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Reviews
The Misadventures of Mistress Maneater (2020)
Kinky & Funny Rom-Com Makes You Laugh While Warming Your Heart
In the charming romantic comedy, "The Misadventures of Mistress Maneater" star and writer Lorrisa Julianus's character, Ava Moriarty, Is a refreshing variation on the evergreen "tart-with-a-heart" film trope (i.e 'Pretty Woman', 'Sweet Charity'): a kindly dominatrix with a master's degree in art history who has to put up with a world of hypocrites, corrupt politicians, and criminals. When Ava's ex-fiancé, Russian crime boss Boris (Adam Christopher) calls in a debt, the clock is ticking for her to come up with the cash. Just at this moment, Ava and her gay and witty business partner, Gabe (Shannon Brown) find their bank accounts have been emptied out by his deceased lover, and one of her clients accidentally kills himself in a an auto-erotic accident causing her pro-domme business to collapse. A solution arrives when a venal mayor (Dave Lichty) hires her to frame a local Serbian Episcopalian priest, Radovan, (Mickey O'Sullivan) with compromising photos in order to run him out of town and secure the land his church is on for a big highway project. However, as Ava endeavors to gain Radovan's trust, his personal kindness and good looks begin to work on her and she finds herself falling in love with the man that she needs to betray in order to survive. C. J. Julianus expertly navigates this densely plotted tale which ranges from present-day farce (Ava's silly fetishist clients) to a backstory rooted in pathos (Radovan's dark past in the Bosnian war) while keeping us, like the baroque painting of Holofernes and Judith that figures importantly in the plot, both titillated and moved by Lorrisa Julianus's sexy protagonist.
La Inevitable Muerte del Cangrejo (2022)
A Lean, Dark Thriller With a Subtle, Political Point of View
In Ahcitz Azcona's "The Inevitable Death of the Crab" a Kafkaesque scenario is set in motion when a seemingly inconsequential prank call is brushed off by Carlos (Juan Manuel Zacona), a wealthy middle-aged businessman who stays home in Mexico City with his adult son, Santiago (Azcona) while his wife and daughters leave on a pleasure cruise. When the sinister caller rings back, Santiago rashly taunts him and the garden variety extortion attempt suddenly gets very personal. Almost immediately Santiago and Carlos understand they have gone too far, but it is too late. Their paranoia soon gives way to reality and when they realize that even the investigating police are compromised, they enlist the help of Santiago's godfather (Ricardo Niño) who confidently pulls in a favor from a high-level political connection. However, the government and societal corruption that permeates every crevice of this film has spread too far, and soon Carlos and Santiago face a terrifying denouement. Azcona, who also directs, writes, produces and edits, has crafted a lean Hitchcockian thriller that really succeeds in giving us a visceral feeling for what it is like to live in a world where institutions have broken down, and the trauma of corruption is felt by everyone, from innocents to criminals.
It Hits You When You Know It (2020)
Gentle Humor and Brutal Truths Emerge When Old Friends Gather
Writer/producer Elisa Manzini's "It Hits You When You Know It" has a classic "kammerspiel" set-up: 6 people, most of whom have known each other for a long time, gather in an isolated country house for a weekend to celebrate the wedding of their mutual friend. When Julia, the bride (who is seen only in photographs) has a medical scare, the crucible of close quarters and concern over their friend leads to revelations and discoveries that cause each of them to interrogate their own life choices and those of the others in often brutal and nuanced ways. Director Devon Armstrong expertly maintains an ensemble balance, but the excellence of the this film really lies in Manzini's writing and the uniformly strong cast, led by Phylicia Wissa's anchoring role as a journeywoman writer, Nicole, who grapples with finding a balance between her personal loneliness and an artist's need for solitude and Phillip Musumeci's self-flagellating Jimmy, a talented gay musician with a penchant for revealing too much when he drinks. Manzini's thoughtful cast design is buttressed by Roger Payano's Type-A lawyer Ted who struggles to give his outgoing but inconstant fiancé, Mary (Cameron McCormick) what she needs in their relationship and is rounded out by Adam (Anthony J. Tremé), a charming loser and Nicole's ex, who once again finds himself letting down a smart, beautiful woman who loves him: Veronica, the film's only newcomer to the group, played with a lot of panache by Keila Dolle. A warm cameo from Bruce Nehlsen as Steve, the father of the bride adds some multi-generational perspective to this early millennial (or late GenX?) group, and indeed, by the end we find that Manzini has expertly steered us through a gently humorous, but deep exploration of old friends grappling with their life paths.
