Volume four of Film Movement’s Festival Favorites series features three films with female leads. While these certainly aren’t the worst films I have seen, the pacing of each of these films make them hard to watch; So Bright is the View especially. Each film has a significant social critique that might be worth the watch if you have the patience to find it, but it definitely takes a special kind of filmgoer to really appreciate these types of films. In addition to each film featuring a female lead, they each hail from a different country, which seems to be important for each film’s message. A Blast from Greece, Soldate Jeanette from France, and So Bright is the View from Romania.
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I can’t be the only one who is a little relieved that Hollywood has finally decided to stop churning out found-footage films.  This is not me saying I have anything against the genre; when it is well done, the end result is something I will happily consume and enjoy re-watching.  The first Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project are the films that shine, because they gave us a familiar story but presented it to the audience in a way we haven’t seen before.  There have been several successful found-footage films, but only a few that I feel will stand the test of time (at least in film history amongst geeks), and Followers is surprisingly a film I’d rank high on that list.
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Often times, biographical documentaries are release posthumously, essentially immortalizing the spirit of the subject. In the case of Shadowman, street artist Richard Hambleton remained alive to be featured in the documentary and see his work be shared at a number of festivals before his death in October of 2017. Now, thanks to Storyville Films, you can take a look at the life and work of Richard Hambleton, as he emerges from the shadows – so to speak. Quite figuratively working in the shadows of other giants such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Hambleton is quite the understated artist. This documentary explores his life and his art, and more importantly, how the two communicate with one another.
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Nails. This right here is an ongoing struggle between me and my wife. As a man, I do not understand the significance of spending money on something that you can do yourself. Not to mention, I can tell you how many times I’ve gotten in trouble for not noticing when she goes to get a manicure and pedicure. In fact, I honestly don’t really know the difference between the two. Needless to say, a television show that revolved around a nail salon was not going to resonate with me. Fortunately, Claws had other things to grab onto, such as the inner workings of a criminal enterprise for which the nail salon is a cover.
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When you watch a Western film, there are a certain number of elements that you subconsciously tick off in you head as the film plays out. There’s the obvious traps of horses, six-guns, cowboy hats, saloons, and lawmen and outlaws. Gone Are the Days does a thorough job of checking each of those boxes as it goes along. But it tries to do some of the other things that make a Western worth watching above the crowded genre. Gone Are The Days fills the screen with some talented actors who deliver wonderfully nuanced characters. It would almost appear that you just couldn’t ask any more from a relatively low-budget Western movie. The key word there is … almost.
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You know what the greatest thing about kids is? Their imaginations. That is something that tends to diminish as we get older. If you are lucky, some vestiges remain as an adult, but nothing in comparison to when you were a kid, right? I mean, when you are a kid, your imagination allows to be believe that anything is possible. For example, the idea that two puppies can not only fly to Hawaii in back in the span of time that it takes their owner to make it home from work, but they can do it without being in a doggie carrier. That was my struggle while watching Puppy Dog Pals; I kept bring reality into it. However, my daughter Nalyce does not have that problem.
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So, when it comes to animated kids’ movies, I defer to the expertise of my six-year-old daughter, Nalyce. I’ve been reviewing for several years now and I like to think that I am capable of being firm and fair, but my daughter is a harder judge of the quality kids content. She actually walked out on Finding Dory. Yeah, she is that tough. Fortunately for Tad Stone the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas, it received her golden seal of approval, pun intended. A continuation of the franchise, the story functions well enough as a standalone that you don’t have to be concerned that you won’t be about to keep up with the premise.
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