Mandy (2018) Review

Soaked in a pool of 80's atmospheric synth, Panos Cosmatos's Mandy is an awe-inspired genre bending horror that's not for the faint of heart. With it's over the top performance from Nicholas Cage, and it's unique directing style, it's easy to see why this film has gotten such a cult following in the festival circuit already. Mandy, is an intricate simple film, that relies more on aesthetic than an actual plot. Although, there is a semi-decent revenge plot in the mix, the film took a much more intriguing direction to it's material in a way that occasionally worked successfully.

Mandy is a film that's void of purpose. There isn't a single moment in the film, where we should care about the characters. However, this was never Panos's direction in the first place. You see, Mandy is an experimental film more than anything else. Similar to Nicholas Winding Refn's Divisive 2013 flick "Only God Forgives", both films used extreme usages of lighting and production design to tell a story. While Only God Forgives fails in developing tension, there's something so refreshing in Cosmato's direction, that makes Mandy special. The extreme close ups into the character's eyes and expressions, the brutal over the top violence, and the eargasmic score composed by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, are all factors that make Mandy a cinematic treasure. It's rare nowadays to see a film that takes so many interesting risks.

The only downside of Mandy is it's self. It's unfortunate to say, that although Mandy is a rare feat in modern cinema, my main problem was due to how full of itself the film was. It lacked self-awareness in several scenes. to the point where the whole product felt like a pretentious passion project.

Don't threat however. Mandy is still filled with great concepts here and there. It just needs a bit more work for it to be called great. I had a lot of fun with this film. It's a unique joyride of sorts that experiments with it's genre and aesthetic, which eventually goes a bit overboard. Plenty will enjoy this film, and as for now, I'm pleased with the final product.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda-Film Review

 Around two years ago, I needed to do some research on Ryuichi Sakamoto relating to a social justice issue for an English report. His work with environmental issue's and stability dumbfounded my personal beliefs. Sakamoto is a hero of sorts. He's a person that understands wide spread issue's across his community, and is one to be committed to a long term goal. He's a role model of sorts, who is deeply overshadowed by other environmental advisers such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore. I'm glad to say however, that Coda finally gives light to this wonderful role model, while thankfully,  never feeling over sentimental on the subject at hand.

Coda is a film that takes it's time. It develops tension and mystery in the most uncommon places, creating an atmosphere which feels intimate and personal. Seeing Sakamoto's creative process on film is simply astonishing, and the way which director Stephen Nomura Schible composed said sequences, feels like a perfectly executed masterclass. Coda is a film which understands it's subject, and instead of imitating countless other documentaries, it instead's creates it's own freelance format through the power of storytelling.

However, it's unfortunate to say, while Coda is frequently on tempo, and moves at a brisk speed, the overall focus feels way to off key. There's so much material in this film that makes the end product feel both overwhelming and unfocused. It's hard to pin point what this film is really about.

Is it about Sakamoto's Cancer Experience?
Is it about Sakamoto's Previous Work With Film?
Is it about Sakamoto's influences?
Is it about Sakamoto's new composition work?
Is it about Sakamoto's Environmental Activism?

Coda attempts to answer all these questions, but instead feels half-baked when the credit's role. The lack of focus makes the film feel a bit overwhelming and emotionally hollow by the time the credit's role. It's a real shame to. All this film needed was a bit of trimming, and we could have had a priceless documentary on our hands.

Coda is a pretty good effort from new-comer Stephen Nomura Schible. He understands the documentary medium and puts great admiration towards his subject's. Coda, while a bit out of tuned, still manages to impress and give tribute to one of  best composers living today. Sakamoto will never be forgotten, and his work will live on forever, no matter how obscure or random his sounds can be.

Rating: 7.5/10

Kusama Infinity (2018) Review

Kusama Infinity's inner spirit is simply like the artist that it's depicting. Fun, anarchist, and beautifully realized. Kusama Infinity is easily the best documentary I have seen this year so far, and not only does it detail the life journey of famed Japanese Rogue Artist Yayoi Kusama, it also depicts her life in a serious yet well maintained light atmosphere. With it's short run time of 76 minutes, Kusama Infinity doesn't have a single minute wasted. Not a single scene/segment was boring and I was always hooked to the images presented on screen. It's simply an enthralling look at one of the most under rated contemporary artists from the 20th century.