Cocoa (2023)
A Female Buddy Movie Comedy Confection
Jody Mortara's comedy Cocoa is designed and executed to be as light and free of heaviness as the miraculous calorie-free chocolate cake concocted by the movie's central buddy act: sisters Faith (Mortara) and Hope (Megan McGarvey), who team up after disaster hits both of them simultaneously. Just as Faith's world collapses in an acrimonious divorce, Hope, a brilliant chemist, loses her job, leaving them both penniless and in need of quick cash. When they combine their respective talents in baking and science to invent a a cake that helps people lose weight the world beats a path to their door led by benefactor Charles (John Bernieri) and Jacqueline (Marian Edmiston), a kind venture capitalist, but just as they are on the verge of success, the film's titular character, Cocoa, an adorable dog with a sweet tooth wrecks their plans and everything spins out of control. Soon the sisters are enmeshed in a complex web of high jinks involving a wacky vet, Dr. Dogwood (Pat Swearingen), a jealous husband, Mortimer (Joh Soresi), a duplicitous gigolo, Lucas (Cedric Gegel) a local mob boss, Carmine (Tony Cucci), the entire police department, and a ham-fisted local traffic reporter, Christina (Siena D'Addario). Writer/Star Mortara, who co-directs, produces and edits with Joe Gawalis, keeps the tone light and the pace rapid, while DP John Bianco lights high key with a palette of confectionery colors.
The Other Side of Darkness (2022)
A Visually Sumptuous Romantic Adventure Anchored by Strong Performances
At the beginning of Adam Deierling's romantic adventure drama "The Other Side of Darkness" we are presented with a cryptic warning about our complete dependence on the electricity grid- and then we are quickly whisked away into the small world of TJ (Maggie Callahan), a soon to be 16 year-old midwestern girl trying to hold down a car mechanic job in a male chauvinist workplace, which is compounded by the fact that her boss is also her sexually abusive foster dad. When a mysterious gift arrives in the mail, TJ suddenly has the means to escape her unhappy home with her spiky best friend, Hannah (Olivia Billings) and Hannah's geeky brother, Patrick (Drake Tobias) who tags along much to the displeasure of the two girls. As they drive deep into rural West Virginia, TJ discovers in herself a spirit of adventure, and when they finally track down the sender of the gift, her grandfather, Jack (Scott C. Davis), she realizes it is also a homecoming trip. In the first half of the movie, the ominous events in the outside world recede into the background as TJ bonds with Jack and vicariously reconnects with her deceased mother through a series of old-school cassette tapes, and an unlikely romance is kindled with Patrick, while the suburban Hannah struggles to adjust to country life. However, when the teenagers discover a box of munitions in the woods and then witness a power plant explode, they realize they have unwittingly come to the epicenter of a sinister plot to destroy America which TJ will soon realize her family is intimately involved in. Although some might find the premise far-fetched, the great performances of the 4 main actors make this film a lot of fun to watch and is quite moving at times. Visually, Deierling, who also produces, writes and edits, makes the most of Vinny Sisson's beautiful cinematography that really captures the beauty of rural West Virginia and makes excellent use of drones giving the film an epic feeling.
