By Thomas Puhr. What is surprising is how the lifelong Amarillo resident leveraged his fifteen minutes of fame to start a legitimate campaign, one which Jasmine Stodel chronicles in the documentary Kid Candidate.” Hayden Pedigo – a twenty-something musician residing in Amarillo, Texas – became an online sensation when his […]
Ladies in Rescue: Black Widow
By Elias Savada. The scenery, as in any big Marvel or James Bond movie (many shot at Pinewood Studios, like this was) moves about the globe…. Plenty of races, car chases, collateral damage….” There’s a lot to like in the latest chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plenty of action, […]
Getting Some: An Interview with Hisonni Mustafa
By Johnnie Hobbs III. Actor-turned-filmmaker Hisonni Mustafa’s (formerly Hisonni Johnson) new work as writer-director, Take Out Girl, focuses on a 20-year-old college dropout (Hedy Wong) who attempts to save her family’s business through moving drugs. In the audio interview below, Johnson comments on his film and his path in filmmaking. […]
F9: The Fast Saga – A Mega Dose of Sound and Fury
Vin Diesel faces the newest addition to the franchise, John Cena
The Good Life – Happiness by Design: Modernism and Media in the Eames Era
A Book Review by Thomas Puhr. Film scholars don’t seem to be the primary audience here; as such, they may find the text more confounding than captivating. However, adventurous readers as well as film enthusiasts wishing to understand the medium in a much-wider context will find a veritable treasure trove […]
Nomadland, or Dread and Denial in the American Remains
By Christopher Sharrett. Zhao’s film would seem to follow Bruder’s impulse in documenting a profound and perpetual economic crisis, as contemporary America’s bosses opt for an outsourced and financialized economy…. But the film’s critical concerns tend to leave center stage.” The opening card for Chloe Zhao’s Oscar-winning Nomadland informs us […]
Hybrid, and Vital as Ever: AFI DOCS Turns 19
By Elias Savada. Eight years ago, the documentary film festival then known as Silver Docs was rechristened AFI DOCS, expanding out from the American Film Institute’s tri-plex in Silver Spring, Maryland, into multiple other venues throughout downtown Washington, DC. While the new format was connected by the area-wide Metro subway […]
Out of Hollywood’s Darkness – Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It
By Elias Savada. A heartfelt, warts (just a few) and all look at one heck of a lady whose career has spanned cinema, television, theatre, and recorded sound…steered decidedly by Moreno as she takes to the screen in interviews, asides, clips, etc….” It seems fitting, if just for a brief […]
Hate, Perfection, and Some Werewolves Within: Selections from TriBeCa 2021
By Gary M. Kramer. Ruben features jokes and jump scares in equal measure throughout Werewolves Within, which relies on the crackerjack comic timing of the entire ensemble cast, most of whom are playing broad characters.” The 20th annual Tribeca Film Festival is actually three festivals in one this year, featuring […]
Community Building through Art: No Straight Lines: the Rise of Queer Comics
By Edward Avery-Natale. Ostensibly about the rise, influence, and growth of queer comic(s)…. In practice, though, it is far more: it is a movie about marginalized and minoritized people finding community and relationships….” No Straight Lines, a film by Vivian Kleinman now screening at TriBeca 2021 and based on the […]