Pratfall Rating: 8/10 Director: Alex Andre Writer: Alex Andre Style: Drama Time: 1 hours, 48 minutes Rating: PG-13 Review by Mike Szymanski The opening of this film reminds me a bit of my favorite Edward Albee play “The Zoo Story” where an erratic, over-talkative pushy guy inflicts himself on another guy on a Central Park bench who really wants to be left alone. Their encounter … Continue reading “Pratfall’ is More Than a Walk in the Park
A VERY FLATTENED CHRISTMAS Rating: 7/10 Director: Shane Wallace Writer: Key Tawn Toothman and Shane Wallace Style: Comedy Horror Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKG2IVHO_o Review by Mike Szymanski Sometimes, usually late at night, when you can’t sleep and you have the munchies, you need to watch something that is light, funny, exciting enough to keep you awake, but not so complicated you have to … Continue reading Lots of Twists and Edges in ‘A Very Flattened Christmas’
“Escape from Extinction Rewilding” Rating: 9/10 Director: Matthew R. Brady Writers: Alex Vincent Blumberg and Peter Meadows Style: Documentary Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSF5F6Ff-so Review by Mike Szymanski The mark of a good documentary is one that will make you take notice, react emotionally, or angrily, and go out and do something about it. Usually right away. Usually you are researching on your phone … Continue reading Don’t Monkey Around With Endanger Species in “Escape from Extinction Rewilding”
“Listen Carefully” Rating: 8/10 Director and Writer: Ryan Barton-Grimley Style: Horror Time: 1 hour 22 minutes Trailer: https://vimeo.com/953775859 Review by Mike Szymanski Sometimes big things come in little packages, and this odd quirky indy film is one of those. In a film noir motif (actually, everything is really pretty dark in the entire film), it has a small cast with oddball characters, misguided motives and dark … Continue reading See and Hear an Up-and-Coming Great Film Hyphenate Moviemaker if You ‘Listen Carefully’
“Sound of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot” Rating: 8/10 Director: Joshua Weigel Writers: Joshua and Rebekah Weigel Style: Biopic/ Drama Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=-nyh9tcGFcI Time: 2 hour, 18 minutes Review by Mike Szymanski Inspired by true events, this is one those stories that sneaks up on you and you wonder, “Why didn’t know I know that happened?” “Sound of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot” is … Continue reading Changing the Foster Care System with ‘Sound of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot’
“The Mimic” Rating: 7/10 Director and Writer: Thomas F. Mazziotti Style: Dark Comedy Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_nwNNRlxC8 Time: 1 hour, 22 minutes Review by Mike Szymanski This quirky dark comedy is reminiscent of a Wes Anderson film, with all the odd-ball characters. And, it’s also like a Todd Solondz film, but without the meanness. Anderson, of “Rushmore,” “Asteroid City” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” fame, is also known for … Continue reading There’s Nothing Like ‘The Mimic’ in Quirky Dark Comedy
“Jersey Bred” Rating: 8/10 Writer and Director: Greg Russo Style: Crime/ Action / Drama Time: 1 hour 31 minutes Review by Mike Szymanski Change in the mob game isn’t always a good thing. When the gangsters like those from the days of “The Godfather” (and all the violence involved) get mixed up in online gambling and crypto-currency, some people can’t give up their old ways. … Continue reading These Wise Guys in ‘Jersey Bred’ Don’t Think Change is Funny, But it is
The Reverend Rating: 7/10 Director and Writer: Nick Canfield Style: Music Biography Time: 1 hour and 26 minutes: Review by Mike Szymanski Very few documentaries are as inspiring and joyful as this one. Religious or not, spiritual or not, a believer or not, you will be inspired by “The Reverend,” just like his band mates who are not reverent at all! “The Reverend” features a … Continue reading Hallelujah! ‘The Reverend’ Proves Without a Doubt He is the Minister of Music
Cabrini Rating: 10/10 Director: Alejandro Monteverde Writers: Rod Barr and Alejandro Monteverde a Style: Bio-pic Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPwnYlJ2L_c DreamweaverArts is quote in the official movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-aA70YJmcQ&t=9s Review by Mike Szymanski Perhaps a story about a nun who becomes a saint is not a movie you’d sit down and care to watch, but this is not that. Maybe you think that … Continue reading A Miraculously Impressive Movie About the First American Saint Mother ‘Cabrini’ Is a Masterpiece
The Dirty South Rating: 8/10 Director & Writer: Matthew Yerby Writer: Matthew Yerby Style: Action/Crime/Drama Time: 1 hour and 47 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hin7Q8ZBT7A Review by Mike Szymanski How far will you go to save the “family farm”? It’s an age-old question where families are constantly struggling to save the house they grew up in, or the farm they tilled for generations, or the business that the … Continue reading A Clean Sweep of Good, Gritty Story in ‘The Dirty South’