Craving (2023)
Addicts Fight the Beast Within to the Gory Death
At the start of "Craving", text fades in on a dictionary definition of "Junkie" and this, with the film's title, is a clue to the metaphor of addiction at the heart of this film. For the next 83 minutes (and yes that includes a morbidly hilarious credit sequence!) co-writer (with Gregory Blair) and director Jason Horton squeezes every possible drop of suspense out of a single moody, dive bar location and his large, cleverly designed multi-generational cast of misfits, addicts, hicks and femmes fatales. The film functions as a 'who-dunnit' as well as we try to deduce through flashbacks, words and behaviour which of these well-drawn characters is the monster (kudos to Robert Bravo's SFX!) Once all hell breaks loose, with its blood and guts and gore, the pay-off is more than worth it with multiple, startling reveals, twists and reversals. If you are a low-budget horror junkie, this movie delivers a potent fix.
Misery Loves Company (2012)
A Mumblecore Gem
In Misery Loves Company, after projectionist Brian (Peter O'Brien) is dumped in the film's opening scene, he is determined never to fall in love again. This sets up a challenge for his mensch of a best friend, Cliff (Stephen Bendler) who selflessly tries to set him up with the vivacious and cheerful Veronica (Carly Ballister). O'Brien, who also directed, produced, edited and co-composed the music, proceeds to deliver a heartfelt performance as a character who is by turns melancholy, self-deprecating, sarcastic, and naive. The film has a surrealistic twist that you won't see coming, and a scary homage to 'The Deer Hunter' as well. This movie is a mumblecore gem, and demonstrates that good acting and clever dialogue don't need a big budget.
Solid Rock Trust (2022)
A Single Location Tour-de-Force
For the first 10 minutes of thriller Solid Rock Trust, we are never sure who exactly Maddie (Koko Marshall) is as she orchestrates a sophisticated bank heist using several cell phones, her laptop and an array of screens in a shadowy warehouse. Marshall's spot-on impersonations of French, Australian, English, Spanish, and Russian women (and at one point a male Brooklyn cop!) keep us and her accomplices guessing. Then, when the robbery begins to go pear-shaped, Maddy has to think fast to keep herself and her collaborators alive. This is a solid, well-crafted one location thriller that compares favorably to Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Steve Knight's Locke. Rick Ives, who writes, directs and edits, keeps the dramatic tension taut, with plenty of plot twists and the film's excellent neo-noir cinematography (Dakota Curtis) perfectly complements Koko Marshall's tour-de-force performance.
Fighting Olympus (2023)
Clash of the Titans in a Dystopian LA Action-Thriller
20 minutes into Julian Hampton's taut action movie Fighting Olympus the plot takes a bold literary turn as we suddenly realize we are no longer watching a familiar dystopian LA thriller and find ourselves, literally, in the realm of the Gods. Anchored by Leslie Jones's central performance as Rucker, a tough and compassionate ex-cop determined to find his kidnapped brother, Biddle (Devinair Mathis) and infiltrate a violent cult modeled after the Greek pantheon, writer-director-exec producer Hampton's debut feature delivers plenty of plot twists, fatal femmes, muzzle flash and martial arts battles to keep you on the edge of your seat until the end. Don't miss it!
Daddy's Divas (2022)
A Hilarious Portrait of an Idealized American Small Town
This upbeat, family friendly comedy series has a little something for everyone: adorably rambunctious kids, middle-aged bikers, a goofy nerdish couple, neurotic priests, lonely elementary school teachers and Michael (David TIttone) a personal trainer, left to raise his 3 daughters on his own after the unexpected death of his wife. Although with Michael's personal grief it could take a more somber turn, this series is firmly focused on comedy and fun and delivers it in abundance. This is a portrait of an idealized, innocent small town community: an Andy Griffith show for the internet age. Shot in cheerful primary colors and doubling down on the cuteness factor every chance it gets, it's a fun escapist journey to an America we wish existed.
