Favela Rising
Like City of God and Bus 174 before it, Favela Rising is about as raw as it comes. This is not an apologetic film, but rather one that looks for the bright side in a bleak situation.
Category: Reviews: F-J
Going Back
Filled with solid performances, gorgeous cinematography and realistic dialogue, it captures the same sad feeling of nostalgia watching it that the film’s characters experience.
Freedom State
A playful film that calls on its audience to believe in the empowering virtues of imagination and freedom.
Christmas · Films: F · Reviews: F
The Family Stone
What’s so refreshing about Thomas Bezucha’s The Family Stone is how it plays off of genre expectations and effortlessly switches back and forth between comedy, romance and tragedy.
The Goonies
Whether it’s an organ that threatens death if the wrong note is played, a wishing well that talks back to you or a pirate ship, the surface of The Goonies is all about a child’s innocence and faith in the unlikely.
Fitzcarraldo
If you have a dream, the only way to accomplish it is to face it head on. If your dream requires you to drag a massive boat up a mountainside, do it. So says director Werner Herzog in the bizarre but captivating Fitzcarraldo.
Grosse Pointe Blank
Armitage encourages [Gen-Xers] to keep the skeptical attitude, but to also negotiate some sort of confusing middle ground between maintaining the image without “selling out”.
Flyerman
A sad portrait of one man’s obsession with becoming someone he is not. Or is Flyerman the real Mark Vistorino? Either or, this is one legitimately tormented soul.
A History of Violence
A grim exploration of [humanity’s] futile attempts to repress the urge for violence.
The Island
My eyes hurt. So much action. So many explosions. So few words.
