Premiering at the LA Shorts International Film Festival, “Belief” directed by Christian Loubek is a very good short film about mothers. Christian Loubek’s drama is a great tribute to the big things and little things that our mothers make for us. Whether it’s the big things we see, or small things we don’t see, mothers sacrifice a ton and give up a lot of themselves to ensure enrichment for their children.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Meeting You, Meeting Me (2024)
Selected to screen at 2024 CAAMFest, Lina Suh constructs what is easily one of the best films of the year. “Meeting You, Meeting Me” is a wonderful chamber piece about two kindred spirits that meet under the most unlikely circumstances. So much of “Meeting You, Meeting Me” is based on whether or not the pair of stars Annika Foster and Sam Yim can spark any kind of chemistry, and lo and behold they have it. “Meeting You , Meeting Me” felt very much in the tradition of masterpieces like “Before Sunset” where circumstances put two people together who didn’t know they needed they each other.
Challengers (2024) [Blu-Ray/Digital]
Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment.
Luca Guadagnino is a talented filmmaker, one that knows how to handle genre films well, but so far he feels so out of his element with “Challengers.” For all intents and purposes, “Challengers” is a very good movie, it’s just so ill fitted for Guadagnino’s abilities as he struggles between directing a film that bounces back and forth between dark suspense and darkly comedic drama. “Challengers” is a lot of ways about the passion of sports and the lengths we’re willing to go through to remain married to it, even when our prime has passed. “Challengers” isn’t so much a love triangle, as it is a dark drama about three people willing to be as cut throat as possible to remain in the game.
5.7 Seconds (2024)
Premiering at the LA International Short Film Festival, Tim Aslin and Shane Cibella’s short “5.7 Seconds” is a great idea, teeming with the feeling from a movie like “28 Weeks Later.” In an undisclosed location, in an unexplained calamity, a young woman rushes in to an abandoned car and locks herself inside from stalking individuals out in the middle of the day. Distraught and panicked, she locks the doors and is shocked to discover someone else has been hiding in the car, too.
Satu – The Year of the Rabbit (2024)
So much credit goes to Joshua Trigg, an ace filmmaker who has delivered one of the most affecting and engaging dramas of the year. “Satu – Year of the Rabbit” is a powerhouse drama packed to the brim with beauty, sadness, and grief, and pairs two people together, both of whom are in search of something. In the tradition of films like “Harry and Tonto,” Joshua Trigg’s film is about two wandering spirits that find a purpose in the middle of the amazing countryside of Laos. This is where “Satu” also acts as something of a travelogue akin to 1991’s “The Inland Sea,” acting as a means of conveying the richness, and vast scope of their home.
The Inheritance (2024)
A man believing he may be killed that day gathers his children to protect him or lose their inheritance.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
Now Available on Streaming and on Physical Media.
Gil Kenan’s “Frozen Empire” is a movie that, when all was said and done was fine. It was perfectly fine. The problem was that it was yet another of the just fine, perfectly okay movies for 2024, and that doesn’t sit well with me. There are so many places that they can go with “Ghostbusters” and they are still basically stuck in the shadows of the original film. Not only do they refuse to expand on the sceop of the firehouse but they still aim for big city bound showdowns that really don’t hit the mark too well.
I didn’t hate “Frozen Empire” like apparently many others did. I liked it. I just wish there was more thinking outside of the box.