AVA: A Twist in the Road (2021)
A Kept Woman Finds Freedom in Unexpected Ways
This charming, gentle movie follows the title character, Ava (Catherane Skillen), through trials, tribulations and a path to redemption after the sudden death of the love of her life. In the process Skillen, who also directs, writes, and exec produces, shows us the banality of life as a 'kept woman' in what can be a very cold-hearted town. The film touches on themes of ageism, greed, homelessness, and materialism as we experience them through Ava's eyes. Catherane Skillen's beautifully modulated performance transforms the naive Ava from a helpless victim of circumstance to an empowered woman as she makes the discovery that true wealth is found in friendships and kindness and not in condos, fancy cars and gold bracelets.
Women in the Front Seat (2023)
A High Octane, Life-Affirming, Female Led Ride for Adrenaline Junkies!
From the first few seconds Indy Saini's wonderful movie grabs your attention as you metaphorically get right there on the ride with her and for the next 75 minutes she expertly navigates you through the culture of women who love motorcycles. It takes a special kind of director to illicit the vulnerability and sometimes heartbreaking honesty from her many and varied woman interviewees each of whom has unique and deeply personal reasons for their common passion for bikes. However, this documentary is also a masterclass in DIY filmmaking and the throughline of this story is Saini's own journey around America, alone on her Indian Scout, braving the elements, to get the story on video. In the process, she deftly subverts the Icarian narrative of self-destruction that we subconsciously attach to stories of men and motorcycles. Under her careful control, like Daedalus and his wax wings, the motorcycle is a life-affirming means to freedom and empowerment.
The Berlin Bride (2019)
A Stylish Surrealistic Noir With Echoes of Lynch and Cocteau
Just the title of "The Berlin Bride" with its sinister historical overtones promises the viewer a dark surrealistic journey which it delivers in abundance. The main character, a park custodian brilliantly played by the late Miklos Königer, is a twisted soul who self-consciously navigates his way through the hedonism of 1980's Berlin. His fate is inextricably bound to a one-armed clothier (Henry Akina) and a female mannequin in an infernal love triangle. Director and writer, Michael Bartlett subtly pays homage to Jean Cocteau, David Lynch, and German Expressionism in this moody and powerful film which is nevertheless infused with his own singular and nightmarish vision. A must see for fans of noir fantasy horror.
Dirty Beautiful (2015)
A Dramedy That Doesn't Shy Away from Darkness
Tim Bartell's funny and touching dramedy, Dirty Beautiful, plays out like a Millennial version of 'Annie Hall'. Straight-to-camera confessionals, a struggling writer starting out in a profession full of sharks and charlatans, a waifish, sexually adventurous love interest and a main character, who draws us in to his insecurities through self-deprecation and black humor. After a brief and hilarious resume of David's (Ricky Mabe) litany of failures with the opposite sex, the wannabe screenwriter has a chance encounter with Kat (Jordan Monaghan) who at first seems to good to be true. However, soon the fantasy of a voluptuous live-in girlfriend gives in to the reality of domestic co-habitation in a tiny studio LA apartment. Bartell, who also wrote the script, expertly plumbs the emotional depths of these two mis-matched characters, who stumble and curse and drink their way into love. At times veering into darker themes, the film doesn't hold back from showing us the seedy and soulless sides of a tough town, and there is plenty of heartbreak to balance out the Woody Allenesque levity. This film is a gem of gutsy, honest independent filmmaking - it comes straight from the heart and beautifully fulfills its dramatic-comedic promise. Don't miss it!
