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Film Festivals
Sundance Review: "Life After Beth"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:29
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Life After Beth"
Directed by Jeff Baena
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser
U.S.A.
91 Mins
The scales may tip all over the place on this zom-rom-com but even with all its tonal inconsistency, we're dumped in a place of smirky satisfaction and forgiving admiration of intent. Life After Beth is narrowly shoddy, but still an easy crowd-pleaser and an affable experiment in reckless absurdity.
Sundance Review: "Fishing Without Nets"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 24 January 2014 16:31
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Fishing Without Nets"
Directed by Cutter Hodierne
Starring Abdikani Muktar, Abdi Siad, Abduwhali Faarah, Abdikhadir Hassan, Reda Kateb, Idil Ibrahim
U.S.A./Somalia/Kenya
109 Mins
No name cast recreates Somali pirates premise, the left-field zeitgeist du jour, exploring themes of hubris and self-preservation in its slack-lined narrative that sporadically delivers emotional welts. With a hook of a first act and a gut-wrenching conclusion, the middle bits of Fishing Without Nets are left a little undercooked but by the time we get to the tail end of it, we've all but forgotten any moments of ennui. We're too busy collectively picking our jaws up off the floor.
Sundance Review: "Boyhood"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 24 January 2014 16:26
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Boyhood"
Directed by Richard Linklater
Starring Ellar Salmon, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater
163 Mins
A monolith of cinema, Richard Linklater's Boyhood is a soaring accomplishment of product and process. Famously filmed over the course 12 years, Linklater's long form approach allows for an intimacy and connection like no film before. From the time we meet young Macon at the tender age of six until he moves to college, Linklater fosters his audience's near parental ties to this young man, making us feel for a character in unprecedented manner. It's a masterpiece in all senses of the word; a rare trailblazer of a film with macroscopic vision that's as uniformly jaw-dropping as the final product.
Sundance Review: "Wish I Was Here"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Monday, 20 January 2014 16:25
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Wish I Was Here"
Directed by Zach Braff
Starring Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Ashley Greene, Joey King, Pierce Gagnon
114 Mins
Great music can't bandaid uber depressing bummertown that sees Mandy Patkinson slowly dying, a breadwinning wife privy to gross sexual harassment at work, and an out-of-work/failed actor in director/writer/star Zach Braff. With virtually ever b-plot revolving around a different cause for concern, Wish I Was Here is occasionally profound but always deathly dour.
