Eli has a lot on his plate; a fumbling career, a blubbering agent, an ex-wife who is soon-to-be-married and a daughter whose heart needs to be won over, every day. As if these weren’t alone enough, writer Ken Perlstein makes Eli a recovering alcoholic. If you thought these were too many facets for a singular… Continue reading How Am I Doing?: A Bittersweet Expose Of Middle Age
Tag: Review
Small Boy: Revisiting Childhood Fears
At 9:00-minutes in duration, Small Boy is a strong concoction of childhood memories, fears and finding freedom. With its ensemble cast, consisting only of children and a single adult who never makes it fully to the frame, the film is all in all a revisit to one’s childhood. And, yet, writer-director Nathan Young’s Small Boy… Continue reading Small Boy: Revisiting Childhood Fears
Young, Young Men: Teen Boys Have Rarely Been Seen As Well
Youth, and even teenage for that matter, are rather umbrella terms; great for convenience, but they come up rather short in encompassing the many explosions of development that make up these years. Noah Stratton-Twine’s sublime drama Young, Young Men examines with finesse and refreshing empathy that effervescent period of high school, putting the focus on… Continue reading Young, Young Men: Teen Boys Have Rarely Been Seen As Well
The Five Minutes: A Sci-Fi That Goes Beyond Time-Travel
No matter how many time-travel films you have seen or books you have read, Shange Zhang’s The Five Minutes goes beyond the routine. Granted that the mystique that comes with this genre is guessable, but not the sublime storytelling that Zhang adopts. The Five Minutes combines the elements of drama, fantasy and science fiction all-in-one,… Continue reading The Five Minutes: A Sci-Fi That Goes Beyond Time-Travel
Claude: A Chapter In Mental Health
Chris Frint’s 24:06-minute long Claude works on you slowly. Despite the opening scene that very early on establishes the characters, their dynamics and almost predictable arcs, the uncertainty looms. A film on friendship, family and loss, both accidental and intentional, Claude digs into the after-effects of a traumatic experience that leads into very unexpected outcomes.… Continue reading Claude: A Chapter In Mental Health
Silent: The True Cost Of Poverty And Inequality
There is a lot writer-director Valentyn Korotkevych leaves ambiguous and open to interpretation in his 8-minute film Silent, a film about a homeless boy, his life explored and understood through the influence of music. And the kindness of a stranger. In the total absence of dialogue, Korotkevych demonstrates the life this little boy could have… Continue reading Silent: The True Cost Of Poverty And Inequality
Ya Albi: A Moving Tale On Resettlement & The Refugee Crisis
There’s no way Christine Chen’s Ya Albi leaves you without a dent in your heart. Be it in the riveting performances of its lead actors, the music by Steffen Schmidt or in Alex Walker’s cinematography, the film is nothing short of a moving prose. A story unlike the usual on the immigrant and refugee crisis,… Continue reading Ya Albi: A Moving Tale On Resettlement & The Refugee Crisis
Colourblind: On The Inability To Distinguish Love From Abuse
CW: Contains discussion on domestic abuse and violence. Natasha Rose Mills has written and stars in Kyle and Liam Bashford’s film on domestic abuse, Colourblind, encompassing both physical and emotional abuse. Shot in a single 7-minute long take, the narrative adopts a theatrical style: the central character, Amber walks the audience, literally, through her life… Continue reading Colourblind: On The Inability To Distinguish Love From Abuse
A Momentary Yearning: Chasing Lost Time In Lieu Of Living The Present
Farhaz Husain Rahman’s A Momentary Yearning is wistful and nostalgic, the premise dwelling on years gone by, and all that was lost with it. By including the element of war into the plot (Francis, the protagonist, is a weary war correspondent), it takes on added expectations of depth, which it does not ultimately deliver on.… Continue reading A Momentary Yearning: Chasing Lost Time In Lieu Of Living The Present
Boris in the Forest: When A Fan Met His Hero
A second viewing of Robert Hackett’s horror-comedy Boris in the Forest brings not only a fuller understanding of the plot, but a complete understanding of just how many jokes were slid into seemingly innocuous lines (screenplay by Mike Goldfarb), impossible to distinguish in a single watch. Its performances complement the writing. Mac McDonald as the… Continue reading Boris in the Forest: When A Fan Met His Hero