A police officer with a checkered past is tasked with retrieving a witness from Mexico and bringing her into the US. When they are attacked at the meeting point, things take a turn for the worse and he must find it in him to be a better person in order to survive.
Exclusively in theaters January 19th.
It’s the classic tale of humanity. When you dig deep and throw away all semblance of civility, we’re all savages that will do anything to survive. “I.S.S.” is a mean but thought provoking science fiction thriller that teeters on the edge of horror quite often. It’s that classic post apocalyptic tale about man kind resorting to desperate measures to stay alive; by the end of Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film, the whole setting of science and technology are merely props meant to spread a cloak of the nastiness that humans are capable of. “I.S.S.” is one in a trend of post apocalyptic movies that don’t really fetishize the idea of the end of the world, but depict it as a waking nightmare.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Tubi TV.
Director Andrew Walsh’s microbudget indie film thrives on being a mumblecore character journey that is unabashedly aimless with its narrative. It’s not so much a linear narrative so much as it is a series of encounters a small journey our character Eleanor experiences. She’s in search of stability and has a hard time adjusting in a city where she comes across nothing but oddballs and unusual characters. Eleanor is an admitted victim of her own being as she spends so much time self sabotaging her own life, and can never figure it out.
Dylan Tuccillo’s short drama is not what I expected it to be and that might be its best weapon. It’s a movie about marriage, and regret, and ultimately the lengths some of us will go through to correct what we think is the right course. Director Tuccillo really is great at catching the audience off guard, setting down on a normal hectic marriage one day where a trio of friends is bouncing back and forth with Josh, the best man trying to smooth things over between the bride and groom.
Director Alfredo Tanaka’s short film is more about the experience and technical prowess he presents than about the narrative. The narrative, to its credit, feels a lot like some kind of contemporary folklore that breaches the ideas about tragic love and living up to the wealthy and elite. “Marie” is a weird and absolutely bizarre movie, but one that works well thanks to the pretty great direction, top notch editing, and just bang up make up effects.
I dare say that not only is “Moana” a better film than “Frozen” but the music is better. I know that’ll leave many aghast since “Let It Go” is a massive earworm (I personally prefer “Love is an Open Door”), but I think “Moana” is so much more well rounded and catchy. Everything from “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome” don’t just contribute to Disney’s legacy of catchy traditional music, but they also do their job of establishing characters so much better. I loved “Frozen,” but I think “Moana” has a more cohesive pacing and interesting narrative.
Now Streaming Exclusively on Netflix.
It’s a tale you’ve seen a thousand times by now. It’s as old as Frankenstein. A tech device or system meant to benefit us ultimately becomes our worst enemy and takes on sentience. I saw two last year with the awful “Margaux” and the fun “M3GAN.” Now with studios hoping to garner the same success as the latter we get “T.I.M.” Spencer Brown’s science fiction thriller doesn’t bring anything new to the table, nor does it re-invent the wheel. Despite Georgina Campbell giving her all, “T.I.M.” is pretty much dead on arrival as a flat, dull, and irritating thriller about an obsessed AI.