Director Frederic Da has a knack for adding some appeal to the mumblecore sub-genre. While I normally don’t like the narrative format, “Teenage Emotions” is a great platform for it. A mix of John Hughes and Greta Gerwig, “Teenage Emotions” works hard not to be pigeonholed. It’s a teen drama, but also a candid look at the monotony of high school. It’s a romance but also lacks a clear cut resolution of the various sub-plots. It also wants to be taken as both a narrative and a semi-documentary all at the same time.
Tag Archives: Drama
Murderous Trance (2018)
This 2018 film that is finally being released in 2021 is based on true events where a man used his influence, possibly including hypnosis, to push his former cellmate into crime.
You Have to See This! Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
My love affair with writing began with competitive spelling in grade school and evolved right in to middle school where I built my obsession with telling stories. I was always fond of the Scripps spelling bee and I always sought to maybe make it there someday. But you know… puberty happened. In either case, it‘s refreshing to see films in contemporary and modern that portray spelling bees as pure sport. There are more and more movies spotlighting the mental demand of spelling from 2002’s “Spellbound” to “Bee Season,” to “Spelling the Dream.”
Malcolm & Marie (2021)
Sam Levinson is very good about reframing narratives we’ve seen a thousand times to feel new and unique (I love “Euphoria”). While “Malcolm & Marie” doesn’t re-invent the wheel, it’s a stellar two person drama that pits two painfully self absorbed people against each other one night. While Malcolm and Marie may not make it as a couple, they make great adversaries, which might just tie them together for the rest of their lives. And that’s the primary draw of the film.
The Right One (2021)
A young writer seems unable to write her second novel after having a decent success with her first published work. One day, she meets an oddball who’s trying to survive something from his past by creating new personas for himself at all times. As she starts to really like him, he discovers that she has used him for writing inspiration and disappears.
Rams (2020)
In the Australian countryside, farmers raise and compete for best ram in the local fair. After one ram shows signs of a deadly and highly contagious disease, the entire community is put at risk and must rally together to survive this massive hurdle. Two feuding brothers are the center of things and must find a way to make things work for their own survival.
Haymaker (2021)
After saving her, a former Muay Thai fighter becomes a singer’s bodyguard. Through the process, he gets to see a new way of life and goes back to his roots to truly find himself.