Category: Mini Review
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Mini Review: Fly Me To The Moon
The latest from @AppleFilms #FlyMeToTheMoon is a glitzy, stylized & kinetic throwback romcom that rides the charisma of its leads well. But despite a fast & lively start, it loses its momentum in the 2nd half as it rolls to its overlong & inevitable conclusion. Still fun though!
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Mini Review: Longlegs
While more creepy than scary, the success of #Longlegs is in its deeply unsettling atmosphere, cinematography, & it’s beautifully disturbing over-the-top performance from Nic Cage. But the more I think about its plot, the more holes I stumble upon, which is a bit disappointing.
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Mini Review: Tuesday
I understand the divisiveness but for me #Tuesday is a win. I’m all for supporting original voices & truly nuanced depictions of grief & death. Is it perfect? No. In particular its ending is a bit overlong. But it’s a treat to watch an inventive & original story unfold on screen.
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Mini Review: The Boy in the Woods
The 🇨🇦 film adaptation of Maxwell Smart’s memoir #TheBoyintheWoods is certainly well made & emotionally effective, helmed by a wonderful performance by young Jett Klyne. While it doesn’t attempt to re-invent the wheel, Smart’s real life journey itself is enough to captivate.
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Mini Review: The Old Oak
Ken Loach’s final film #TheOldOak continues his focus on themes of community & personal connection, settling this time amidst the Syrian refugee crisis. While the poignancy on paper doesn’t quite translate to screen for me, it remains a worth end cap to a prolific career.
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Mini Review: Ghostlight
Wow! Ghostlight is the first film in a long while to get me teary. Simultaneously a heartbreaking & heartwarming experience, intricately weaving a story of family tragedy & healing, capped off by a perfect lead performance from lead Keith Kupferer. Indie filmmaking at its finest!
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Mini Review: A Quiet Place Day One
Lupita Nyong’o delivers an Oscar-worthy masterclass of a performance in #AQuietPlaceDayOne, a film that shows how prequels can be done right. Delivering on scares, tension, and expanded lore, the film succeeds by focusing on its leads & the cutest cat that brings them together.
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Mini Review: Kinds of Kindness
Lanthimos’ #KindsofKindness is disturbing & unsettling, as intended, & not for the faint of heart. While it’s much less narratively satisfying than Poor Things, there’s still a lot to dissect, and tons of originality & weirdness that we’ve grown to expect from this creative team.
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Mini Review: I Used to Be Funny
Ally Pankiw’s #IUsedToBeFunny was not at all what I expected, but was a certainly pleasant surprise. Anchored by an impressively complex performance from Rachel Sennott, there are genuine laughs & tears throughout that, along with a back & forth narrative, keep things interesting
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Mini Review: Fancy Dance
Lily Gladstone is an absolute force in #FancyDance as a woman searching for her missing sister while caring for her niece. It’s juggling a lot as a crime/roadtrip/coming of age film, but balances it by focusing on beautiful themes that feel distinctly indigenous. A solid film.
Year in Cinema 