Film Reviews
Welcome to FilmFestSalon! Read our reviews on domestic films, foreign films and the classics.
Film: “Promising Young Woman”
It’s only a few minutes into “Promising Young Woman” that you see how ironic the title is. Carey Mulligan is Cassie, pretty, blond, just 30, who is considered “promising” because she habitually pretends to be drunk in popular pick-up bars so that some scumbag, thinking she’ll be an easy lay, offers to take her home,…
Film: “Minari”
Although I was surprised at the number of Oscar nominations this film received, I think I should n’t have been. Written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari” is an enjoyable, family drama – what is often called “heartwarming” – about a young family from South Korea who go to Arkansas to start a vegetable…
Film: “One Night in Miami”
My initial skepticism about this film is understandable. “One Night in Miami” purports to be an imagining of the reputed post-fight meeting of four black cultural icons after Cassius Clay’s 1964 defeat of Sonny Liston. Four actors portray them: Eli Goree is Cassius Clay, Kingsley Ben-Adir is Malcolm X, Leslie Odom, Jr. is Sam Cooke…
Film: “I’m No Longer Here”
One of 15 short-listed films for this year’s foreign Oscar, Mexico’s “I’m No Longer Here” shows some originality. First published as a short story in 2013, writer-director Fernando Frias casts a harsh light on the poverty that shapes the lives of so many young Mexicans today, letting the story lead the audience to its own…
Glance at 2020
This is the year from movie hell. There are so many acclaimed films that I haven’t seen, and are unable to see. Because of Covid, they were in theaters only a short time, or not at all. Then streaming took over. I still learn of new titles every day that have Oscar-buzz, many of which…
Film: “Jacob’s Ladder”
“Jacob’s Ladder”, directed by Adrian Lyne from a script by Bruce Joel Rubin, was released in 1990, but I didn’t see it then. I only recently chanced upon it, in progress, on HBO, and was impressed enough to turn it off, so I could see all of it from the beginning. I’m glad I did…
Film: “Cam”
This is a tough one. Yet, despite serious story problems, I recommend “Cam” for its unusual subject, its swift and often exhilarating pacing and the fervent performance of Madeline Brewer in the lead role. The film was directed by David Goldhaber and written by Isa Mazzei, and was supposedly based on her personal experience as…
Film: “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open”
A Canadian prize-winner from 2019, “The Body Remembers when the World Broke Open”, was co-directed and written by Elle-Maija Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn (the film’s title comes from an essay by Billy-Ray Belcourt). It is one of the latest adventures into the single shot derby, in which, except for the pre-credit sequence of about fifteen…
Film: “Advantageous”
“Advantageous”, directed by Jennifer Phang, from a script by Jacqueline Kim and the director, is a provocative but ultimately confused dystopian satire, from 2015, about how women will face challenges in a future society where the economy is deeply committed to artificial intelligence. Co-writer Kim also played the lead role, Gwen. Those challenges, however, are…
Film: “Warehoused”
I saw “Warehoused”, a funny and pungent Mexican film from 2015 on Netflix. Directed by Jack Zagha Kababie, from a script by David Desola, I found its deadpan absurdist comedy quite refreshing. In five sections, it follows the apprenticeship of a young man, Nin, to become the manager of a warehouse after the retirement of…