Now a senior in high school, he’s fully acclimated to America and in fact, is a stellar student! He’s a beacon of light for his fellow students, especially the black population, and the weight of that is heavy on his shoulders.
The film’s inciting incident occurs when Luce’s teacher, Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spencer), calls Amy in to talk about a discovery she’s made. After tasking the class with an assignment to write a paper in the voice of a historical figure, Luce chose the radical Frantz Fanon, who believed in hurting others for a cause. On top of that, Ms. Wilson searched Luce’s locker and found illegal fireworks that pack the same punch as a shotgun. Ms. Wilson’s motive for bringing Amy in before letting anyone else make the discovery is to protect Luce’s reputation and make sure he succeeds.
With this information and the materials in her possession, Amy talks to her husband as soon as she gets home. This initial conversation is where both Amy and Peter start making judgements on Luce’s character, and we as audience members must make our own conclusions on the situation as well. As the story moves forward, little by little, we find out more of the big picture of what’s happening at school and see how characters in this world make judgement calls based off of pre-conceived and personal thoughts.
Situations like Stephanie Kim’s (Andrea Bang) possible rape during a party, and Luce’s ex-teammate Deshaun (Astro) getting caught with weed in his locker are all brought to the forefront of conversation in the film. What does it mean for Luce’s reputation if he participated in either of these activities? Why does Luce get special treatment over his friends? What does it feel like to be the person that everyone looks at for hope and expects to be virtually perfect?
While the film does interrogate these questions and the American dream on a large scale, screenwriters J.C. Lee and Julius Onah nail what being black, talented, and on a pedestal in America feels like. The ideal of tokenism (the one black person in a room/organization/team/etc.) and pressure to be on is something that Luce feels constantly, and is spot on. They find a sweet spot in making their point without hammering it home, which is hard to do.
Ultimately, this play turned screenplay is brought to life by its stellar cast. Kelvin Harris Jr. is undoubtedly an actor to watch! He commands the screen and authentically connects with the ability to perform in different spaces with uncanny finesse. The scenes where Octavia Spencer and Harris Jr. face off are electric and the things award nominations are made of. Tim Roth and Naomi Watts embody the sacrifice parents make for their children, and the individual struggles of giving blind trust versus questioning your child. Even the supporting cast members like Andrea Bang and Marsha Stephanie Blake (who brilliantly plays Rosemary Wilson, Ms. Wilson’s mentally ill sister) are exhilarating to watch. Their characters are real, dimensional people that you can connect with.
The music by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury swell with tension and put you on edge. It supplements the story that unfolds before your eyes in a way that hits on all cylinders. Luce is a film that you want to watch again to not only to catch what you may have missed in a scene, but also the ideals explored that you may want to ponder over more. It’s a must see!
Rating: A-
Sundance 2019: "Untitled Amazing Johnathan Documentary" Review
The Untitled Amazing Jonathan Documentary is the story of two desperate men; one is trying to leave a legacy and the other is trying to create a legacy through his art. Its an extremely meta film that’s also self-aware and downright hilarious. Writer/director Benjamin Berman takes us on what eventually becomes a personal journey of how far one would go to leave a mark in the world.
The doc starts out as a portrait of comedian/magician John Edward Szeles who goes by the stage name The Amazing Johnathan. Stock footage shows his zany comedic style of performing magic and illusions and rising to the top of his industry. In 2014, Szeles is hit with devastating news that he only has a year to live, but three years later he’s still alive. Enter Benjamin Berman who reaches out to him to document his life and is granted access. Szeles decides that he wants to do a farewell tour as The Amazing Johnathan. Things run smoothly, until suddenly Berman and his team are made aware that another film crew will be shooting the same event to document The Amazing Johnathan. Things continue to spiral out of control from there as Berman learns there are even more documentary crews covering the person he’s dedicated so much time and effort towards.
The film merges into somewhat of a hunt to solve a mystery as Berman worries about the outcome of his documentary and whether he should continue. It doesn’t help that Szeles is extremely apathetic about it all. As Ben dives deeper into trying to salvage his documentary, he also begins to unravel; he takes questionable steps to make sure that it is created and even questions the truth of the ultimate prankster’s death sentence.
The editing in the film is remarkable and your hat has to be tipped to editor Scott Evans. From the opening scene in the documentary you can tell that you’ll be on a self-aware joyride. Nothing is off-limits for sewing the film together to tell its story. From the typography to the sound effects to the quick hit jingles and cuts, this is a story being told from all angles. In fact, this approach in levity to tell the story is what makes the ability to handle this complex story easier.
There are plenty of twists and turns in the movie, but it’s death that looms in the background of both Szeles and Berman’s mind that informs their decisions subconsciously and eventually makes its way into the documentary. The Untitled Amazing Johnathan Documentary is transparent, original and personal in its attempt at making it to the big screen. Berman’s ability to adapt and use his resources create a once in a lifetime moment in a documentary that, otherwise, may not have been made.
Rating: B+
Sundance 2019: "Photograph" Review
Photograph is a good example of how some stories in cinema are universal. It is a slow burn romance about a struggling street photographer named Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) in Mumbai who is feeling the heat from his grandmother to get married. He doesn’t just catch it from his grandmother, but his entire community seems to know how dire the situation is and they constantly remind him of it. After a chance encounter with prospective customer Miloni (Sanya Malhotra), whom he retains her photograph, Rafi does what any stubborn person would do in that situation; he makes it seem as though Miloni is his new boo.
For people of a certain age, the pressure from family and friends to get married is prevalent, and even more so in certain cultures. Both Rafi and Miloni seem to be stuck somewhere in between wanting companionship but wanting it on their own terms. After persuading Miloni to go along with the ruse, the two meet daily with Rafi’s grandmother Dadi (Farrukh Jaffar). As the film continues, little by little, the ruse seems to turn in to something real.
Farrukh Jaffar is absolutely stellar as Rafi’s grandmother! She’s too old to care how loud she is when she’s talking to you and her “mother’s heart”, as she calls it, doesn’t want to die without seeing Rafi married off. Every moment she’s on screen feels more like a documentary than a narrative film because she’s so authentic. Siddiqui and Malhotra give very reserved, internal performances as the main characters. Their eyes are the only way into their feelings.
While the film soars in building the budding love, writer/director Ritesh Batra asks his audience to take a journey that seems to start, stop, reverse and move forward. There are multiple scenes that are shown and then shown again down the line with more details revealed in such a way that doesn’t continue pushing the story forward but rather makes you question why it wasn’t revealed before. As Rafi makes a major attempt at winning Miloni over, we’re left wanting. With an almost two hour run time watching this romance bloom, one could ask if the ruse is on the viewer?
Rating: C+