DreamWorks Animation Is Sweet yet Shallow
It is hard to be disappointed in a movie like Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. In a year that, with some notable exceptions aside, has been relatively light on solid animated fare, there is something nice about just getting to take…
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Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) Featured, Reviews Film Threat
OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! It looks like there are hidden fires still burning deep within the documentary format with the pop culture megalith Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis), directed by Anton Corbjin and written by Trish…
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Sunless Featured, Reviews Film Threat
PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2023 REVIEW! You sometimes can’t help but think about current events when watching a film that mirrors what’s happening in real life. The missing Titan submersible has been all over the news lately, so watching writer/director Boris…
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Mushka Featured, Reviews Film Threat
PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2023 REVIEW! Classic hand-drawn animation is in the midst of a comeback with the Spider-Verse films, but what about the wildly popular Disney version of that animation that started it all? Director/writer/animation veteran Andreas Deja and co-writer Michael McKinney…
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Heartfelt Dramedy Mishandles Disability Representation
Directed by Matt Smukler from a screenplay by Jana Savage, Wildflower attempts to be a heartfelt dramedy and a coming-of-age story about a teenager who cares for her disabled parents and struggles under the pressure of doing that alongside balancing…
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Pruning Featured, Reviews Film Threat
PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2023 REVIEW! We’ve seen it before: an angry white host on a political talk show is shown hyperbolically mourning the apocalyptic future they think America is careening toward. Enter Lola Blanc’s Pruning, a bold and unsettling twist on…
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Out of Water Featured, Reviews Film Threat
PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2023 REVIEW! Even a mermaid needs respect in writer-director Madi Stine’s short film, Out of Water. It’s little Camille’s (Anabelle Murphy) birthday, and as a special present, Camille’s mother hired Sandy (Marlee Learner). Sandy is a professional mermaid,…
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Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma) Featured, Reviews Film Threat
PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2023 REVIEW! Director Sean Wang’s documentary short, Nai Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma), is personal because it’s about his two grandmas, Yi Yan Fuei and Zhang Li Hua. They are an inseparable super team who dances, plays…
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FROM Season 2 Episode 10: DEEP DIVE and Reaction
Thank you FROMily, we are back with another recap of our favorite magical show FROM Season 2 Episode 10. We’re picking right up where we left off last week with the locust ghost coming for three and taking Randall, Marierle, and Julie. This…
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Ice Merchants Featured, Reviews Film Threat
PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2023 REVIEW! Writer-director Joao Gonzales’s Ice Merchants places the viewer into a beautifully hand-drawn world of a father and young son living on the side of a giant ice mountain. It is a world where it’s entirely normal…
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The Machine Review: A Tonally Confused Blend of Action and Comedy
The Machine, directed by Peter Atencio, presents itself as a film that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. Oscillating between a high-octane action extravaganza and a raunchy comedy, the clash of tones leaves the movie feeling disjointed and…
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The Flying Sailor Featured, Reviews Film Threat
PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2023 REVIEW! Without warning, a sailor’s life flashes before his eyes in Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis’ animated short, The Flying Sailor. It’s a typical day on the docks for our hero sailor, who is out on…
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