Sundance
Sundance Film Review: Certain Women
Typically, shooting a film against the big sky country of Montana evokes images of tough guys doing tough things. While the tough things are still present, Kelly Reichardt’s introspective film focuses on the women who ultimately pick up the pieces after the tough guys break themselves apart. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Under the Shadow
When Gullermo Del Toro used Pan’s Labyrinth as an allegorical scalpel to dissect the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, he opened a door to possibilities that few filmmakers have had the talent and imagination to explore. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Land of the Enlightened
Shot on 16-mm. film, The Land of the Enlightened vibrantly fuses documentary filmmaking with fictive storytelling dynamics. The film illuminates the lifestyles of a handful Afghans amid continued U.S. occupation, and also examines the feelings and tensions of sustained U.S. presence in the country. What’s more, this film treats its viewers to the stunning natural beauty of Afghanistan. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Carnage Park
Writer/director Mickey Keating has tried his hand at many different horror subgenres, including sci-fi body horror with Pod and slow descents into madness with Darling. Carnage Park demonstrates his knack for imagining uniquely terrifying scenarios and then inflicting them upon his characters. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Lobster
In a dystopian future, David must find a partner in 45 days, or else he will be transformed into an animal of his choice. Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster bears witness to the process by which David seeks a mate against this impending consequence. Mind-warping twists abound in this film—The Lobster does not disappoint. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Antibirth
A film like Antibirth is the reason that I’m willing to take a gamble on Sundance’s Midnight section. It strikes a rare balance in that it portrays a visually arresting and bizarre story while bringing relevant subtext and spot-on character acting along for the ride. … read more
Sundance Film Review: 31
There was something oddly comforting about my experience with Rob Zombie’s psychobilly horror film. After so many of my film choices this year took me into territory that I wasn’t necessarily prepared for, 31 was exactly what I was hoping it would be—a heavily stylized jaunt into Rob Zombie’s carnival of carnage. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Eyes of My Mother
My mouth was agape for much of The Eyes of My Mother. Borrowing from horror yet far from it, this film by director Nicolas Pesce disturbs the emotions that accompany our love for our family—our mothers, our fathers and our children—with violence and morbidity. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Wild
Dog may be man’s best friend, but Ania’s lover is a wolf. Director Nicolette Krebitz’s Wild shows Ania (Lilith Stangenberg) in a state of apathy toward her surroundings. She puts up with patriarchal men at her office job and must suffer through her sister’s boyfriend who rudely interrupts their video chats. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Trash Fire
The horror/comedy is a tricky genre to blend. While it seems like the two fit hand in hand, very few directors have been able to actually make it work. The problem with Trash Fire is that director and screenwriter Richard Bates, Jr. tried to make a horror/comedy that was also a family drama, a treatise on mental illness and a critique of religious conservatism. … read more