Tough Bond, the directorial debut of Anneliese Vandenberg and Austin Peck, is the type of the documentary that will leave most viewers speechless and cause others to simply stay away due to the subject matter. The story of Kenyan youth huffing glue is not exactly “misery porn” as some have labeled it, nor is it…
Birds, leaves, sky, trees, branches, things of beauty we see every day but hardly recognize, are brought to our rapt attention in Slovenian director Vlado Skafar’s lyrical documentary A Girl and a Tree (“Deklica in Drevo,” original title). Like Louis Malle’s “My Dinner With André,” the film consists mainly of a conversation between two friends,…
“A blockbuster production with a devilishly unpredictable plot” one of the film’s characters says in a different context, but these words might as well be used when describing Snowpiercer. Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, Joon-ho Bong’s latest film marks the South Korean director’s English-language debut. The story is set in a future…
The phrase “inspired by true events,” once powerful enough to instill fear into any teenager, now holds little bite in the world of horror. At this point, we’ve all become far too jaded at the idea of a “true story,” especially since most of these tales turn out to be little more than “Hey, there…
As nail-bitingly intense as it is darkly funny, Jeremy Saulnier’s sophomore effort Blue Ruin is the kind of film that comes down the line and launches careers for all talent involved. A work of sheer craft, it’s a movie that takes a very standard set-up and wears its influences on its sleeve, yet still manages…
A studio-mandated sequel to a weak-at-best film only made to hold onto the rights to a cash cow property, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a movie so pre-packaged and risk-averse that the only surprise it holds comes from the fact it is, against all odds, even worse than this dubious pedigree would suggest. Scotch taped…
What’s a classic love story without some stars crossing overhead? What’s a romantic comedy without family members getting in the way and embarrassing both themselves and the lovers in question? What can a potential bride do when her father insists on more tradition than she’s comfortable with? How can a penniless suitor earn that father’s…
