Sundance Film Review: Stories We Tell

In this unique and introspective documentary, Canadian actress/director Sarah Polley (Away From Her, Take This Waltz) compiles a narrative around the life of her mother, actress Diane Polley, who died when Sarah was 11 years old, and the mystery surrounding a specific time period, which leads to a surprising discovery.  … read more

Sundance Film Review: Soldate Jeannette

Still of burning currency from Soldate Jeannette.

Fanni tries on an expensive dress at an upscale fashion boutique.  After much deliberation, she buys the dress. She dumps it into a mailbox just outside the boutique. Fanni’s landlord and his lawyer walk into her posh apartment. She offers them matcha tea, and they tell her she’s being evicted that afternoon because three years’ rent is past due. … read more

Slamdance Film Review: Best Friends Forever

Harriet (Brea Grant), a young comic book artist living in Los Angeles, has just been accepted to a college in Austin, Texas, and decides to road trip there with her BFF, Reba (Vera Miao). As they make their way across the country—in a ’76 AMC Pacer—the nuclear apocalypse begins with four nuclear explosions happening in major US cities.  … read more

Slamdance Film Review: The Dirties

Constantly being bullied by a group of kids—known as “The Dirties” because it’s the name of the bullies’ band—at their high school, Matt (Matt Johnson) and Owen (Owen Williams) decide to film a movie about getting revenge. But as Matt gets more and more serious about the idea, Owen begins to worry his friend might take things too far. … read more

Sundance Film Review: Toy’s House

I knew this movie was going to be painful to watch as soon as the ‘70s or ‘80s power-pop intro song started. It seemed out of place, forced—As did most of the dialogue in the film. A couple of high school friends, Joe Toy (Nick Robinson) and Patrick Keenan (Gabriel Basso) decide that their parents are such a drag that the only option is to build their own house in the forest and live there.  … read more

Sundance Film Review: Upstream Color

It’s going to take me a few more viewings of this film to full grasp what the hell is going on and what it all means, but let’s try this: Larvae infect a plant, kids harvest and process the blue dust on the infected plant and they make a drink out of it which gives them mental, physical and spiritual connection. … read more