Where 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.
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In 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.
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Barbara Forever serves as an essential work of preservation, documenting the life and work of lesbian icon Barbara Hammer with love and care.
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In Sundance documentary Public Access, from filmmaker David Shadrack Smith, we learn about the history of New York City’s Manhattan Cable Television.
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One of my notes reads, “Zoomer Inland Empire” and that is honestly not far off from the sensation you get from watching Prisoner of Love.
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James’ 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.
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The 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.
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As 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.
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Homocula 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.
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On 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.
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Following 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.
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The 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.
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Have 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!
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This week in Austin screenings 2/27-3/5.
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This article is written to encourage others to endeavor upon their own movie quests via physical media, for there are adventures to be had and treasure to be discovered.
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The 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?”
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What needs to be abolished in these adaptations is the childlike depiction of the golden retrievers, rather than the intimacy that makes the books so beloved.
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Jon Bois' documentaries often come close to scratching that itch for me. Through the use of charts, graphs, Google Earth satellite imagery, newspaper clippings, and the very occasional photo or brief footage, Bois and his collaborators stitch disparate lives into a grand narrative that means so much more than it seems.
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KPop Demon Hunters is most incredible in its unabashed humanism.
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This week in Austin screenings 2/20-2/26.
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