Directed and co-starring Matt Johnson and inspired by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s business history, Losing the Signal, “BlackBerry” is shot in a raggedy, trembling handheld style that suggests what an episode of “The Office” guest-scripted by David Mamet might have felt like. The most fascinating thing about the script, co-written by Johnson and Matthew … Read more
Unfortunately, my one-day pass for a coffee interview was more enjoyable than Charlie Day’s toothless Hollywood satire, “Fool’s Paradise.” Poking fun at the industry’s quirks, like the importance of getting coffee for more powerful people, the mercurial nature of star power, and the strange characters you meet along the way, is a fine premise—it gave … Read more
Instead of the big dramatic confrontations that one might expect in a film like this, the screenplay is more interested in exploring the quiet human truths that arise out of the situation in ways that end up having a much more significant impact. Here is a film where the big emotional climax comes in the … Read more
Well, yes and no. Pinochet is never mentioned in this picture, and it’s not because his largely bourgeois characters are necessarily fearful of invoking him; as it happens, they’re perfectly nonchalant in dinner conversations in which they call their country mediocre and sad. One can infer that maybe Martelli thought that to do so would … Read more
In spirit, “Unrest” is an observational film with Schäublin’s camera watching revolutionary ideas exchanged in whispers and polite conversations. Set in the Swiss Jura mountains during the late 1800s, the movie focuses on the experiences of two main characters: Josephine (Clara Gostynski), a Swiss watch factory worker, and Pyotr Kropotkin (Alexei Evstratov), a Russian geographer … Read more
The writer and director, former stuntman Jesse V. Johnson (“Avengement”), throws audiences into the middle of action. There’s a bank robbery out in a patch of Texas territory monitored by Texas Ranger Alex Tyree (Jane) that was spearheaded by a former IRA member named Declan McBride (Dean Jagger). Alex is in the process of arresting … Read more
For the first two episodes, directed with crisp immediacy and vintage charm by “Booksmart”’s Susanna Fogel, Miep is just an ordinary girl trying to grow up in difficult circumstances: She’s a twentysomething layabout with few prospects, no job, and no husband (unless, of course, she marries one of her adopted brothers). Luckily, she meets a … Read more
Except for a brief section when the filmmaker asks the viewers to remove the phones—the headphone version is definitely one that veers into an audience participation mode—that’s how we hear the movie. I’m surprised that Lou Reed is never mentioned in the work—in the 1970s, he was a real proselytizer for this binaural recording method. … Read more
When the film opens, Matthias (Marin Grigore) is working in a German slaughterhouse. While out on a smoke break, he is called a “lazy gypsy” by a co-worker, who he quickly headbutts to the ground. The sudden violence says a lot about Matthias’ instincts, but it will also have interesting reflections later in the film … Read more
“Polite Society” follows the misadventures of Ria (Priya Kansara), a teenager who dreams of becoming a stunt woman. After school and hanging out with her close friends, Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri), Ria often spends time in the company of her older sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), who supports and understands her like no … Read more