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Film Festivals
SIFF Review: "Last I Heard"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Monday, 10 June 2013 11:48
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Last I Heard"
Directed by Dave Rodriguez
Starring Paul Sorvino, Renee Props, Michael Rapaport, Andrea Nittoli, Lev Gorn, Steven Bauer, Chazz Palminteri
Drama, Comedy
For a film whose focus is character, Last I Heard is pretty inept at characterization. Leading man Paul Sorvino does the best he can with his ex-mobster character Mr. Joe but he just doesn’t have it in him to play the star role nor does he have any character half decent enough to adequately play off of. His eventually coming-to-terms with life outside the confines of a prison cell should have felt poignant but instead stagnates and quickly becomes adrift in mediocrity. When the walls to the stony faced character are finally broken down, even his tears feel artificial and vapid. Director and screenwriter Dave Rodriguez uses heavy-handed pathos to try and move his audience but his actors just aren’t up for the challenge.
SIFF Review: "V/H/S 2"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 07 June 2013 14:58
- Written by Matt Oakes
"V/H/S 2"
Directed by Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sánchez, Timo Tjahjanto, Adam Wingard
Starring Kelsy Abbott, Devon Brookshire, Samantha Gracie, Hannah Hughes, Kevin Hunt, Lawrence Michael Levine, Carly Robell, Mindy Robinson, Adam Wingard and John T. Woods
Horror
96 Mins
R
V/H/S 2 is completely tone deaf to any semblance of mood that it tries to summon. Waffling between a lo-fi ghost story, perverse Zombie campiness, genuinely eerie cult atmospherics, old-school creature puppetry, and shockingly lame Alien clichés, the five portions that make up this film couldn't be more disparate and at odds with each other. Even without the complete overuse of crackling audio and tired finicky video errors, it's clear that this franchise cannot capture the almost realistic nature of the first film and instead settles with being a loose grab-bag of predictable horror staples.
SIFF Review: "Wish You Were Here"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 07 June 2013 10:00
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Wish You Were Here"
Directed by Kieran Darcy-Smith
Starring Joel Edgerton, Felicity Price, Teresa Palmer, Antony Starr
Drama, Mystery
89 Mins
R
Cautionary tale and psychological thriller, Wish You Were Here is the worst of vacation nightmares realized. Veering around chronological storytelling, director Kieran Darcy-Smith twists an introspective journey into a taut thriller. With silence that feels as weighty as dialogue, Darcy-Smith stretches the alluring reveal on a little long but, when all is said and done, has left his mark and made a potent statement about the destructive nature of guilt.
Shout Out for Quiet Documentaries at Tribeca '13
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 06 June 2013 22:43
- Written by Nora Lee Mandel
The 12th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, April 17 – 28, 2013 in New York City, is usually judged by the film industry as to how many of its 89 features get picked up for theatrical or other mechanisms for public viewing, though over two dozen either came in with or had distribution by the end. But among the 53 world premieres, six international premieres, 15 North American premieres, five U.S. premieres, and nine New York premieres, with 24 in competition and the rest spread through categories of “Spotlight”, “Viewpoints”, “Midnight”, and various special events, were unheralded gems that you may only get to see at other film festivals, in the U.S. and abroad. Keep a look out for these recommendations:
