Review: Yakuza Princess
Set in São Paulo, Brazil, home to the largest Japanese diaspora in the world, Yakuza Princess is an action packed martial arts thriller and story of self-discovery. A young Japanese…
Review: The Magnificent Meyersons
This family drama is for those who like a good conversation. The film consists of a series of talks between various members of the Meyerson family and their friends and…
Quickie Review: Annette
It's been a couple of weeks since I watched Annette and frankly I'm still processing. I'd love to be able to recommend it because it's got music! And Academy-Award nominee…
Review: CODA
CODA doesn’t have the dramatic heft of Children of a Lesser God (for which deaf actress Marlee Matlin won an Academy Award), or the grittier themes of Oscar nominee Sound…
Review: Escape from Mogadishu
This based on a true story film is a nail biter. It's the tale of North and South Korean diplomats and their families caught in the middle of a civil…
Review: Materna
The four women in Materna whose stories collide in a New York subway could not be more different. But they are connected by narratives exploring the theme of "mother", what…
Review: Nine Days
Nine Days is quite the contemplative film. It dabbles in some high-concept existentialism and evokes themes explored in both 1998’s observational psychological drama The Truman Show and this year’s Oscar-winning…
Review: Lorelei
At the center of this working class drama is Wayland (Pablo Schreiber, First Man, "Orange Is the New Black"), just out of prison after 15 years and looking to go…
Review: Broken Diamonds
They don't make a lot of films that deal with mental illness for good reason. It's a tough subject to portray realistically. Sure there are plenty that have that one…
2fer review: Settlers and Cousins
I watched these two indie films back to back. Both of them deal with a girl growing up with just about every kind of obstacle thrown in her way. One…
Review: Joe Bell
Mark Wahlberg (Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day) is back at it as yet another flawed, working-class hero type based on a real guy. This time around, he’s Joe Bell,…
Review: Pig
Pig is a quest film and a really good one at that. Nicolas Cage plays Rob a self-exiled hermit in the Oregon wilderness whose beloved truffle-hunting pig is violently abducted,…
Quickie Review: 12 Mighty Orphans
12 Mighty Orphans is one of those inspiring underdog sports movies inspired by real events subject to Hollywood tinkering to condense time, amalgamate characters, and boost tension - as with…
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Arty Chick’s Seven Flicks: Week 15
What a group of films I have for you this week! There’s an end of the world love story set in Los Angeles and a twisted sister rivalry in old…
Mini-review: Siberia
The bromance between director Abel Ferrara and Willem Dafoe has reached its zenith with their latest collaboration. Each year for the last three in June I've watched Dafoe play a…