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Slamdance Film Review: Mexman
Germán Alonso’s main project is Mexman, an idea Alonso first worked on for his senior thesis at USC. It’s a crazy story—one about a Mexican immigrant who comes to America for a better future, who then dies unexpectedly and is subsequently turned into a “cyborg slave.” … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Instant Dreams
In this visual essay, Baptist mirrors the power of photography, fixating on the Polaroid as not only an artistic medium, but also a decisive technology and cultural document, a record of time that continually develops and evolves with the contemporary world. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Lovers
With the gorgeous backdrop of Copenhagen, Denmark, Lovers explores the inner workings of three people at different stages of their respective love lives, in an almost episodic sequence. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Oslo Diaries
In this Sundance World Documentary, The Oslo Diaries recalls a new low in Palestine-Israel relations in 1992. Each nation sent a secret delegation to Oslo, Norway, to negotiate a peace agreement. Surprisingly, they had settled on one. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Private Life
In Sundance premiere Private Life, Rachel (Kathryn Hahn) and Richard (Paul Giamatti) have become obsessed with getting pregnant. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Fake Tattoos
Opening with a confusion of racing cars and yelling to a black background, the first actual scene of Le Faux Tatouages is of brooding, angry teen Théo (Anthony Therrien) wearing a Dead Kennedys T-shirt, being carded at a convenience store while buying his first pack of beer on his 18th birthday (the scene is set in Montreal). … read more
Sundance Film Review: Shirkers
Sandi Tan might’ve been a strange teenager, but it was in the very best way. Growing up in Singapore, she published a zine and scribbled hundreds of handwritten letters and postcards. Mostly, she obsessed over film. … read more
Sundance Film Festival: Our New President
Before the screening, director Maxim Pozdorovkin jokingly warned that his film, Our New President, had so much archival Russian propaganda footage that it was probably not safe for human consumption in one sitting, saying, “You’re not going to feel good at the end of this.” … read more
Sundance Film Review: Genesis 2.0
Sundance World Documentary film Genesis 2.0 is beautifully shot. Yakut “Hunters” travel to the isles to dig for mammoth tusks, which they sell with aspirations for riches. Some sell to/for scientific projects while others sell tusks that end up in the hands of artisans. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: The Starry Sky Above Me
The Starry Sky Above Me feels especially off-kilter. It’s not that it’s overtly outlandish or psychedelic, but rather that it sits just on the line between believable and incongruous. A lot of my enjoyment with this film came from its twists and surprises. … read more