With this said, Kusama Infinity is not flawless. While it's execution was well done, there wasn't anything innovatively done to improve on the documentary genre. David Lynch: The Art Life, a film that was released last year, did a much better job depicting a real life figure in a very horror-esque way. With this film however, it feels by the numbers, similar to how I felt watching national geographic documentaries when I was in elementary school. While much better than said National Geographic Docs, Kusama Infinity still lacks. It needed a little push with it's artistic license. As well, there were several interviews throughout the film, that looks out dated. I'm fine if you're going to use previously recorded documentary footage from years previously. What I do have a problem with, is if the previously used footage is not used/executed in a proper manner. The simple solution to this problem? Just condense the footage. While this isn't much of a big complaint, it certainly took me out of the film experience.

Kusama Infinity is an enthralling look at a famed artist that does not drag on nor feel like a slog. Films like these need to be made more often. It's equal parts inspirational and motivating. A must watch for any wannabe artist who is intrigued in international contemporary art.

Rating:
7.5/10

Best F(r)iends (2018) Review

Best F(r)iends Volume 1 is definitely one of the more weird films to come out of 2018 so far. This cinematic reunion between cult film maker/performer Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero is an interesting one to say the least. Unlike there previous collaboration "The Room", Best F(r)iends is more of a low-key psychological thriller than a romantic drama. While Best F(r)iends does have it's moments, there's a certain un-compromising feeling I had watching the film. I didn't really know if the film was self aware or not. With something like The Room, you can tell that it was 100% trying to be serious. In this film, there were plenty of mistakes that may seem intentional, but due to the way said mistake is presented specifically, it's hard to tell if it was supposed to be intentionally hilarious or not. As for the film itself however, Best F(r)iends is slightly below average but still massively enjoyable feature.

As said before about the self-awareness aspect of the film, Best F(r)iends contains some of the most odd performances I have seen in a feature film from the last 5 years. It's as if these characters and actors came out of a 60's B-Movie like Manos Hands of Fate. In no way were the performances in this film as bad as the mentioned atrocity. It's just that their "unconventional" way of delivering lines was quite peculiar. Along side with the off-putting acting, there's plenty of directing mistakes such as weak lighting, un-appealing production/costume design, narrative inconsistencies, and unintentionally hilarious scene transitions.

Overall, I don't know how to really feel about Best F(r)iends Volume 1. I certainly had a good time. It's just that it's kind of hard to pin down if the film was trying to be intentionally hilarious. It's a bad film withing an unknown circle of not-confirmed self awareness. I might need to see this film again to get a better grasp and make a final decision, but I highly recommend this film to anybody who enjoyed The Room.

5/10

November (2018) Review

November was one odd ball hallucinogenic experience that I will never forget. This Estonian black and white feature film mixes classical black and white fantasy with a dash of horror. The final product of November is better described as one of the weirdest films I've ever witnessed. There's plenty of odd visuals throughout it's 115 minute run time. This includes the opening scene of the film, where a cursed object grab's a cow and starts flying in mid-air across a vast Estonian forest. If that doesn't sound strange to you, you ain't seen nothin yet. There's also ghosts, a scene where a group of people put their own pants on top of there heads, a scene where the protagonist meets a snowman who teaches him poetry, treasure hunts, suicidal sleepwalking, the devil himself, and even more extensive Estonian folklore elements.

At the start of film however, I began to hate on the it. I was utterly confused by the events taken place and why they were occurring. However, as I continued watching, I started getting comfortable with the universe of where the story was taken place. It's a universe that we have never seen before. A universe with a diverse mythical lore and symbolism. With this understanding in mind, November personally captivated me on what it was trying to say. The film itself is about the dangers of jealousy and romantic relationships. It's done in a very storybook like way.  However, the way the film executes said structure is wholly unique.

November is a film made up of two different things. The first are scenes related to a very linear story structure. The second are scenes related to a very non-linear story structure with plenty of visual metaphor's and different narrative devices (most of which take up nearly the entirety of the film.) This is what made November so special in my opinion. Of course, it's nowhere near perfect. The film is filled with a repetitive soundtrack, semi-decent performances, and a couple of scenes that do not have any emotional weight in which there symbolic reasoning does not aid the film. This is unfortunate due to the missed potential on what the film was trying to say.

