Sexual crime requires sensitive viewing, even more, sensitive portrayal, but what do you do when the lines blur between the perpetrators and the victims? Director-Writer Gary O. Bennett’s Getting A Scholarship is a 6:34 minutes long film on a student-professor relationship that goes sour after one accuses the other of taking advantage of her. That… Continue reading Getting A Scholarship: This Is No Ordinary Crime
Category: Reviews
Life On Set: A Sardonic Take On The Show Business
“Everyone sees the moments of glory, but no one sees behind the scenes” quotes Allyson Felix, but when a rube PA with unhealthy doses of enthusiasm, which might confuse him for a cocaine addict, an actress who is too attractive to let you pay attention to her talk, a director who would be the next… Continue reading Life On Set: A Sardonic Take On The Show Business
Reparations: On Empathy And The Legitimacy Of Being
Historical racism against black people and anti-semitism are brought together on one plane in the form of holocaust survivor, Howard and young, black academic, Michonne. Gregory G. Allen’s 11-minute drama Reparations brings up raw topics, asks uncomfortable, conflicting questions, but above all, tries to retain its humanity and remind the world of its own. Set… Continue reading Reparations: On Empathy And The Legitimacy Of Being
Jitters: A Pained Meditation On Love And Life’s Meaningfulness
Written and directed by Otoja Abit (who also stars as the protagonist), Jitters is the story of an anxious young man going through wedding jitters, just slightly more intensely than the average individual. To Michael, his wedding day is the culmination of his life so far and therefore, subject to scrutiny over the very worth… Continue reading Jitters: A Pained Meditation On Love And Life’s Meaningfulness
Valentine Jacobs: An English Spin On Bonnie And Clyde
Jason Julien-Connage’s Valentine Jacobs chronicles the end days of a Bonnie and Clyde style adventuring couple in 1975, starring Julien-Connage as the titular character. As the name indicates, the film really is about Valentine and his desire for the thrill of a kill even if the film follows the couple. As his foil, his girlfriend… Continue reading Valentine Jacobs: An English Spin On Bonnie And Clyde
The Eyes On me: Confronting Stalkers
Zane Van Cleave’s stalker thriller The Eyes On Me has little meat to it: the film settles for only introducing its broad plot points and leaving it at that. It tries to pack in a lot within a limited runtime, ending up with scenes that belong in a longer story and that, here, feel utterly… Continue reading The Eyes On me: Confronting Stalkers
The Keeper: A Heady Mix Of Art, Obsession And Blood
The Keeper brings together two strangers on their mutual need to forge a lasting connection. Celeste (Betsy Adkins Johnson), long dealing with the loss of her husband Tom, her wedding band hanging around her neck, longs for pleasure and companionship. Robert, who we are first introduced to without a face, (Bob Celli) is an older… Continue reading The Keeper: A Heady Mix Of Art, Obsession And Blood
Laboratory Conditions: Exploring The Fundamental Questions Of Human Existence
What is the exact moment of death? Is it a clinically-declared physical phenomenon or a spiritual experience? What happens when a person ‘dies’? Does the soul exist? Laboratory Conditions, directed by Jocelyn Stamat, tries to grapple with these larger-than-life questions in a classic Science versus Faith situation. The film begins with a low tense, dramatic… Continue reading Laboratory Conditions: Exploring The Fundamental Questions Of Human Existence
Make Me A Sandwich: The Psychological Horror Of A Catchphrase
The film opens with an ominous soundtrack and Johnson’s (Peter Hodgins) furious face, shrieking “Where’s my sandwich?” A petrified Marcy (Anne Shepherd) rushes in with a sandwich. He’s pacified. At the outset, this appears to be a classic setting for a film dealing with domestic abuse and violence — a husband’s tyranny over his helpless… Continue reading Make Me A Sandwich: The Psychological Horror Of A Catchphrase
The Fall: The Deep Reaching Wounds Of Young Love
Aydin, as a man well into his years, still harbours the wounds and accompanying bitterness of love lost. As a teenager, he found love with his middle-aged boxing trainer, Asher (Michael Shanahan), only to lose him after a period of blissful passion. Thus goes the story of Shannon Anderson’s The Fall. This story he relates… Continue reading The Fall: The Deep Reaching Wounds Of Young Love