United States
It’s hard to describe what Boots Riley’s debut, Sorry To Bother You, is actually about, because it is trippy, all over the place, and absolutely brilliant. You need to see it.
Quite different from the big budget, blockbuster action films that we associate with sci-fi nowadays, Prospect is a slow-burning, languid study of people who end up at the wrong place at the wrong time, somewhere in outer space.
Even though it promises a scary journey, Against the Night fails on all levels. The poorness of its plot, direction, and performances make this already short film more unbearable than it ought to be.
With potent acting by Whitaker and Bana, relevant social commentary, adept writing and direction, The Forgiven succeeds as a biopic, albeit not Joffé’s finest effort.
Red Sparrow is solidly engaging, a blistering and intense film with Jennifer Lawrence’s skill and Francis Lawrence’s well-crafted atmosphere.
Watching Thoroughbreds, one is fully aware of the debt it owes to the similar films that came before it. But that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to watch. Female friendship has never looked so deliciously dangerous.
In a move that stands out, Love, Simon is being pushed as an out and proud LGBTQ…
First Reformed had its U.S. premiere at SXSW, with Paul Schrader and Ethan Hawke in attendance. First Reformed brings Paul Schrader’s career to a full circle, with both strong Bressonian and Taxi Driver influences.
Despite a hopeful change of pace for Jim Carrey, Dark Crimes doesn’t deliver, suffering from choppy editing, a lack of dynamic characters, and a generic murder mystery story.
![Were you familiar with Mary Magdalene before you read the script? Garth Davis: Not in a deep, detailed way, but in the movies I have seen before and in the way everyone kind of understands. When I read this it was a completely different version, so that got me curious. I started to investigate it in a deeper way and found it astonishing it has taken us so long to put that story out there in a more popular light. Extraordinary really. It was definitely different than the story I grew up reading in the bible. I remember when the Passion of the Christ came out, an actor got struck by lightening during shooting. Anything like that happen on set for you? Garth Davis: There were a couple of pretty amazing moments. When we were shooting the scene of the exorcism, where the family was exorcising Mary in the Sea of Galilee, just before we were about to walk into the water the wind just completely stopped. Completely still, almost on cue, right? Then suddenly lightening appeared all over the ocean. It was unbelievable! So much so, that when shooting the scene I had to paint it out. It just felt like a trope, you know? People would have thought it was a visual effect. [laughs] Wow!Garth Davis: The other one was during a scene on the beach of Magdala. I did a drawing of the location and I wanted to add some smoke in the background. So we went down to the Recee, and as I was standing there, smoke emerged exactly where I was drawing it (laughs). It was one of those moments where you have to ask if something was guiding us in some way.](https://www.filminquiry.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MV5BNDc5ODE4OTQxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODEzOTcyNDM_V1_SY1000_CR0014991000_AL_.jpg)
Garth Davis proves once again his skills behind the camera can help uplift middlebrow material, but only to a certain extent, Mary Magdalene significantly undercut by the increased familiarity and conventional storytelling.
A Wrinkle in Time has many touching and beautiful moments, in large part due to the incredible and relatable performance of its young star. However, the heavy-handed direction and sugary-sweet story may wear on adults used to more nuanced fare.
You can’t fault EVERY DAY for a lack of ambition – however, the film feels watered down by a breezy running time that doesn’t allow for a deeper exploration of the body swap conceit.
Demon House has a crawling sense of escalating paranoia, with witness accounts and medical testimonials, Zak Bagans presents a documentary that will have you believing this just might have happened.
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson is a rewarding experience and a tragic story filled with heartbreaking real-life characters, but their own humor and joy helps to balance out the very grim tidings.
Amy Adrion’s must-see documentary HALF THE PICTURE features many prominent women filmmakers who open up about their experiences with discrimination in Hollywood.