November is most definitely not for everybody. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's one fantasy horror that shouldn't be missed by any art house cinema fanatic. If you enjoy the animation work of Kaspar Jancis and Priit Tender, I would also highly implore you to see this film. It's strange. It's odd ball. It's simply the weirdest fever dream you will ever have while you're awake.

Rating:

6.5/10

Mom and Dad (2018) Review

The concept for the 2018 horror-comedy Mom And Dad is pretty good on paper. In fact, there was plenty of material to work with said premise, in which one can take different routes in mocking both  modern and old american suburbia.

However, what Mom and Dad ends up to be is a disjointed mess, filled with cringe worthy moments, that both don't succeed in creating a passable parody of the genre that it's attempting to mock, and/or to create a tension filled horror comedy. Brian Taylor has created a film that is so unfocused, that it doesn't even know what time era it should mock. The opening credit sequence of the film was clearly an homage to 70's action credit sequence. However, the rest of the film did not match with the tone of the opening credits, and instead, Brian Taylor, chose an abhorrent route of parody of mocking modern day poorly-directed action films. The thing is, who is he to judge when the only things that he has created and produced in the last 10 years has been trashy disposable action films (COUGH *Ghost Rider* COUGH)

Not only does Taylor not know how to parody a genre in which he has previous experience working with, he just doesn't know how to execute said parody. Two great examples on how to do parody right are Hot Fuzz and Nirvanna The Band The Show. Both of these pieces of entertainment not only excel at there craftsman ship, but with each parody or mock that they make throughout the run time, each mock has both a narrative and artistic purpose to further develop the style and narrative of there pieces. With Mom and Dad, each mock done in the film is just plain lazy and does not serve as something of artistic value.

As for the film itself, it's absolute shit. As stated before, each element of what I despise in the genre that Brian Taylor attempted to mock is in full force here with not a single restraint. Nothing is visually pleasing. The script is absolutely filled with un-needed bullshit. Nearly everything in this film is incompetent. The sound design, the way the film was edited. It's just plain lazy and dull. The only positive that I could find from this mess, was Nicholas Cage's typical over the top performance. But even in that regard, he was only in the film for around 30 minutes max, which was a big disappointment.

Mom and Dad is a film that nearly fails in all regards. It fails at mocking it's own genre, and fails at making a competent motion picture. Dispose of this film immediately.

Rating: 2.5/10

The Final Year (2018) Review

Greg Barker's The Final Year is an detailed and prolific journey filled with simplistic human actions. The Final Year is one of those rare documentaries that show the humanitarian side of the Human connection through political actions. Barker, in my opinion, did a fantastic job with each detail and edit throughout the film. Not to mention that the film itself is very well edited. More specifically, the opening introduction, which in my opinion, had a great aesthetically pleasing color pallet that matched the tone and emotional truth of the film perfectly.

The Final Year isn't perfect however. It's filled with plenty of scenes that just felt staged and unnatural for the environment that it was setting. Because of this, the pace of the film dragged on, and several moments throughout this motion picture could have been cut out. As well, the soundtrack for this documentary is nothing special. While it did fit with the tone of the film, it didn't really improve or add on to the thematic strength of it's pre-existing material.

The Final Year is a strong documentary with some big flaws. While it isn't one of the greatest docs I have seen in the last year, it's certainly worth your time, especially if your into politics with a 3 dimensional mind set.

Rating:
7/10

Permission (2018) Review

2018, similar to a trend that occurred in 2017, is a year where the first few films which are released, are either absolute trash or guilty pleasure fun. We rarely get a film that's great (with an exception of Paddington 2.) This trend also effects independent films as well, including the recent Rebecca Hall starring flick "Permission." Permission is simply a hipster dumpster fire, in which it's flames we're to hard to engulfed, to the point that there was no point in saving the final product. It other terms, it's absolute shit. Barely anything is competent in this film, which includes two major things, the writing and the performances. The writing is a weak mimic of Aaron Sorkin dialogue, but if it we're filled to the brim with exposition and unnecessary trash. I kid you not, that there is a singular supporting character, in which her main goal and purpose is to spout exposition for the watcher to hear. The performances in "Permission" is easily worst of the year material, and it's only been just a month. Rebecca Hall has barely nothing to work with. Dan Stevens was laughably bad. Gina Gershon had one of the most cringe-worthy acting roles that I have seen in a while. Finally, François Arnaud, a Canadian Based Actor who has proven himself before as a great actor in films such as Xavier Dolan's "I Killed My Mother", is at his worst here. None of his arks work. In fact, none of the character arks work due to it's clunky script. The only decent role in this film, is a short and sweet character portrayed by Jason Sudeikis, and the only reason why his character work was due to his minimal presence. Not only on both the writing and acting side, "Permission" is filled to the brim with romantic indie film cliche's. Here's a list of some of the one's I found while watching this film:

