-
![2021 [in film]](http://www.somebodysmiracle.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/WestSideStory-scaled.jpeg)
2021 [in film]
As the world (sort of) opened back up again this year, my film viewing responded accordingly; in January, I “attended” a virtual Sundance Film Festival, and by September I was logging a negative PCR test to make my way to Canada for an in-person Toronto Film Festival. Vaccinated and masked, I returned to movie theaters…
-
Review: Free Fire
For all the obscure festival releases and challenging documentaries I see, all the high-brow foreign dramas and such, you’d be forgiven for thinking that most of what I watch is, well, not that fun. Or at least, not the kind of fun one is usually looking for on a night out at the cinema. Friends, I’m here to tell…
-
Review: Their Finest
The first part of the year is traditionally a bit of a cinematic wasteland, a barren stretch of a release calendar filled with movies that would qualify for a Razzie long before an Oscar or Golden Globe. Sure, there’s Sundance in January, and some nominated films see wider U.S. releases in February. But generally speaking, it…
-
Watch This: Get Out
Last month, Film Twitter went all a-twitter when it was revealed that this year’s Sundance Film Festival secret screening was comedian Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out (he also wrote the original screenplay). Early buzz was effusive, a promising reception after a work-in-progress Keanu, which he co-wrote, failed to blow audiences away at SXSW last year. The team…
-
Maybe Watch This: A United Kingdom
In 2014, director Amma Asante – former actress turned filmmaker – hit the scene in a big way with one of the most underrated films of that year, Belle. Actually her sophomore feature, she’d previously been named Most Promising Newcomer at the BAFTAs in 2005, a prescient prediction. This week, Asante returns with her latest…
-
Watch This: The Salesman
For years promoting the U.S. releases of foreign films, again and again I heard them described as “quiet.” Quiet and compelling. Quiet and taut. Quiet and affecting. It’s no wonder so many worthy imports fail to reach a large audience. Who wants to spend two hours watching a lot of quietness – which is to…