‘The Brutalist’ Review: A Dense Historical Epic About the Difficulties of Making Art

‘The Brutalist’ Review: A Dense Historical Epic About the Difficulties of Making Art

It’s been weeks, and there are images from Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist that haven’t left me. It’s an exquisitely crafted film, shot with care on VistaVision, a largely obsolete 35mm film format that hadn’t been used in the full production of a movie in decades. This is a large, dense film. In a strange way,…

‘The Order’ Review: Jude Law’s Neo-Nazi Docudrama Is One of the Best Cat-And-Mouse Crime Thrillers of the Year

‘The Order’ Review: Jude Law’s Neo-Nazi Docudrama Is One of the Best Cat-And-Mouse Crime Thrillers of the Year

The Order was one of the biggest surprises of AFF for me. I went into it with no expectations, not really knowing anything about it. What I got was one of the tightest crime dramas of the year so far. Of director Justin Kurzel’s previous work, I’d only seen his gritty, brooding adaptation of Macbeth,…

September 5 Review — A Tense Look at the Munich Crisis Through the Eyes of the Media

September 5 Review — A Tense Look at the Munich Crisis Through the Eyes of the Media

The last of my coverage from the Austin Film Festival (AFF) is with this review for the upcoming film, September 5.  September 5 was co-written and directed by Tim Fehlbaum, a Swiss film director in his first mainstream feature film. Moritz Binder and Alex David join Tim as co-writers.  The film chronicles the 1972 Munich…

Operation Taco Gary’s — A Road Trip Movie with Conspiracies, Comedy, and a Few Bumps Along the Way

Operation Taco Gary’s — A Road Trip Movie with Conspiracies, Comedy, and a Few Bumps Along the Way

Our coverage of the movies we saw at the Austin Film Festival keeps moving along! This time I’m talking about Operation Taco Gary’s. Written and directed by Michael Kvamme, this comedy is a throwback to comedies of the early 2000s, even going so far as to cast Jason Biggs of American Pie fame. The two…

‘The Beldham’ Review: Eerie Sound Design and A Haunting Exploration of Motherhood Elevate This Indie Gem

‘The Beldham’ Review: Eerie Sound Design and A Haunting Exploration of Motherhood Elevate This Indie Gem

The Beldham opens with a title card, informing us of the meaning of its title: “Beldham” (alternatively spelled “beldam”)—an old woman; a witch. It immediately clues us in to what kind of monster we may be dealing with in this indie horror gem. Directed by Angela Gulner in her feature debut, the movie follows Harper…

Special Delivery Review – Sex and Sound FX Lead to Love in This Surprisingly Sweet Short

Special Delivery Review – Sex and Sound FX Lead to Love in This Surprisingly Sweet Short

From the moment I read the synopsis of this short film while I was at the Austin Film Festival, I knew I had to see it. Written and directed by Emily Everhard, the synopsis for Special Delivery reads:  “A Foley artist for pornography falls in love with a porn star during an ADR session.” For…

Bird Review: A Heart-Wrenching Tale of Family, Struggle, and Growing Pains

Bird Review: A Heart-Wrenching Tale of Family, Struggle, and Growing Pains

Adriana and I had the pleasure of attending the Austin Film Festival this year! We were joined by some friends for a few days of movies, panels, hot weather, and good times. We’re going to kick off our coverage of the Austin Film Festival with Bird, another film distributed by Mubi that we got the…