Mid-Century Rating: 8/10 Director: Sonja O’Hara Writer: Mike Stern Style: Fantasy/Horror/Mystery Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes Trailer: https://vimeo.com/672495577 Review by Mike Szymanski You know something is wrong when a woman takes a shovel and dispatches a bird that has flown into a glass wall of a window. She does it without passion or shame. It was the window who killed the bird, not her, she … Continue reading This ‘Mid-Century’ House is Filled with Ghosts Alive and Dead
You, Me & Her Rating: 10/10 Director: Dan Levy Dagerman Writer: Selina Ringel Style: Comedy, Drama Time: 1 hour and 34 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn7S3J2MAbc Review by Mike Szymanski I have written decades of reviews about coming out experiences, and the most tragic circumstances, (and generally the most unhealthy) revolve around coming out as bisexual. Not here. “You, Me & Her” is a positive story and a … Continue reading ‘You, Me and Her’ Goes Shows a Funny and Ideal Bisexual Coming Out Experience
The Shift Rating: 7/10 Director: Brock Heasley Writer: Brock Heasley Style: Sci-Fi Time: 1 hour and 55 minutes Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1880606489/?ref_=tt_vi_i_1 Review by Mike Szymanski “This is not my world,” the main character of “The Shift” says over and over again. He seems like he belongs in that world, as he falls out of the sky and then walks out of a lake with full clothes on, … Continue reading ‘The Shift’ Goes Into High Gear with Sci-Fi Intrigue
Project Dorothy Rating: 7/10 Director: George Henry Horton Writers: George Henry Horton and Ryan Scaringe Style: Sci-fi thriller Time: 1 hour 20 minutes Review by Mike Szymanski Sometimes the best movies have a minimal cast, minimal special effects, and minimum amount of dialogue. These smaller indie movies are true gems, because it’s obvious that the filmmakers wanted to put out a good movie and used … Continue reading Indie Sci-Fi Gem ‘Project Dorothy’ Doesn’t Allow for Easy Surrender
JazzTown Rating: 9/10 Director: Ben Makinen Style: Documentary Time: 90 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBc7-5gASi0 Review by Mike Szymanski It’s a little-known fact that the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado has a long history of jazz. Thought to be a New Orleans-focused art form, this distinguished American-style music has a strong history as far up as Denver — and it’s worth a look like this film. “JazzTown” … Continue reading Whether You Like it Or Not, You’ll be All Jazzed Up for ‘JazzTown’
The Country Club Rating: 7/10 Director: Fiona Robert Writers: Fiona and Sophie Robert Style: Comedy Time: 89 minutes Trailer: https://vimeo.com/773459022/82f7860869?share=copy Review by Mike Szymanski You’ve driven past those snooty country clubs with those grand estates, high bushes, elite dress codes, impenetrable cliques and membership fees that mere mortals cannot afford. Maybe you’ve even eaten at the overpriced, over-rated restaurants at the club (there’s even a joke … Continue reading It’s One Stuck-up ‘Country Club’ You Won’t Mind Visiting
One for All: The DJ Chris Villa Story Rating: 9/10 Director: Jeremy A. Lopez Style: Documentary Time: 110 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkNlfTSmjRc Review by Mike Szymanski You can figure out how most documentaries will end. There may be facts that surprise and motivate you, but you generally know the slant of the doc and how it’s all going to end up. This is a documentary that … Continue reading Put Your Hands in the Air for ‘One for All: The DJ Chris Villa Story’
Boonie Bears: Back to Earth Rating: 8/10 Director: Huida Lin Writers: Lin Jiang, Qin Wan and Rachel Xu Style: Animation/ Family/ Sci-Fi Time: 97 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9HdOW8Og3c Review by Mike Szymanski How did I not know about the Boonie Bears? Of course, if you don’t have toddler-to-elementary school-aged children, you may not keep up with children’s shows, but the Boonie Bears are going to be an … Continue reading ‘Boonie Bears: Back to Earth’ is Out of This World
Love Charlie, The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter Rating: 6/10 Director and Writer: Rebecca Halpern Style: Documentary Time: 96 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2gVkngEg2M You may never have ever heard of Charlie Trotter (I know I didn’t) but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a fascinating documentary subject. He created a great deal of masterful culinary pieces of art that other great chefs rave about, but he … Continue reading Take a Big Bite Out of ‘Love Charlie, The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter’
Alchemy of Spirit Rating: 6 /10 Director: Steve Balderson Writers: Steve Balderson Style: Horror Time: 135 minutes Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHo73DC5gZs Official website: dikenga.com/alchemy-of-the-spirit It’s all underneath, it’s all buried within. Haunting, bubbling and frustrating all at once, this movie has very little dialogue and a lot of visual artistry. A man wakes up to find his wife dead next to him, and what he decides to do after … Continue reading You Don’t Need to Speak about ‘Alchemy of Spirit’
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