“The movie has had a rough reception stateside, perhaps predictably, because Lessovitz’s story sees a minority subculture through the eyes of a straight, white male protagonist, one of the worst crimes you can commit according to the current cultural commentariat. It doesn’t matter to such folks that this is a sensitive, thoughtful feature debut.” – North Shore Movies, 05/31/2021
“The movie is constantly trying to upend our expectations of the teen sex comedy, pointedly reframing obligatory tropes like the ladies’ locker room scene to sly, subversive effect. There’s something liberating about letting the ‘good girls’ talk dirty about their desires for a change, and one particular period joke almost made me fall out of my chair.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 05/27/2021
“Individual set-pieces are spectacular, but this meandering, sometimes mournful affair is more interested in world-building and backstory than the task at hand. The movie often seems to forget its irresistible premise entirely, opting instead to make the umpteenth ripoff of Aliens, with a beat-for-beat plot-point allegiance that’s almost actionable.” – North Shore Movies, 05/21/2021
“I understand it can be difficult to maintain an atmosphere of stability for the children while jet-setting from luxury hotel to luxury hotel, but perhaps showing off the empty extra room included in your rider for storing seventeen suitcases’ worth of shoes and clothes at every stop is not the best way to engender audience sympathy at this particular moment.” – North Shore Movies, 05/21/2021
“The movie is being sold as a simple shoot ‘em up, but Riders Of Justice is a much stranger, sweeter film than the one that’s being advertised. All of these characters are severely damaged in one way or another, and on this odd adventure they learn to face their demons together. It’s like an action movie in which family therapy scenes keep breaking out.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 05/20/2021
“Before anybody heard of the novel coronavirus, I used to go to the movies three or four times a week. Cinemas are my churches, my sanctuaries. They’re where I’d go to feel closer to people and where I go to get away from them. Movie theaters were where I could vicariously experience adventures beyond my wildest imagination, or sometimes just take a nap.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 05/17/2021
“Everyone understands we’re here to see Jolie in her first action movie since 2010’s Salt. She struts, she swears, she gets drunk and parachutes off the back of a speeding pickup truck. Angelina outruns bolts of lightning and her sensitive mama bear side comes out by teaching the kid filthy rhymes about fucking pheasants. Gawd, I’ve missed our girl.” – North Shore Movies, 05/17/2021
“It’s astonishing how little interest the movie has in exploring its provocative premise, with none of Rock’s incisive political sensibility to be found in a film that’s all but begging for it. With subtext-as-text horror like Get Out and The Purge pictures being all the rage these days, Spiral feels sheepish and timid, gory in a way that’s afraid to draw any real blood.” – North Shore Movies, 05/17/2021
“Every scene is shot and cut like a commercial. It’s all shimmering sunsets and golden magic hours with cool motorcycles and vintage cars. People wear heavy leather bomber jackets in the San Diego summer simply because they look so great in them. Top Gun feels like the longest advertisement you’ve ever seen, but what exactly is it supposed to be selling?” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 05/14/2021
Had a great time talking to Strawberry Mansion directors Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley in this virtual Q&A for the Independent Film Festival Boston. We discussed their movie’s nightmare scenario in which advertisers insert product placement into your dreams, the duo’s love of analog aesthetics and why sometimes it’s not such a bad thing to fall asleep during a movie. – IFFBoston, 05/14/2021
SPLICED PERSONALITY 