The movie is unafraid to shift ways to see and feel beauty, even through—and especially through—artificial sources. What makes her happy makes him happy, and not the over-traditional other way around, and that simple stance speaks volumes. Wicker’s lifts given to a woman’s independence and the proper devotion a spouse should give their partner create harmony sorely missing in the world.
Read MoreOne cinematic trait, among a great many, that the fine animation artists at the Portland-based Laika Studios consistently demonstrate is visual sweep. When you see one of their films, it’s like no other filmgoing experience. The precision movement and jaw-dropping detail poured into the production house’s 17-year, six-film catalog, which began with Coraline, is beyond impressive, and with Wildwood, that sense of sweep only gets bigger.
Read MoreThere’s shrewd wisdom in that call, because, like this film’s second lesson, that’s plenty and that’s where the real intrigue is. While the overarching rhetoric is scintillating and probably deserves more time in actual deliberations, The Plea found the right territory to explore in this all-hands-on-deck indie standout.
Read MoreLove of Your Life proves that there’s always room for a good weeper at the movies. We, as the audience, attach ourselves to figures we love quickly, and process the acceleration of missing them when they are taken away. Watching fictional proxies go through recognizable pain can help viewers reflect, consider, prepare, or push through their own, in classic “what would you do?” fashion.
Read MoreWhile it takes time and no one is standing out as a future firebrand legend or trophy winner, The Social Reckoning’s scuffed and abrasive path is effective at kicking up smoke and firing up an audience, especially if its recent history remains fresh and unresolved in people’s minds.
Read MoreWith the bared truth of those factors in play, Josh Loeb’s film shines by watching two scared people use their own measures of goodness to find commitment against their challenges and those of their partner with equal acceptance. Rooting for that kind of success becomes as enjoyable as relishing in the cinnamon roll with them.
Read MoreDigger, with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s choices of layered implications that create a mystery as to the actual setting and time period in which all of this is taking place, invites the head-scratching question of whether one can make a satire and judge it at the same time, removing that latter participation step from the audience. Oh, the polarizing think pieces coming from this bleak and inky movie will fill volumes!
Read MoreEven with the presence of a bona fide Hollywood icon, the lasting enthrallment of Heart of the Beast belongs to that goddamn incredible dog. Where he grabs your gaze and devours your soul is in moments of stillness and focus. Uber will hold a remarkably firm look that will stare down and disarm any living thing in its gaze, be that a bear, a pack of wolves, Brad Pitt, or us—fixated on the big screen with wet corners filling our eyes.
Read MoreWith decent chemistry and plenty of her own zingers, Lili Reinhart sets most of the scenes up, but the endearing transformation belongs to Bateman, in almost an academic Beauty and the Beast-tinged arc. No one is going to call Set It Up director Claire Scanlon’s fourth feature film high art or the next great screwball comedy, but it finds its stride the longer the fake dating carries on and creates our wishes it sticks around for good.
Read MoreMade on an indie budget’s dime with an all-hands-on-deck mentality (including Shelby Gaines helping pen the screenplay with Trench 11’s Matthew Booi), the grit of The Weight is hugely apparent, and it starts with Ethan Hawke. Spitting gravel with every line reading, Hawke weathers the unrelenting march with an understated, yet commanding performance.
Read MoreDespite what looks like a melodramatic premise of coming-of-age tropes in the hands of George Jaques, it is quite astonishing all the unexpected places Sunny Dancer takes its drama, including a very risky sledgehammer twist which I dare not divulge. Nevertheless, the friendship-building relationship dynamics inside its marked weekly chapters are fascinating to behold.
Read MoreThe emotional quicksand in On a String is palpable, yet oddly endearing. Leave it to consummate down-player Dylan Baker to drop the zinger that nails the ideal tone by stopping a small venting rant from his on-screen daughter to say, “I hate to break it to you, but you’re not that special.” In different hands, this could all be stretched to an epic length and height to be played as a Poor Man’s Tar as some kind of toxic roller coaster making larger, bolder points.
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