I am just going to be upfront and honest, “Backcountry” is one of the most terrifying films I have ever seen. Maybe it’s because I am from the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina, maybe it’s because actor turned writer/director Adam McDonald studied bears and their habits for years before filming. Either way “Backcountry” is […]
For the second weekend in a row, a female lead film topped the American box office. Insurgent, the sequel to the box office hit Divergent, picks up right where it left off. Adding a host of new characters including Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (Snowpiercer, The Help) and Oscar nominee Naomi Watts (Birdman, The Impossible), the
Mauritania is a country in West Africa with about 3 million people. This is Mauritania’s first time submitting a film to the Academy Awards foreign language category and obviously their first nomination. However this isn’t director Abderrahmane Sissako’s first time with an award winning film, in 2002 he also was singled out at the Cannes
Director Paul Feig (The Heat, Bridesmaids) said he would never be allowed to directed a James Bond film (thank goodness!), so this was as closest he would ever get. Action comedies have never been able to blend both genres successfully (and I am talking about art, not getting some tub of popcorn to laugh at
From screenwriter of some of the most evocative and challenging scripts like The Beach, 28 Days Later, and Never Let Me Go, Alex Garland has finally made the transition from screenwriter to director. The title Ex Machina comes from “Deus ex machina,” meaning “god from the machine,” which takes on a more literal meaning in
Writer/director Robert Duvall does something with his latest western / crime drama that you wouldn’t expect. Wild Horses ventures into new territory for Duvall as he tackles sexism, homophobia, and other prejudices. From the opening scenes of the film where Duvall’s character finds his youngest son with another boy, all bets are off where this
One of the films mirroring from Sundance at SXSW, Results is shot in Austin, TX and takes a hilarious look at the fit and healthy obsessed American culture. The film has its own irony, but I found all that even funnier to be set in Austin, which is considered one of the most unhealthy American
The dictionary defines a nymphet as “a young girl who is sexually precocious and desirable.” I would define the film as a wasteland of talent and energy. One of the running themes this year at SXSW is the exploration of strong female roles both on and off-screen. The Nymphets is a counter product compared with
The first thought in my head is that writer/director David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn is better than his last SXSW film, Joe. Al Pacino also gives one of his best performances in a long while; I would have to go all the way back to Insomnia to find a time when I enjoyed him this much.
The American public is always interested when an actor turns into a director. That is the biggest reason not only for the existence of Lost River, but the purpose for its endurance (and distribution from Warner Bros despite being panned at Cannes). “I wanted to work with people I love”, Gosling said to a full