Anthony Francis
Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival: ‘Grassland’ Film Review No
With its unflinching look at the failures of our criminal justice system, William Bermudez and Sam Friedman’s Grassland is a powerful and important social justice drama. Through the microcosm of a single Latina mother who grows and sells marijuana to
‘Young Woman and the Sea’ Film Review: The Choppy Waters of Clichés
To play Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel, Daisy Ridley trained under the tutelage of Olympic swimmer Siobhan-Marie O’Connor. Ridley’s dedication to getting her character’s swimming technique down correctly is evident every moment she is
‘The Dead Don’t Hurt’ Film Review- A Lyrical and Emotional Western Piece
With its beautiful landscapes coloring an artful story of emotion and violence, Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt, exists between the worlds of Claude Lelouch’s 1977, Another Man, Another Chance, and the western films of Andre De Toth. Scored, written
‘In a Violent Nature’ Film Review: A Uniquely Crafted Slasher
In the 1980s, after the massive success of the first Friday the 13th picture, woods-set slashers were all the rage. Every year found cinemas scattered with not only sequels to Sean S. Cunningham’s classic, but dozens of low budget ripoffs
‘Hit Man’ Film Review: Glen Powell Becomes a Real Movie Star
One of Richard Linklater’s greatest strengths is his ability to write interesting screenplays about interesting characters. The talented writer-director is one of the few modern filmmakers who can take cliches and mold them into something real and relatable. If one
‘Babes’ Film Review: A Disappointing Teaming of Three Major Talents
Ilana Glazer is a big talent. Michelle Buteau is a big talent. Pamela Adlon is a big talent. With a screenplay by Glazer (co-written by Josh Rabinowitz), co-starring Glazer and Buteau, and directed by Adlon, Babes could have been a
‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Film Review: A Film That Lives Historic
Oh what a film. What a lovely film! Director George Miller returns to the wasteland with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the most balls-out and inventive action extravaganza since his own Mad Max: Fury Road from 2015. With his latest,
“The Feeling That the Time For Doing Something Has Passed” Film Review
With her feature length writing and directing debut, The Feeling That the Time For Doing Something Has Passed, writer/director/star Joanna Arnow takes a cue from the sometimes cringe-inducing black humor of Lena Dunham. Arnow plays Ann, a millennial woman in
‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Film Review: Moral Lessons in Mother Nature
Opening with a Terrence Malick-like tracking shot through a forest with the camera looking up through the trees and into the cold winter skies, writer-director Hamaguchi Ryûsuke’s Evil Does Not Exist sets its tranquil yet cryptic tone. As the credits
‘Coup de Chance’ Film Review- Woody Allen’s Best in Years
For a great deal of cinema connoisseurs, a new Woody Allen film is still an event. “The Woodman” has long been one of our finest screenwriters and directors; his incredible filmography filled with more than a few classics. Allen is