Bridgett M. Davis’ 1996 film “Naked Acts,” recently rediscovered by Maya S. Cade, presented by Julie Dash, Kino Lorber and Milestone Films, is an independent film that takes its audience through the independent filmmaking process and the life of a generational actress. It is triumphant, jarring and pulls its audience into an intimate storyline that […]
“Slave Play. Not A Movie. A Play.,” a film by playwright Jeremy O. Harris, is an in-depth look behind the scenes of the director’s controversial play of the same name. Slave Play, the 12-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway sensation, follows three interracial couples as they explore tendentious racial stereotypes and power dynamics within a kinky therapy
Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play (2024) Read More »
When it comes to kooky, creative thrillers, Shyamalan is practically a brand. Though M. Night is the present precedent for this surname, his daughter Ishana hopes to carry the torch into the next generation, making a name for herself in a similar genre. Based on the book by A.M. Shine, “The Watchers” is Ishana Night
The Watchers (2024) Read More »
Wait. Pixar finally has a quality animated film hitting theaters? Granted, it’s a sequel. But after seeing “Turning Red” pushed to Disney+ while a lukewarm film like “Lightyear” took its theatrical place, it’s taken far too many years for the studio to have a distinguished domestically released animated adventure. Even as a reintroduction to a
Inside Out 2 (2024) Read More »
One of my very favorite television genres is Jeff Daniels conducting business while chewing scenery. Whether playing a news anchor in “The Newsroom” or a detective in “American Rust,” he always carries himself with such studious charisma. David E. Kelley’s “A Man in Full” presents Daniels with a new challenge, tapping into his inner Colonel
A Man in Full (2024) Read More »
Netflix’s new comedic thriller “Bodkin” opens with the show’s protagonist, Gilbert Power (Will Forte), stating, “When I started this podcast, I didn’t expect to solve anything. I didn’t expect it to change my life.” It sets up the characters’ preoccupations well, and also exposes the main problem with the genre their fictional series is embedded
Brothers Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross straddle the lines of documentary v. fictional storytelling with their newest “Gasoline Rainbow.” Gathering five non-acting teens to embody the story’s central friend group, we are consistently unsure how much direction has been given to the group as we follow them on the road. The precarious nature of
Gasoline Rainbow (2024) Read More »
Jane Schoenbrun’s second narrative feature is a gnawing search for belonging in the static spaces between analog pixels. They stir dreamlike logic into scavenged memories, especially in a scene early in the film that grasps at how the medium of television’s celestial radiance can grant wide-eyed salvation in even the darkest room. A young Owen
I Saw the TV Glow (2024) Read More »
Jenna Marvin is a fearless 21-year-old queer artist in Russia. Using found objects, layers of makeup and tape, and a jaw-dropping amount of creativity, she manifests otherworldly outfits and strange creatures that seem to have fallen out of a sci-fi TV show and onto the streets of Moscow. Some of her outfits are fun and
Children take center stage but aren’t the real stars of “Ultraman: Rising,” a new animated superhero fantasy about absent parents, lost kids, and other Pixar-entrenched stock types. The movie follows (but predictably differs) from “Shin Ultraman,” the most recent high-profile project featuring the 58-year-old alien hero. “Shin Ultraman” was more of a retro-modern redo of
Ultraman: Rising (2024) Read More »