Toxic Impulses (2022)
A Hardboiled LA Detective Thriller With Lots of Satisfying Twists
Toxic Impulses is a tight, spare well-paced movie that pays homage to the rich LA private eye genre. It has all the key characters: Mosley (Benedikt Sebastian) a dissolute and world-weary ex-detective, a hardened, cynical killer, Boyd (Robert Akerman Moss) and a doomed Femme Fatale, Zamira (Olivia Buckle) who form a core triangle at the center of the story which swirls around the canyons and alleyways of downtown LA in a spiral of hard drugs, lethal violence, and armed robbery. I liked that director Kyle Schadt, who also wrote and edited it, left just enough room outside the plot for unexpected but welcome digressions in dialogue and action which added dimensionality and depth to the characters, including the supporting players, led by Mosley's jaded but good-hearted neighbor, Liz (Helene Udy), Zamira's stand-up ex James (Jay Habre), and, Keisha (Sara Elizabeth Ryan) a quirky bookseller who doesn't like to read. Watch this movie!
As the Village Sleeps (2021)
A Suspenseful & Supernatural Horror Whodunnit
"As the Village Sleeps" is an original riff on the 'cabin in the woods' horror movie trope. When a group of twenty-something friends (and frenemies!) gather for an alcohol and drug-fueled all night birthday party, a mysterious card game leads to a chaotic and terrifying denouement, from which all of them will emerge scarred for life, or worse... Director Terry Spears weaves together a skillful supernatural whodunnit with a talented and charming young cast who each hold their own in this taut and mysterious ensemble piece. The movie is cleverly shot in chiaroscuro and never reveals too much in its dark shadows which keeps us on the edge and leaves us wanting more. A must-see for supernatural horror aficionados!
Goodbye, Petrushka (2022)
A Charming, Transatlantic Fable
Nicola Rose's whimsical romantic comedy "Goodbye Petrushka" seems designed to bring out the Francophile in all of us. A tale of a quirky American animator & puppeteer, Claire (Lizzie Kehoe) who flees film school in NYC for Paris only to find herself stuck in an au pair job with a family of snobs while simultaneously forced to negotiate the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of a marionette school and put up with her wacky and germophobic best friend Julia (hilariously played by Casey Landman). When Claire runs into Thibaut, a melancholic French figure skater (Thomas Vieljeux), their on again/off again romance is kindled but soon threatened by an equally vain and charming first fling, Rafal (Bartek Szymanski). As much a story about the travails of creating beauty and art in an indifferent world as it is about a Franco/American romance - Nicola Rose clearly spins lived experience into a delightful modern day fairy tale.
The Midas Touch (2020)
A Hilarious Camp-Erotic Romp
TIlman Borck's "The Midas Touch" evokes all of our favourite vintage 70s silver screen farces from Monty Python to Mel Brooks to early Woody Allen. Borck himself, playing a Mephistophelian self-help guru leads a cast of comic actors who cheerfully commit to the high jinks and horrors. They are the perfect foil for Felix, played by Gino Wilson, as the movie's straight man: a young sexually frustrated bachelor who discovers a secret that, to him, is more valuable than all the gold in the world. However, too much of a good thing takes our young man on a character arc worthy of Euripides, and, as a plague of dirty politicians, greedy ad-men and creepy religious cultists seek him out, he has to engineer an escape before he loses his sanity, and his soul. This movie is a true labour of love from Tilman Borck - who wrote, directed, composed, and co-edited the film. If you like titillating, campy comedy-horror movies - this one's for you.
Six Years Gone (2022)
A Suspenseful and Moving Child-Trafficking Drama
Kudos to Warren Dudley for this taut and moving child-trafficking drama centered on a powerhouse performance by Veronica Jean Trickett with a top-rate supporting cast. When single mom Carrie suffers every parent's worst nightmare, her attempts to keep her iife together, including caring for her dementia affected mother, collide with the grim realities of being working-poor in the UK. Dudley keeps the pace of the film moving along while subtly exposing, in a Ken Loachian way, the systemic injustices, mysogyny and racism inherent in Little Britain, and the creeping horror of the white-van men in our midst. Shot in a a spare, cinema verité, radical 1st person style - this movie will stay with you and make you think.