-Slow Piano Music

-Altered Indie Rock/Pop music played in the background

-Shot Reverse Shot camera techniques

-Out of focus camerawork during tense "emotionally driven" scenes

-Cliche Stock Music

The list goes on! Now for some of the good. The shot composition was aesthetically pleasing. Jason Sudeikis was good as stated before. The film had me interested even though after the first 10 minutes I realized that this film was utter garbage. But other than that, "Permission" is simply boring romantic dribble. It's nonsensical and there is no point for it to exist. There was potential here. Maybe if this material was put into the hands of Woody Allen, then maybe, just maybe, we could have gotten some decent material. But at last, here we are now, viewing this piece of utter trash. 

Score: 4.5/10

God's Own Country Review

God's Own Country is an interesting film too say the least. Not only is it one of the most refreshing interpretations of a gay relationship, it's also a film with a lot of heart (with an exception of it's first act.) God's Own Country is a film with patience. Each scene flows at a steady pace, transitioning to the next, delivering a moment needed to develop the characters. When it comes to the first act of the film however, I personally the chemistry between Gheorghe and Johnny was mishandled. Not only did each moment in the first act feel forced and superficial, the sexual tension between Gheorghe and Johnny was a much stranger case. At one point Gheorghe exclaims "I Will Fuck With You", as if he knew that Johnny was hitting on him. Gheorghe than replies to his statement afterwords with a firm "I Know What Your Doing." I guess Romania must be one kinky place if Gheorghe is that good at detecting if someone is hitting on him. With said example, we already know that this relationship presented is a fictionalized "cheap" interpretation. With it's rough and overly sexualised under tones, there isn't much room for any romantic interpretation. It's all intercourse, but no heart. However, thankfully, after the morbid first act, things changed for the better. Johnny's relationship with Gheorghe felt real and heart felt. I just felt that the first act both ruined the overall character arks of Johnny and Gheorghe. The first act is meant to establish there relationship, and to see the evolvement of there characters. However, starting off the film with a ghastly heartless feeling between our two protagonists sort of ruined the experience of the final two acts. God's Own Country is a good directorial debut. While it is beautiful and well directed, with some great musical accompaniment here and there, the first act is what brought down the film for me. God's Own Country is definitley worth a shot. Just keep in mind that the first act may or may not ruin the experience of watching the film.

Score:
7/10

My Friend Dahmer (2017) Review

As a High School Junior myself, at this moment in time, there we're several moments in My Friend Dahmer in which they nearly nailed the psychological depth of a anxiety filled teenager. At my school, there is a high ratio of depressed and mentally ill people around. Of course not in the same way as Jeffrey Dahmer, but real enough that I can definitely say that Ross Lynch's performance is one of the most unsettling and well preformed acting roles I have seen all year. However, what My Friend Dahmer does do wrong, is how teens usually speak. There's a certain pattern and coordination that teens speak at. It flows like a dance, in which different lingo's and terminology sink together into a conjoined mess. My Friend Dahmer misses the mark in that regard, with its more stylized pieces of dialogue. Even though, as stated at the start of the film, that the film takes place in the 1970's, the offtrack way each character's line is written makes the experience of witnessing the horrifying experiences less terrifying. This is honestly a shame. There could have been much more too this film if they tweaked that regard. Which is pretty much what My Friend Dahmer is. It's a film with great interesting ideas, with great directing and acting, but misses the mark in a few places when it comes to the common writing and staging of a film. With it's slow pace and sometimes unrealistic dialogue, it's safe to say that those kind of attributes don't belong in a film about the high school experiences of a guy who would later rape, kill, dismember, and eat sixteen different young men. My Friend Dahmer is a film with great ideas, but it's execution is lacking. I appreciate it for what it is, but overall, it's just a decent psychological horror character study.

