Despite the difficult exterior, the film strives to look lovingly at New York City, knowing under the rough edges there’s a place full of beauty and unique magic, a victim itself of fraught leadership.
Read MoreMarty Supreme is a triumph because it serves as a pure extension of Josh Safdie's vision.
Read MoreTwo packed weeks, very little sleep, and more films than our brains could probably process. Here is everything we caught at Sundance Film Festival.
Read MoreThe arguments around both films are noticeably similar: do the films fully embrace the politics they portray? How radical can big-budget films released by major studios ever really be?
Read MoreDirector Sam Green’s latest film, named after the Guinness World Record designation, follows several of the title holders of this ephemeral honor.
Read MoreAny merits of The Bride!, of which there are many, slam into a brick wall in the face of its biggest problem: undermining surreal storytelling with hyper-literal storytelling.
Read MoreWhere the film stands out in the global coverage of the ongoing tragedy is that it is a docudrama: a narrative reenactment of the day surrounding the murder of five-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab and her family by Israeli soldiers.
Read MoreIn Sundance indie Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty! we watch as one woman tries to find her way back to herself through the deep and uncertain waters of grief.
Read MoreBarbara Forever serves as an essential work of preservation, documenting the life and work of lesbian icon Barbara Hammer with love and care.
Read MoreIn Sundance documentary Public Access, from filmmaker David Shadrack Smith, we learn about the history of New York City’s Manhattan Cable Television.
Read MoreOne of my notes reads, “Zoomer Inland Empire” and that is honestly not far off from the sensation you get from watching Prisoner of Love.
Read MoreJames’ next pick: The VH1 original movie Man in the Mirror: a biopic about the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. I say “sort of” because the film did not have the rights to any of Jackson’s music.
Read MoreThe average person would be primed, after three musicals in a row, for James to have continued on that track. And arguably he did, with Kenneth Anger’s short film Mouse Heaven.
Read MoreAs a critic, as a movie watcher, as even just a guy whose livelihood depends in some capacity on my ability to communicate why a piece of art fascinates me, I don’t really know what to say.
Read MoreHomocula begins by establishing, first, that Dracula is real and lives in the Shetland Islands, and that Homoculas are a unique type of gay Dracula that drink cum instead of blood.
Read MoreOn Saturday, February 21st, local tastemaker James McDonald held his annual Butt-Numb-A-Thon, an event in which he assembles a marathon of truly deranged movies at his home with an open door policy and “anyone is welcome” mentality. For this, the 10th iteration, James rented out the Hyperreal Clubhouse for a slightly more official-feeling film fest. The movies were still deranged.
Read MoreFollowing the Mormon musical Saturday’s Warrior, James programmed the 1978 made-for-TV 40 minute musical aptly titled Junior High School — a movie perhaps only notable for featuring a small appearance by American Idol host Paula Abdul.
Read MoreThe Ultimate Masturbation opens with a beautiful, serene forest and meadowy hills. Five men climb to the top of the hill, drop their trousers, and begin masturbating.
Read MoreHave you ever wondered if Santa Claus could beat Lucifer in an ultimate battle of good and evil? If yes, do I have the movie for you!
Read MoreThe new film adaptation of Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation asks a question that seems quite simple at first, but carries a gravity that we ultimately cannot help being pulled in by: “What does it mean to truly come home?”
Read More