Category: Reviews: E-G

Writer/director Jasmin Mozaffari’s film stands out in an already-strong genre of new coming of age stories. With Firecrackers, set in a desolate, unnamed town on the outskirts of Ontario, Mozaffari manages to create a unique teenage friendship between Lou and Chantal, who ache to run away as soon as possible. Newcomers on the scene, Michaela… Continue reading ‘Firecrackers’ is a Teenage Wonderland Masterpiece

General Magic, directed, produced and written by Sarah Kerruish (with Matt Maude), is a documentary about a company that worked on a device “15 years too innovative for its time”. In the mid-90’s, the predecessor to today’s smartphone, Sony’s Magic Link PDA, was invented but poorly received. A fruitful, riveting documentary starring some of today’s… Continue reading ‘General Magic’: Failure is Just a Stepping Stone for Success

The fight between democracy and militant government has plagued Brazil for decades. The country, originally run by an oligarchy, slowly found themselves fighting for a representative democracy. They filled the streets, rioted, and supported their chosen leader, Lula. But as the years passed, the people became blind to the destructive forces of their past hidden… Continue reading ‘The Edge of Democracy’ tiptoes line of memoir and documentary

In Endzeit, directed by Carolina Hellsgard and written by Olivia Vieweg, after a zombie apocalypse takes over the world, only two German cities remain— Weimar and Jena. In Weimar anyone who’s even slightly infected is killed, while Jena desperately searches for a cure. Vivi, a struggling mental patient, is sent to Weimar to combat the… Continue reading Running from risk of zombie infection in ‘Ever After’

The man who invented the DeLorean is unable to go back in time to undo his mistakes: the irony. A car made famous by in the 1985 megahit Back to the Future, the DeLorean and its maker have been the subject of fascination for decades. In a unique hybrid of documentary and feature film, filmmakers… Continue reading ‘Framing John DeLorean’ a compelling docu-drama on famed con man

Set in the 1975 Khmer Rouge revolution, Funan is the animated story of a Cambodian woman’s desperate search for her young son. Debuting director Denis Do (who co-writes with Magali Pouzol) recreates a dark, destructive world using an imaginative medium. (BKP: 4/5) Review by Vice President and Managing Editor Brigid K. Presecky Opening with the… Continue reading ‘Funan’ details Cambodian genocide with stunning animation

From IMDb: A small group of activists risk their lives on remote Indonesian islands to find justice and freedom for the enslaved fishermen who feed the world’s insatiable appetite for seafood.Ghost Fleet opens 6/7. FF2 review coming soon!

From IMDb: A feature length documentary film following one man’s search for random Americans concerned about an Islamic threat and offering them a free trip to Egypt. Free Trip to Egypt opens 5/31. FF2 review coming soon!

Elena Ferrante is one of Italy’s internationally most popular authors, yet – in using a pseudonym and insisting that her works should speak for themselves – remains an intriguing mystery to mass media and readers alike. In this documentary of classic interviewee format, director Giacomo Durzi and screenwriter Laura Buffoni have literary personae talk about… Continue reading ‘Ferrante Fever’ against the author’s wishes

Sebastián Lelio’s new feature Gloria Bell means well but falls short in real substance. It is a confusingly dazzling portrait of a woman finding happiness and excitement later in life. (HRM: 2/5) Review by FF2 Intern Hannah Mayo Free-spirited “Gloria Bell” (Julianne Moore) is looking to balance her life in LA as a divorcee in… Continue reading GLORIA BELL (2018): Review by FF2 Media

Gully Boy is a monumental and inspiring story about following your dreams in a world going against you. It follows street rappers trying to make it in Mumbai. (HRM: 4/5) Review by FF2 Intern Hannah Mayo “Murad” (Ranveer Singh) is a 22 year old boy living in the ghettos of Mumbai who has a passion… Continue reading Mumbai sSreet Rappers Try to Make it in ‘Gully Boy’

Written by Maria Melnik and Bragi F. Schut and directed by Adam Robitel, Escape Room is a psychological thriller that, unfortunately, misses the mark just slightly. (MTP: 3/5)

In Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindelwald, J.K. Rowling uses her time turner to take us back to the 1920s Wizarding World, when Dumbledore (Jude Law) was still just a professor, long before the names Riddle and Potter appeared on his radar, let alone in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The Ministry of… Continue reading Rowling, Redmayne Dive Deep in ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’

Alex Honnold dares to be the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite’s 3,000ft high El Capitan Wall. We follow him as he meticulously plans each move while juggling injury, relationship tensions, and the insane feat of climbing without any ropes to save him from a life-ending fall. Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy… Continue reading ‘Free Solo’ is undeniably captivating

In her new documentary Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable, Sasha Waters Freyer highlights photographer Garry Winogrand and his body of work in the context of his life and the times. She crafts a subjective exploration of the question the photographer himself was trying to answer with his wok – what is photography? (HRM 4/5)