Score:
6.8/10

Blade of the Immortal Review

Takashi Miike's Blade of the Immortal is Japan's answer too Mad Max Fury Road, only if it was lighter on substance and narrative story telling techniques, and if it was placed during the Edo era. While it isn't as profound or has much too say about revenge, violence, and fear (like what Fury Road did), it's still a fun, gory samurai film with a crap load of entertaining action scenes. Guts, Gore, Limbs, Choreographed like a Dance! What else do you want from a fun midnight movie!? However, unlike most self aware action cult films from recent times, such as Turbo Kid and Wolfcop, Blade of the Immortal is a pretty serious film. And while there is moments of camp and tongue in cheek here and there, it still keeps it's morals and messages at a high regard. The problem is, the messages isn't deep enough to keep a 2 Hour and 20 Minute feature film afloat. Overall, Blade of the Immortal is technically well done with some jaw dropping action scenes and excellent sound design, it's just that  it lacks from an overall good narrative and message within it's guts and gore. It sure is fun and memorable, it's just that it's a journey maybe worth taking when it comes on demand or on DVD.

Score:
7/10

Why Thelma is the Best Superhero Orgin Film of 2017...

2017 has been a year of surprises and disappointments. Several films and projects have either divided us (Mother!, Song to Song) or unified us (Lady Bird, Three Billboards). However, one thing for sure, is that 2017 was a great year for superhero origin stories. Wonder Women was a fun, while at times light on substance. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie was a fun riot for both adults and kids alike. And now Thelma, Joachim Trier's newest Norwegian film. Now you maybe wondering... Thelma, a simple and quaint supernatural story of a girl with weird epileptic seizures? That doesn't sound like a super hero film at all! However, as it may come to a shock, Thelma is indeed an origin story, and a great one at that!

Thelma's opening scene is a great indicator of several scenes that will occur later on in the film, which both foreshadow and contemplate on several Super Hero Film tropes. It's slow moving pace makes each subtle moment feel immense. Each act, taken place by young Thelma on the beach rises tensions between the father and Thelma. This is also a great foreshadowing moment on who is the true antagonist of this superhero film. Thelma's ability is revealed as well, but so ambiguous to the point you may not know what they are. The opening scene in Thelma is both one of the greatest opening scenes ever, but also the greatest super hero film introductions to ever be concieved.

Too add on, Thelma also has a romantic interest, a Mary Jane sort of trope, only if she was a lesbian. Each scene in which Thelma reacts to Anja make each moment feel like it has some sort of erotic sexual tension. This both gives a motivation to the protagonist of the film, Thelma, and the B-Plot love interest (which sparks the main conflict, as in most super hero films.)

Thelma is an interesting case study on Genre swapping. It's pretty much a darker Scandinavian origin story of one of the vast collection of X-Men characters. If you're into slow burn and alternative origin stories such as Split, Blade Runner 2049, and 10 Cloverfield Lane, then definitely give Thelma a shot.

The Departure (2017) Review

The Departure is not only one of the best documentaries of the year, it's also one of the most prolific pieces of emotional drama that has came out in 2017. The Departure is like a Hirokazu Kore-eda film. It's emotional and disturbing depth is hidden in sight to deliver a powerful look at one's life. It's an incredible and simple ride that will take you on a journey like no other. Suicide is usually a difficult subject to present on film, especially when it’s exploitative and used as shock value in modern media, such as garbage pieces of “art” like 13 Reasons Why. In The Departure, suicide is presented with grief and time, to convey a metaphoric and symbolic setting. There is only two complaints I have with the film. The first is that I felt like it was a bit too long. Around 10 minutes could have been cut out, and the message would have been still there. The second, is that at times, the film maybe should have been presented as a short film. The concept and execution of the film would have worked better as a short film in both tone and quality. The Departure is not only an emotional experience, it's a profound film. It may have its problems, but it's one of the best documentaries of the year.

Score:
7.8/10

78/52 Review

78/52 is not only one of the best documentaries of the year, it's also one of the most informative pieces of art that has come out of 2017. 78/52 is a prime example on how to do an analysis. Films like Hitchcock/Trauffaut and Room 237 have tried something similar in execution, but failed in both its artistic merit and informative content. For me, the two requirements too make a great documentary is if the content is both accessible and well informed, and if the film has a style and/or a visual flare. Dawson City: Frozen Timr was a decent documentary with stellar information. It's just that the visual style was all too similar to an IMAX doc. 78/52 on the other hand uses its contemporary black and white filter and string orchestration to create a hitchockian astmophere. This tense and realistic feeling that is played through out the film makes it feel both innovative in content, and visually vibrant in execution. Even though the film did have some iffy interviews from a selected amount of people, in which it could be easily called Bullshit, that doesn't stop it from being great. It may have been a tad bit too long, but overall, it's an emotional ride that shouldn't be missed!

