coming-of-age

GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS: Multi-Generational Growing Pains

Girls Will Be Girls is a powerful examination of how the patriarchy continues to punish girls/women for pushing back against the narrow roles prescribed.

INSIDE OUT 2: Pixar Is Eating Its Own Tail
INSIDE OUT 2: Pixar Is Eating Its Own Tail

Inside Out 2 introduces a bunch of new emotions, but the only one I felt…

MOVING: Divorce Separation Blues
MOVING: Divorce Separation Blues

Shinji Somai’s magnificent 1993 coming-of-age film, Moving—now available in a new 4K restoration from Cinema Guild—can be interpreted in several ways.

BACKSPOT: Panic Attacks And Full Splits
BACKSPOT: Panic Attacks And Full Splits

Devery Jacobs and Evan Rachel Wood star in the queer cheer drama “Backspot,” executive-produced by Elliot Page.

MY SWEET LAND: A Somber Warning Call To History, Past, Present, and Future
MY SWEET LAND: A Somber Warning Call To History, Past, Present, and Future

My Sweet Land is a somber warning call that its events are not contained in one place or time, they are the story of humanity.

SXSW Film Festival 2024: AN ARMY OF WOMEN & WE WERE DANGEROUS
SXSW Film Festival 2024: AN ARMY OF WOMEN & WE WERE DANGEROUS

In this SXSW report, we take a look at two female-driven titles: An Army of Women and We Were Dangerous.

source: Disney+
CRATER: A Starry-Eyed Moon Adventure That Almost Got Scrubbed From Existence

CRATER, a sci-fi kids’ movie that was scrubbed from Disney+, wastes the talents of its young cast, especially Mckenna Grace.

SPACKED OUT: Teenage Wasteland

No films better symbolize the livewire energy of this era in Hong Kong filmmaking than those focused on the youth of the region, such as Spacked Out.

Toronto International Film Festival 2023: THE KING TIDE Interviews
Toronto International Film Festival: 2023: THE KING TIDE, AFTER THE FIRE, AN ENDLESS SUNDAY & BAD BOY

With the second report from TIFF we are brought three wildly different films, and a TV series, all bold in their individual ways.

SURFER: TEEN CONFRONTS FEAR: In Search of a Modern Cult Classic
SURFER: TEEN CONFRONTS FEAR: In Search of a Modern Cult Classic

Surfer: Teen Confronts Fear is both unique in the canon of midnight movies and reaffirms what makes each of them wonderful.

New York Asian Film Festival 2023: MOUNTAIN ONION, NOMAD (DIRECTOR’S CUT), MOUNTAIN WOMAN

In this report from NYAFF, Lee Jutton takes a look at Mountain Onion, Nomad and Mountain Woman!

BEAUTIFUL BEINGS: Angry and Aimless
BEAUTIFUL BEINGS: Angry and Aimless

While Beautiful Beings is well-intentioned and certainly emotionally resonant in parts, it stops short of having a lasting emotional effect.

SXSW Film Festival 2023: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, FRY BREAD FACE AND ME & FURIES
SXSW Film Festival 2023: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, FRY BREAD FACE AND ME & FURIES

In her final report from the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, Kristy Strouse reviews Furies, Fry Bread Face and Me and Late Night with the Devil!

SXSW Film Festival 2023: CHRONICLES OF A WANDERING SAINT, SISTER & SISTER AND RAGING GRACE
SXSW Film Festival 2023, Report 1: CHRONICLES OF A WANDERING SAINT, SISTER & SISTER And RAGING GRACE

My first foray into this year’s SXSW festival is a trio of first-time feature debuts by directors from various parts of the world.

SHAYDA: A Declaration of Independence
Sundance Film Festival 2023: SQUARING THE CIRCLE, SHAYDA & THE STARLING GIRL

For her first report from Sundance 2023, Kristy Strouse dives into some heavy-hitting dramas and a documentary that’ll stick with you!