Month: October 2019

        Paradise Hills is one of the strangest movies I have seen in 2019, if not the strangest.  Writer/director Alice Waddington, in her feature directorial debut, has created a unique science fiction film that hooks you from frame one.  It’s a stunning debut and a film I couldn’t look away from. Paradise Hills opens on a Victorian-style wedding with a twist.  We meet Uma (Emma Roberts), our bride, who is wearing a white…

*NOTE: This review is going to be a CAPSULE review, which means it’ll be a tight, quick critique of the film.         Extracurricular is wild, rambunctious film that subverts the hostage genre.  This is a hostage film that is about far more than that hostage that is taking place.  This is a movie that looks at broken families, corrupt governments, and a man desperate to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. The film looks at…

*NOTE: This review is going to be a CAPSULE review, which means it’ll be a tight, quick critique of the film.             When you think of the sport of basketball, you think of the jump shot.  Like dribbling or passing, the jump shot seems to be just a basic fundamental of the game of basketball and something you are taught when you are first introduced to the game. But did…

*NOTE: This review is going to be a CAPSULE review, which means it’ll be a tight, quick critique of the film.         Milos Forman was an all-time great director.  He was a major player in the Czech New Wave, a film movement in Czechoslovakia where Forman and a number of other rebellious filmmakers made avant garde, cinema verité-like films in response to their countries propaganda-fueled cinema.  He’s a two time Oscar winner…

*NOTE: This review is going to be a CAPSULE review, which means it’ll be a tight, quick critique of the film.             The Apollo Theater is one of the most infamous theaters in New York City if not the United States.  A landmark for young, up-and-coming African Americans to show off their talent while also highlighting established, world renowned artists. The Apollo is a documentary that looks at the importance…

*NOTE: This review is going to be a CAPSULE review, which means it’ll be a tight, quick critique of the film.             By the Grace of God is France’s version of Tom McCarthy’s Best Picture winner, Spotlight.  The film looks priest molestation in France and the controversy surrounding it.  Rather than looking a newspaper trying to uncover the crimes of the church, By the Grace of God focus’ more on the…

*NOTE: This review is going to be a CAPSULE review, which means it’ll be a tight, quick critique of the film.           Ringside is a Hoop Dreams-like documentary about two athletes from the south side of Chicago searching for success.  But much like Hoop Dreams, Ringside isn’t focused on the sport the athletes are playing, but focuses on the athletes and their families. Kenneth Syms Jr. and Destyne Butler Jr. were two of Chicago’s most talked…

*NOTE: This review is going to be a CAPSULE review, which means it’ll be a tight, quick critique of the film.               If 8: A South African Horror Story is a representation of the country’s horror films, they have some issues to work out.  Though there are some creepy elements and a lot of culture, the film is almost scareless and has a really messy plot. I was a bit…

*NOTE: This review is going to be a CAPSULE review, which means it’ll be a tight, quick critique of the film.               Every family is different.  Each family gets along differently and has their own quirks and handles life differently.  Leticia Jorge’s film, Aleli, dissects this exact idea, as the film looks at a dysfunctional trio of siblings, Ernesto (Néstor Guzzini), the older brother with a chip on his…