Despite what Disney and Lucasfilm have been doing lately with the “Star Wars” cinematic universe and promising “Star Wars” films until the foreseeable future, that doesn’t stop fans from contributing their own stories. “The Force and the Fury” is a great and simple short fan film that is beautifully directed and works on the fundamentals of “Star Wars”: The narrative is simple, straight to the point, and about family and how the Sith and Jedi affect those within its realm.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
VHS Massacre: Cult Films and the Decline of Physical Media (2016) [Blu-Ray]
It’s important that we look back on the history of physical media, since the beginning of physical media for movie collectors was never Hollywood’s biggest plan. Since the creation of the home reel projector, studios have been working hard to fight the appeal of physical media, and now with its decline, we’re reverting to digital copies of films that can be monitored. With its introduction, comes the potential decline of honest independent filmmaking, and filmmakers that have an even playing field with Hollywood. That becomes an uphill battle as the physical media that does exist is nothing but overstocked Hollywood dribble, with stores openly refusing to stock independent cinema.
Dear White People (2014)
It’s daunting how predictable we’ve become when it comes to discourse about race relations and politics. In response to 2014’s “Dear White People” becoming a series, an angry user on Twitter asked “Why is there no “Dear Black People”?” In the very first scenes of the movie, while Samantha White is recording her college radio show “Dear White People,” character Kurt calls in asking “Where is there no “Dear Black People”?” Justin Simien’s “Dear White People” plays with perceptions of events, and ideas of chaos, by toying with our frustration with the normality of racial incidents, and stages a racial war that unfolds within the seemingly monotonous underbelly of Winchester College.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Much like a classic mix tape, “Vol. 2” of “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a movie that’s similar in theme to its predecessor but feels fresh and original. Director James Gunn delivered a truly remarkable adaptation in 2014, and now he offers up a sequel that’s just as good, with a hefty narrative that thankfully has so much going on, but never loses sight of its central themes of family, love, and how music is the soundtrack of our lives. With “Guardians” the group of Starlord, Gamorra, Groot, Rocket, and Drax are back committing to a difficult job for a race of aliens called the Sovereign. They’re tasked with killing a vicious monster called the Abilisk and protecting priceless batteries. In exchange, they give Gamorra her sister Nebula back, who has been held prisoner.
Playing God (2017) [Hot Docs 2017]
In the US (and other countries), when mass casualties happen, people and organization plan the payouts and how much each person gets. This person often times, in the biggest cases, is US attorney Ken Feinberg. Playing God is a documentary about him and his life, working on some of the toughest cases in the country including 9/11, the BP oil spill, and a case of pension funds being taken away. Through the film, his persona is slowly shed to reveal the man behind the cases, making him more human and more relatable.
Boned (2015)
A dog sitter becomes unwittingly entangled in a dognapping scheme with a handsome doctor and an S&M mistress.
Written and directed by Laura Lee Bahr, this film has a little bit of everything. The characters she creates here feel like maybe exaggerated versions of real people one would meet in Hollywood, people looking for their shining moment, their 15 minutes of fame. They sometimes feel like exaggerated versions or stereotypes, but most of the time, they feel like actual people. The film takes these people and puts them in crazy situations where they have no options but to do things most people wouldn’t even think of doing. At the same time, outside of the dognapping and a few other events, the film is filled with regular, normal moments which anchor the story in reality and create a counter-balance the WTF moments. Laura Lee Bahr weaves a story that should not make any sense (a dominatrix, goth kids, dog sitters, botox parties, …) yet it does. She manages to take a few crazy ideas along with some odd characters and makes them entertaining and engaging.
Strad Style (2017) [Hot Docs 2017]
A young man obsessed with building the perfect violin. After he meets a famous soloist on the internet and tells him he can replicate a very specific violin, he now has a mission and a deadline that comes faster than expected.