The Neutral Ground, 2021. Co-written and directed by CJ Hunt. SYNOPSIS: In December 2015, the New Orleans City Council voted to remove four Confederate monuments from public grounds. A forceful group of critics protested the decision, and fearing retaliation, no crew would agree to remove the statues. Comedy has historically proven to be a sturdy […]
2021 BFI London Film Festival Review – Belfast
Belfast, 2021. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Starring Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds and Colin Morgan. SYNOPSIS: In the midst of the Troubles, a young boy and his parents struggle with the idea that their future might have to lie somewhere other than the city they have always called home. Kenneth […]
2021 BFI London Film Festival Review – 7 Days
7 Days, 2021. Co-written and directed by Roshan Sethi. Starring Karan Soni, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Mark Duplass. SYNOPSIS: As if their pre-arranged date, organized by their traditional Indian parents, wasn’t uncomfortable enough, Ravi and Rita are forced to shelter in place together as COVID-19’s reach intensifies. 18+ months into the pandemic, audiences can’t really be […]
2021 BFI London Film Festival Review – Babi Yar. Context
Babi Yar. Context, 2021. Directed by Sergei Loznitsa. SYNOPSIS: Nazi troops massacre more than 30,000 Jews over a two-day period in September 1941. Given that the world is typically used to seeing aggressively narrative-driven depictions of the Holocaust – whether cinematic feature or documentary – Sergei Loznitsa’s (Donbass) new doc Babi Yar. Context may seem rather […]
2021 BFI London Film Festival Review – Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege)
Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege), 2021. Directed by Abdallah Al-Khatib. SYNOPSIS: After the Syrian Revolution, Al-Assad’s regime besieges the district of Yarmouk, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the world. Yarmouk is cut off. The director records the daily deprivations while celebrating the people’s courage. Abdallah Al-Khatib’s deeply upsetting, righteously angry in-the-trenches documentary captures […]
2021 BFI London Film Festival Review – Nitram
Nitram, 2021. Directed by Justin Kurzel. Starring Caleb Landry Jones, Essie Davis, Anthony LaPaglia and Judy Davis. SYNOPSIS: A fictionalised take on the story of the Port Arthur shooting – the most notorious mass shooting in Australian history. The 1996 Port Arthur shooting is one of the most horrifying events in recent Australian history, and […]
2021 BFI London Film Festival Review – The Feast
The Feast, 2021. Directed by Lee Haven Jones. Starring Nia Roberts, Annes Elwy, Julian Lewis Jones, Sion Alun Davies, Steffan Cennydd, Rhodri Meilir and Lisa Palfrey. SYNOPSIS: In a luxury house in the Welsh countryside, a quiet waitress works for the family of an MP hoping to secure a big property deal. There’s something very […]
2021 BFI London Film Festival Review – All These Sons
All These Sons, 2021. Directed by Bing Liu and Joshua Altman. SYNOPSIS: On Chicago’s South and West sides, guns and gangs are destroying countless lives. Two men dedicate their lives to educating, empowering, and healing young Black men at high risk for being victims – or perpetrators – of deadly gun violence. Oscar-nominated Minding the […]
2021 BFI London Film Festival Review – Ron’s Gone Wrong
Ron’s Gone Wrong, 2021. Directed by Sarah Smith and Jean-Philippe Vine. Featuring the voice talents of Jack Dylan Grazer, Zach Galifianakis, Olivia Colman, Ed Helms, Justice Smith, Rob Delaney, Kylie Cantrall and Ricardo Hurtado. SYNOPSIS: A middle school child bonds with the faulty robot he is gifted by his father, even as the tech company […]
Movie Review – The Harder They Fall (2021)
The Harder They Fall, 2021. Directed by Jeymes Samuel. Starring Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo, LaKeith Stanfield, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, R.J. Cyler, Damon Wayans Jr., Deon Cole, and Regina King. SYNOPSIS: Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) is an outlaw for the common man. Stealing from those who do the heavy lifting, he […]
