Many often think about art that embodies “The American Dream.” There’s certainly quite a few films that speak to the fantasy ideals of the red, white, and blue, though there are only a few that show the raw realities within the heart of the country. Because America wasn’t built by glamorous individuals that evoke the…
Author Victor Hugo was once quoted as saying, “There are no such things as bad plants or bad men. There are only bad cultivators.” The idea that unjust law and prejudice infect communities for generations only to create more monsters along the way is still prevalent today, especially in media. In his third directorial effort,…
This blood-is-thicker-than-water melodrama, A Violent Separation, presents itself as a study in the ties that bind, a familial tale that is unfortunately all too familiar. In it, a cop brother named Norman (Brenton Thwaites, “Gods of Egypt”) helps his shadier brother named Ray (Ben Robson, “The Boy”) out of a particularly horrible jam, with each…
Mr. Roosevelt is a quirky comedy written, directed by and starring comedian Noël Wells (“The Incredible Jessica James”) and is about a struggling funny person who travels from Los Angeles back to her old stomping grounds in Austin, Texas when a loved one falls ill. While there, she has the misfortune of staying with her…
Observing, feeling, thinking, day dreaming, or simply throwing up your hands in exasperation. You may be engaged in all or none of the above when watching Terrence Malick’s (“Knight of Cups”) Song to Song, a dreamlike exploration of love and betrayal. Whatever does come up for you, however, and whether or not you have any…
“Uncertain’s a good place to hide,” states a Texan police officer during the first moments of Ewan McNichol and Amanda Sandilands’ debut documentary Uncertain. A very uncanny name for a town stuck on the border of Louisiana and Texas, Uncertain welcomes a mere population of 94 residents and is home of prime fishing location, Caddo…
In his powerful and beautifully realized documentary, Tower, Keith Maitland (“A Song For You: The Austin City Limits Story”) movingly recreates the shock and heartbreak of the random shooting of 49 people at the University of Texas in the summer of 1966. The attack was the first mass shooting at any school in the U.S.,…
