Restore Point Featured, Reviews Film Threat
TORONTO AFTER DARK FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! Science fiction films tend to surround a central, fantastical conceit that drives their entire narrative. For Blade Runner, it’s replicants. For Minority Report, it’s pre-cognition. For writer-director Robert Hloz’s Restore Point, it is the “backing up” and…
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Old Dads Review: A Stale Comedy Misfire
Old Dads, the directorial debut of Bill Burr, fails to deliver on its promising premise. The film, co-written by Burr and Ben Tishler, stars Burr himself alongside Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine. The trio portrays three aging buddies who find…
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Killers of the Flower Moon Featured, Reviews Film Threat
NOW IN THEATERS! Moving his way from Netflix to Apple, Martin Scorsese is back with yet another three-and-a-half-hour epic. Based on the novel by Dad Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon recounts the story of the systematic murders of the Osage Indigenous…
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The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra Featured, Reviews Film Threat
After overcoming our fear of monsters under the bed, it turns out we need to watch out for the bed itself in South Korean writer-director Syeyoung Park’s screen-smashing debut, The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra. Some of the actors who appear in this…
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All Happy Families Featured, Reviews Film Threat
Director Haroula Rose co-wrote All Happy Families with Coburn Gross. The comedic drama details a turbulent few days in the lives of the Landrys. Graham (Josh Radnor) is searching for that big break in acting, though there is interest in a script…
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Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage is Hit At CIFF
Nicolas Cage stars in the first English language release of Oslo-born director Kristoffer Borgli (“Sick of Myself”), a black comedy called “Dream Scenario.” “Dream Scenario” is enjoyable, hilarious, original, and blackly comic, all while examining the idea of cancel culture…
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Sick Girl Featured, Reviews Film Threat
Jennifer Cram makes her writing and directing debut with Sick Girl. Nina Dobrev stars in this comedy as Wren, a 30-something who never really grew up. She still parties every night and is in a perpetual hangover daze because of it.…
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Nyad Review: A Swim Against the Current of Mediocrity
Nyad, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, is a commendable attempt at capturing the awe-inspiring journey of Diana Nyad, the renowned long-distance swimmer who, at the age of 60, achieved the unimaginable: a 110-mile open ocean swim from…
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The Persian Version Featured, Reviews Film Threat
NOW IN THEATERS! Writer-director Maryam Keshavarz’s feature film, The Persian Version, gives us the Persian point of view on the universal theme of mothers and daughters. Leila (Layla Mohammadi) is the Iranian-American daughter of father Ali (Buan Daneshmand) and mother…
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Chop & Steele Featured, Reviews Film Threat
AWARD THIS 2023 NOMINEE! After watching Berndt Mader and Ben Steinbauer’s odd documentary, Chop & Steele, I’ve never been so jealous of two people more in my life than Found Footage Fest founders Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher…then I realized…
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Beyond the Grave Featured, Reviews Film Threat
Serena Dc directs, produces, co-wrote (with Victoria Licon), and hosts Beyond the Grave. The filmmaker opens her documentary by saying she believes there is a soul separate from the body and that it continues without it. This immediately grabs my…
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Chasing Jupiter Featured, Reviews Film Threat
LA FEMME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! In Linjie Huang’s short film, Chasing Jupiter, a young woman’s day has finally come. Our protagonist (Flora Jiwu Hwang) is beyond excited. The day has come for this astrophotographer, as the first meteor…
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