A gay local radio host, David, questions his life as he fights another radio host, tries to find love, and he’s asked to be a father figure by his sister who is adopting internationally. His life is explored through his relationships with his sister, her ghost, and his boyfriend. The David Dance is written by its star Don Scimé and directed by Aprill Winney who has directed three other features and some television. Together, they build a personal and touching family drama. It touches many family and gay issues through the lead, his sister, and his boyfriend.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
We Go On (2016) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2016]
Miles Grissom wants to know what comes after death to help ease his crippling fear of it and other phobias. With the help of his mother, her go through tons of submissions to his ad in the newspaper offering $30,000 to whoever can prove to him that there is something after death. Written and directed by the team of Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland, they create a simple premise, fear of death, and work it into an appealing story with a lead character that is representative of many people with crippling fears or even anxiety. This character feels like a person some of the viewers might know, having issues and trying to overcome them. His mother is a by nagging and overbearing but she does feel like many people’s moms. She wants what is best for him and will stop at almost nothing to make sure he is not swindled in his search for the truth.
Karate Kill (2016) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2016]
Kenji, a karate master who keeps to himself, learns of his little sister’s disappearance so he flies to the US to find her and kill anyone who gets in his way. Writer/director Kurando Mitsutake builds a crazy fun action film. His film not a character study and that is perfectly fine. It’s build like an 80’s action film on steroids which mean the characters are okay, the bad guys are really bad and the good guys are not so numerous. However, the fight scenes are many and highly entertaining. The film is built to showcase the fighting and the action, the kidnapping of the little sister is only a reason for the lead to go nuts and fight everyone in his path to get her back. The film is in both Japanese and English adding an angle to Kenji’s travel to the US as he does not speak English and must rely on other Japanese people for most of his communications. The cultural differences are there from that but also seem to be exaggerated for the sake of entertainment.
The Wraith (1986)
“The Wraith” is goofy nonsensical eighties fun and it’s a childhood favorite that hasn’t aged much at all. The mix of punk rock and Mad Max gear head aesthetic has worked in the favor of “The Wraith” for a long time, making it a really unusual oddity of the mid eighties that embraces its absurdity. It has a good time as a revenge thriller with a supernatural bent that uses cars as a means of inspiring some chills. Whenever our avenging angel or “Wraith” comes rolling up in his supernatural black hot rod, it’s a surefire indication that no one is going to come out of the experience alive. I’ll be the first to admit that not a lot of “The Wraith” makes too much sense.
Carrie (1976): 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
With the opening of “Carrie,” we see a brutal horror unfold with main character the titular Carrie White taking a shower during gym class and discovering the horror of her first period. She’s a girl who’s never really been given an explanation on anatomy or biology thanks to her religiously fanatical mother, and is terrified. Sadly the predators in her class that revel in bullying Carrie torment her by throwing tampons and towels at her as she screams. While the scene itself is jarring and the epitome of the cruelty Carrie inexplicably receives, it’s also the implication that ultimate evil has been realized. Though it’s mostly hinted at by Carrie’s mother, Carrie, despite being a good person at heart, is also pure evil personified.
Egomaniac (2016) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2016]
Catherine Sweeney wants to make her first fiction feature film, a zombie romantic comedy, but to do so; she must find people to finance her and help produce the film. After everyone she meets in the industry is telling her to put a speaking dog in her film as it will sell it like crazy. After first resisting this idea, she eventually gives in, losing her integrity and possibly her sanity in the process. This film about the plight of the filmmaker, particularly of the female horror filmmaker, is written and directed by Kate Shenton whose first feature film this is. The lead she creates here feels like a woman some of have met in the industry, possibly a little bit or a lot of Shenton herself as she has to have seen a lot of what Sweeney sees in her own career.
Mother’s Day (2016)
I’ll admit I wish I’d known more about filmmaker Nico Raineau sooner, as he’s managed to deliver some really interesting short films lately. “Mother’s Day” is a complete departure from the bone crunching action drama of “Brix and the Bitch” and it’s a fine drama comedy that I wanted more from. And you know you’re watching a great short film when you could have sat through two hours of the characters barely noticing the time pass. Lauren Schacher (who co-writes with Raineau) plays Mara, a young clubber who awakens in the house of the man she spent the night with one morning.