Score: 7.8/10

Lucky (2017) Review

Harry Dean Stanton's poetic send off "Lucky" is one of the most tranquil and meditative films of the year. Similar to Jim Jarmusch's Paterson in concept, yet more A Man Called Ove in execution, Lucky is a delightful little film with a whole lot to offer. Each frame of the film is perfectly crafted to give a touch of surrealist imagery and humor, and as well to set up and foreshadow several elements which will occur later on in the film. Same goes towards the production design, in which each element makes the film feel more tranquil and relaxed with every detail. Not to mention that the performances were fantastic. Harry Dean Stanton deserves a Posthumously Academy Award for this film. Each line and action from Harry, felt detailed and perfected to a tee. As Well, David Lynch had a hilarious short role in the film, in which he portrays an introverted turtle/tortoise fanatic. To quote Lynch's character in the film:

There are some things in this universe, ladies and gentlemen, that are bigger than all of us, And a tortoise is one of them!”

However, the film is flawed in some specific regards. First of all, there were several scenes which lacked a purpose and or meaning. These scenes which I'm referring too, usually happen in the Diner location in the film. Second, the pacing was a bit too degrading for the subject matter. Each scene in the film overstayed it's welcome, due to this problem. And Third, the sound mixing was a let down. I personally wished there was as much attention to detail in the auditory atmosphere, as there was in the visuals.

In Conclusion, Lucky is a terrific send off to a great actor. It's charming, sweet, and overall a good time. After watching the film, it made me appreciate the elders around my community a bit more, and gave me a larger sense of unity. There's a lot of great messages and themes throughout this film which I commend to every viewer. Just be warned that the pacing, is a bit too slow for the average viewer.

Rating: 7.4/10

The Villainess Review

The Villaness is one hell of a ride. It pretty much has everything you want from a summer blockbuster:
-Red Hearings
-Action
-A Bad Ass Protaganist
-Sexual Tension
-Nicholas Winding Refn Lighting
-A Decent Yet Memorable Plot
-Good Acting
and a bit of Comedy.

However, it's far from great, and does have some flaws. First and for most, the ending pretty much ruined the film. The amazing build up was stellar in the first two acts, but when it got to the final act, it just felt lazy and just plain stupid. If you have seen the Villaness, you probably already know about the narrative continuity mistakes. Not only that, it ends on the cliche last shot evil grin thing (In which A Cure for Wellness did earlier this year.) As for technicalities, the cinematography, in almost all of the action scenes, felt extremely shaky. Basically it was on Paul Greengrass mode times 10 with a bit of First Person-Hardcore Henry like cinemetography. This got so annoying to the point I couldn't even understand what was going on screen. To finish off the negative, the musical score was nothing new. Just a plain, boring, action score.

The Villaness was a lot of fun, despite it's flaws. I would recommend seeing it in a cinema, just as long as you don't take the ending so seriously. Bring your friends, maybe some alcohol, and you'll have a pretty damn great time.

Score:
6.5/10

Trophy Review

Even though Trophy is jam packed with great insight and information, it lacks in having an identity. This Sundance winner has gotten the attention of several different critics, including myself, when the trailer dropped. It look dark, mysterious, yet intelligent in it's own regard. Information wise, the film delivered in all fronts. I learn't plenty about the legalities and sustainability of poaching. However, the film is both edited and directed without any flare. The film is quite stale when looking at it from a film making point of view, to the point that it got quite boring and redundant. It did have some nice shots and composition here and there, yet it still lacked in the directing department. Trophy could have been an extremely emotional ride. But, because of the lack of overall visual storytelling flare, it just became an informative, yet dreadful two hours.

