Axolotl Overkill is a character study of Mifti, a teenage girl who feels disaffected by the life that people her age are supposed to lead. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Axolotl Overkill
Sundance Film Review: Family Life
Directors Alicia Scherson and Cristián Jiménez present Family Life as an anxious film: We watch Martín spin his lie to Paz while we become enamored of her. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Dayveon
In the “NEXT” section, Dayveon depicts the frustration of the film’s namesake character, Dayveon, played by Devin Blackmon. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Plastic China
Plastic China features foreman Kun’s plastic-recycling facility. They reside among knolls of plastic waste and veritable mountains of work. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Sami Blood
Sundance chose well by including this film in the “Spotlight” section, as Sami Blood continues to delight and does the Sami people justice. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Cortez
Cinematically, Cortez is a beautiful film and focuses on the wild, unpredictable nature of the Southwest. It follows the story of struggling musician Jesse as he is aimlessly drifts from town to town, trying to make it as a solo musician after the breakup of his band. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Jia (The Family)
Patient and poised, Shumin Liu’s feature-film debut is a measured masterpiece. From muted start to wrenching denouement, Shumin Liu brings a considered and stylish sensibility to the ordinariness that imbues The Family’s story. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Withdrawn
Director Adrian Murray’s first feature film, “Withdrawn,” is somewhat of a dry farce that manages to be both entertaining and subdued. The broke, basement-dwelling, band-tee-wearing Aaron spends his days mostly alone, preoccupying himself by playing video games, trying to solve a Rubik’s Cub and also trying to find ways to pay bills that he can’t afford. When he finds a lost credit card, Aaron decides to hatch a defrauding scheme. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: The Children Send Their Regards
The Children Send Their Regards is relentlessly eye-opening and excruciatingly detailed in its examination of the corruption that pervades throughout the clergy—and throughout a society with a legal system and statue of limitations that protects the abusers over the abused. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Strad Style
Danny Houck is a 32-year-old eccentric. He wears a long scarf around his head at almost all times, and he has a mania for violins. In particular, he’s obsessed with the two greatest violinmakers in musical history, the Masters of Cremona: Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu. Director Stefan Avalos’ “Strad Style” has us cheering for Danny from beginning to end. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Dim the Fluorescents
Fitted with long scenes, on-point characters and justly over-the-top dialogue, Dim the Fluorescents is as imaginative and entertaining as are Audrey and Lillian’s sensational corporate demonstrations. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Hotel Coolgardie
Pete Gleeson’s documentary, “Coolgardie,” is about a remote town in Western Australia. After getting their credit cards stolen and travel savings drained in Bali, Finnish travellers Lina and Steph decide to work in the town’s pub, hoping to replenish their funds. Coolgardie, however, isn’t anything close to what Lina and Steph were prepared for. … read more
