True/False Day 1: ”Mija,” ”Riotsville, USA,” ”2nd Chance”

Greetings from the 2022 True/False Film Festival! I’m in Columbia, Missouri this weekend as the festival, which focuses on documentary filmmaking, returns to in-person screenings for this year’s edition. For the first day of the festival, I was able to catch three feature documentaries, all of which coincidentally premiered virtually at the Sundance Film Festival […]

Sundance Review: “Emily the Criminal”

Many millennials are in financial crisis. Overwhelming student loans, low-paying jobs and unpaid internships that don’t allow you to progress anywhere—it’s a crutch that affects the lifestyles of many, including Emily (Aubrey Plaza). At the start of director John Patton Ford’s thriller “Emily the Criminal,” we see Emily on a job interview, where a bit […]

Sundance Review: “After Yang”

“After Yang” doesn’t look or feel the way most science fiction films do when we think about the hallmarks of that genre. Its environments are warm and organic, not sleek and cold. Visible futuristic technology is replaced by natural touches like plants, and the film’s main character, Jake (Colin Farrell) runs a tea shop. And […]

Sundance Review: “Fresh”

Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is around halfway through her first date with Steve (Sebastian Stan) when she tells him that she hates “this”—“this” meaning dating. “FRESH” opens with a portrait of just how Noa’s love life is going, and it isn’t going well. She aimlessly swipes through dating apps, and a date she goes on with […]

Sundance Review: “892”

On a day in July 2017, Brian Brown-Easley walks into an Atlanta-area Wells Fargo Bank. He requests to withdraw $25 from his account, makes some friendly small talk with the teller, and then asks her if he can have a piece of paper to write something down. As their seemingly normal interaction winds down to […]

SLIFF Reviews: Documentary Features

Today I’m sharing the second half of my recap of the St. Louis International Film Festival, this time concentrating on three documentary features: “Flee,” “Alien on Stage,” and “Citizen Ashe.” You can find my reviews of those movies below, and can read my reviews of some of the narrative features that played at SLIFF here. […]

SLIFF Reviews: Narrative Features

Over the last few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of attending the 30th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival, held in person and virtually from November 4-21. I watched a lot of really wonderful films, many of which will be released soon and look to be potential awards season contenders, and I wanted to […]

Nashville Film Festival Reviews: “The Beta Test,” “The Murder Podcast”

Today from the Nashville Film Festival, I’m covering two films that are playing as part of the festival’s Graveyard Shift Films program, and horror fans in particular will want to seek them out. Jim Cummings’ “The Beta Test,” which he directed, wrote, and starred in along with PJ McCabe, is a thrilling and funny skewering […]

Nashville Film Festival Review: “Queen of Glory”

Few filmmakers lately seem as capable of accomplishing as much in two hours as Nana Mensah does in 75 minutes in her directorial debut, “Queen of Glory.” Mensah wrote the film as well as stars as Sarah, a Ghanaian-American living in New York City whose life is turned upside down after the sudden death of […]

Nashville Film Festival Reviews: “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” “Faye”

Today from the Nashville Film Festival (which starts September 30 and runs through October 6), I have reviews of two surreal films screening there. “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” which premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, examines isolation through a lonely teenager’s internet interactions and the online challenge she engages […]