Score:
5.8/10

Ingrid Goes West Review

Ingrid Goes West is by far the most complex yet hilarious film I've seen all year. Matt Spicer has created a perfect blend of satire and Hitchcockian thriller, to create an entertaining yet thought provoking film. Each performance is on point, including but not limited too Aubrey Plaza. This is easily Plaza's best role yet, in which she plays a disturbed stalker, who befriends an Instagram Influencer. Not to mention the supporting cast of Elizabeth Olsen, Billy Magnussen, and O'Shea Jackson Jr, in which they portray exaggerated, yet realistic portrayal of several different millennials. As well, the cinematography helped the performances by blending a neon-esque color pallet, to set up the tone. My only complaint with Ingrid Goes West is the redundancy of the score. At times, the musical score felt like it was on loop, and dragged the pacing of the film. Overall, Ingrid Goes West is a smartly written, well edited, star studded film with plenty of discussion worthy material after you view the film. Don't miss it!

Score:
8.4/10

The 18th Animation Show of Shows

Just before I start, every year, I go to the biggest animation festival in North America, which is known as the OIAF. I see over 100 animated short films, which either sensationalize my inner film pallet, or is revolting, in all the sense of the word. Most of the time (like 95% of the time), I see brand new and fresh animated short films. With that said, The 18th Animation Show of Shows does NOT present the very best of animation. The 18th Animation Show of Shows is nothing more then a decent selection of some of the most commercially successful animated films from the last two years. Most of the short films range from meh to alright (with some exceptions of course.) Because it is difficult to judge a compilation, I'll be ranking each short films from least to greatest with my own personal opinion attached to said ranking:

 

16. Shift: a terribly executed mess of a student film, overall thematic tone and characterization is all over the place 4.2/10

15. All Their Shades: Similar to Shift, the overall thematic message comes at the last couple seconds, making it feel more propaganda piece then thought provoking art 4.5/10

14. Corpus: Well animated, yet could of used more substance to tell a much more concise plot 5.2/10

13.  Crin-Crin: A charming, yet terribly directed film, in which the film makers can't decide to go fully animated or a live action music video 5.5/10

12. Blue: Well animated, but it didn't really connect with me on a personal and emotional level 6/10

11. Waiting for the New Year: A tranquil yet forgettable piece of art 6/10

10.  Afternoon Class: Well made and crafted, yet missed the mark in being anything more then good 6.3/10

9. Pearl: Works better as a virtual reality experience then a short film, yet still has some artistic merits in the final cut of the short film 6.4/10

8. Mirror: A beautiful piece of commissioned animation, which feels neither exploitative nor abhorrently commercial 6.7/10

7: Stems: A magnificent tribute to stop motion animation 6.8/10

6.  Last Summer in the Garden: A short film structured like a poem, smooth and well crafted with each stanza  7.5/10

5. Manoman: The definition of a messed-up fever dream, filled with social political commentary on mental illness 7.5/10

4. About a Mother: A simple yet highly re-watchable tribute to old folk tales and art designs 7.8/10

3. Inner Workings: A charming short film with hilarious hi-jinks and a great core message 8.4/10

2. TIED
Piper: Similar to Inner Workings, Piper delivers in almost every regard 8.8/10
Exploozy: A great work of satire, with delightful jokes and animation 8.8/10

1. The Boyg: One of the most beautiful pieces of experimental art that has ever been crafted. The overall concept and origin behind this short film is astonishing and a sight to behold 9/10

In general, I recommend seeing short films 6-1. Everything else is either good or meh. If your going to see this, I do recommend seeing it on the big screen. Each animator, no matter the project, worked hard on their respective pieces. I'm just not too big of a fan with this short film collection

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography Review

The B-Side, in no way shape or form, is Errol Morris's best work. In fact, it may be one of his weakest, which isn't saying much mainly because his wide filmography of documentary and film has been mainly great, or at the least satisfactory. From The Thin Blue Line to A Brief History of Time, his work is quite expansive in variety. This variety can be seen in The B-Side. The B-Side is pretty much a standard one hour and sixteen minute discussion with one of america's most famed photographers. It's interesting, and at times thought provoking to see Elsa's craftsmanship at play. The problem with the B-Side, is that there's nothing all the inventive about it. For example, in The Thin Blue Line, Errol created several different brand new inventive concepts to present his subject. In this, it just feels visually and tonally redundant. However, it's technicalities are well done. The cinematography is nicely polished, and the original score is one of the best I've heard all year. The B-Side is just a standard, yet delightful documentary.

Rating: 6.8/10