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 […]

Review: “The Batman”

The disillusioned hero. The femme fatale. The corrupt officials and the ruthless gang leaders who circle each other in a never-ending game of give and take. The city, with its grimy alleys and dark shadows where anything or anybody could be hiding just around the corner. These are all hallmarks of the not-so-easily defined film […]

Review: “Huda’s Salon”

There’s something about going to a hair salon that many people find comforting. That feeling doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what hairstyle you’re going to try on a given day, but moreso with the sense of community that comes with regularly going to a place, seeing the same people, and being able to […]

Review: “Cyrano”

“Cyrano,” director Joe Wright’s adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s musical of the same name that’s based in turn on the classic 1897 play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” opens not with its titular character, but with the object of his affections, Roxanne (Haley Bennett). Roxanne has been invited to attend a play by De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn), an […]

Review: “The Pink Cloud”

I think it’s safe to assume that no one will ever get to watch writer/director Iuli Gerbase’s debut feature film, “The Pink Cloud,” exactly the way she intended. That isn’t because the final product of the film itself isn’t something she stands behind; quite the contrary. Rather, it’s due to exterior factors that have rocked […]

Streaming Movie Reviews

I’m back today with some short reviews of movies that have been released on streaming services so far this month. February is the peak time for romantic comedies, and I’ve got two of them here, as well as a YA drama, a reboot of a horror classic, and a new Soderbergh thriller. Read more on […]

Review: “Uncharted”

The conversation surrounding the translation of video games to film has been had many a time; they frequently sacrifice story in favor of action scenes that don’t play as well when you’re watching them as opposed to, well, actually playing through them. The thing with the “Uncharted” series, though, is that you can see the […]

Review: “Strawberry Mansion”

“I just wanted someone to share my dreams with.” That statement carries a different weight in a future where our dreams aren’t really our own. It is said by Bella (Penny Fuller) to James Preble (Kentucker Audley), the auditor sent to the elderly woman’s home to assess her dreams for unpaid taxes. The year is […]

Review: ”Death on the Nile” (2022)

“Death on the Nile,” director Kenneth Branagh’s follow-up to his 2017 Agatha Christie adaptation “Murder on the Orient Express,” is a top contender for the title of most cursed film in recent memory. Production problems delayed its initial December 2019 release date to 2020, by which time the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, prompting […]

Review: ”Drive My Car”

By the time the title and opening credits of “Drive My Car” drop approximately 45 minutes into its three hour runtime, it already feels like we’ve experienced a complete mini movie. But the embarrassment of riches that director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film, based on the short story by Haruki Murakami, contains are yet to unveil themselves. […]