Year: 2024 Runtime: 131 minutes Directed by: Luca Guadagnino Written by: Justin Kuritzkes Starring: Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor, Zendaya By Sarah Manvel Well, well, well. Luca Guadagnino is the best director about inhabiting a body that has sex currently working in American cinema. “Challengers” is in theory about tennis, but in reality it’s about three people and how they use their bodies to get what … Continue reading Review: Challengers
By Tom Moore and Valerie Kalfrin Even with a relatively packed summer movie schedule quickly approaching, this coming May features a strong slate of movies to be excited about. Not only do we get to see the story of an iconic musical talent finally told on the big screen and a return to George Miller’s “Mad Max” world for a spotlight on Furiosa’s origins, but … Continue reading The Lineup: The Films We’re Eyeing this May (2024)
Year: 2023 Runtime: 108 minutes Writer/Director: Marija Kavtaradz Actors: Kęstutis Cicėnas, Greta Grinevičiūt By Caz Armstrong Caution: There are some spoilers below. “Slow” is a Lithuanian film about asexual relationships, gracefully upheld by a reverence for physicality. Dovydas (Kęstutis Cicėnas) is a sign language interpreter hired to help a class of deaf students take dance classes with teacher Elena (Greta Grinevičiūtė). A relationship begins between … Continue reading Review: Slow
Year: 2022 Runtime: 92 minutes Director: Vera Drew Writers: Vera Drew, Bri LeRose Actors: Vera Drew, Griffin Kramer, Lynn Downey, Kane Distler, Nathan Faustyn, David Liebe Hart, Phil Braun By Taylor Hunsberger Right out of the gate I can tell you that Vera Drew’s “The People’s Joker” is the most original and interesting piece of media I have seen in years. What Drew has managed … Continue reading Review: The People’s Joker
By Tom Moore and Valerie Kalfrin April is always sort of an in-betweener month when it comes to movies. It’s past the early months that feature movies meant to “kick-off” the year on a good foot and comes before the official summer slate of movies. So, it usually delivers movies of all shapes and sizes. While this April isn’t too different, there are a couple … Continue reading The Lineup: The Films We’re Eyeing this April (2024)
Year: 2024 Runtime: 110 minutes Writer/ Director: Kat Rohrer Actors: Proschat Madani, Caroline Peters, Heikko Deutschmann, Gohat Nurbachsch, Barbara Spitz, Allegra Tinnefeld, Nicole Ansari-Cox, Anton Noori By Sarah Manvel “What a Feeling” is a midlife crisis movie that doesn’t take itself seriously. It is also an immigrant love story set in Vienna, and only after that is it a gay film – not a welder … Continue reading BFI Flare 2024: What a Feeling
Runtime: 83 minutes Directed by: Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu Written by: Maddie Dai Starring: Erana James, Manaia Hall, Rima Te Wiata, Nathalie Morris By Sarah Manvel “We Were Dangerous” is a pleasing fantasy movie about three girls – two in their late and one in their early teens – who finds themselves trapped in an unpleasant situation designed to break their spirits. Other movies on this … Continue reading BFI Flare 2024 review: We Were Dangerous
Year: 2023 Runtime: 81 minutes Writer/Director: Noah Schamus Actors: Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Marianne Rendón, Mila Myles, Yaron Lotan By Sarah Manvel What is it about contemporary American culture that keeps people in a state of arrested development? It seems like the external milestones that represent “success” — an impressive career, home ownership, and committed relationships — have become the things which create emotional maturity instead … Continue reading BFI Flare 2024 review: Summer Solstice
Year: 2024 Directed by: Dominic Savage Written by: Elliot Page and Dominic Savage Starring: Elliot Page, Peter Outerbridge, Hillary Baack, Wendy Crewson, Andrew Bushell, David Reale By Sarah Manvel Quentin Crisp was a ground-breaking homosexual and a gay icon who found success as a raconteur of his unusual life experiences, including an unusual for-the-time openness about his sexuality and sex life. But despite making a … Continue reading BFI Flare 2024 review: Close to You
Year: 2024 Runtime: 84 minutes Directed by: Ethan Coen Written by: Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke Starring: Margaret Qualley, Beanie Feldstein, Geraldine Viswanathan, Connie Jackson, Bill Camp, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, C.J. Wilson, Joey Slotnick, Matt Damon, Miley Cyrus By Sarah Manvel Sometimes having too much money is a bad thing. If “Drive-Away Dolls” had been made by a bunch of nobodies on a shoestring … Continue reading GFF2024 review: Drive-Away Dolls
In Their Own League 