SXSW 2023 Dispatch: “Molli and Max in the Future,” “Until Branches Bend,” “Tobacco Barns”

For the dispatch from the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, I’m tackling three films that made their world, international, and U.S. premieres in the festival’s Visions section. Read my reviews of Until Branches Bend, Tobacco Barns, and Molli and Max in the Future below. UNTIL BRANCHES BEND dir. Sophie Jarvis At the start of Until Branches […]

SXSW 2023 Dispatch: “This World is Not My Own,” “Black Barbie: A Documentary”

I’m so thrilled to be covering the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas for the first time this weekend. I recently got to watch great two documentaries that had their world premiere at the festival, both centering around Black women and how they uplifted Black people, while examining the roles race and […]

SXSW Review: “My Drywall Cocoon”

Ritzy condominiums dot the majority of Brazil’s urban landscapes. They have everything their typically upper class residents could ever want or need, their safety ensured by the security cameras scattered around the complex. Writer/director Caroline Fioratti draws on her experience growing up in one such condominium, but watching them become more and more elite and […]

True/False 2023 Dispatch: “Tavuri,” “Three Women,” “The Stroll”

For my sixth and final dispatch from this year’s True/False Film Festival, I’m reviewing the final three documentaries I saw: Tavuri, the wild story of a con artist; the tender slice of life Three Women; and the powerful story of NYC’s trans sex workers, The Stroll, which is coming to HBO later this year. Read […]

True/False 2023 Dispatch: “Going Varsity in Mariachi,” “Bad Press”

For my next dispatch from the 2023 True/False Film Festival, I’m spotlighting two underdog stories that recently premiered at Sundance: Going Varsity in Mariachi, the festival’s 2023 Show Me True/False selection, and Bad Press, the recipient of this year’s True Life Fund. Read my reviews below. GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI dirs. Sam Osborn and Alejandra […]

True/False 2023 Dispatch: “Milisuthando,” “Ramona,” “Anhell69”

One of the most interesting and fun things about watching so many movies in quick succession is spotting some of their similarities and shared themes. Both Milisuthando, which recently premiered at Sundance, and Anhell69, which also screens at SXSW this weekend, are powerful personal essays, and Anhell69 and Ramona (my favorite film from the fest) […]

Review: “Palm Trees and Power Lines”

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in school, but I remember that liminal space known as summer vacation. Days bleeding into each other with no job or commitments that require you to keep track of time, the overbearing heat prompting you to shuffle between the sunny poolside and dim air-conditioned interiors. When we […]

Review: “She Is Love”

It’s a classic romantic comedy set-up: after years apart, exes catch a glimpse of each other through a doorway. The catch? One of them runs a boutique hotel in the countryside, and the other is an unsuspecting guest. But in writer/director Jamie Adams’ She Is Love, there’s nothing cute about this awkward meeting, and the […]

Review: “The Old Way”

There’s a moment in the climax of director Brett Donowho’s “The Old Way” where baddie James McCallister (Noah Le Gros) and gunslinger Colton Briggs (Nicolas Cage) finally confront each other face-to-face after having spent the entire movie on each other’s heels. McCallister tells Briggs that they’re going to resolve this conflict “the old way”—i.e., with […]

Review: “Please Baby Please”

As young men clad in leather jackets leap and twirl down a dark street, the opening scene of “Please Baby Please” immediately draws a visual parallel to the classic romantic musical “West Side Story,” which begins with rival gang members dancing around the city until they meet and conflict ensues. But Amanda Kramer’s “Please Baby […]