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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
30459 |
| Total Ratings: |
244913 |
| Total Reviews: |
28743 |
![[202869853 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?202869853)
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| OXY KINGPINS, THE |
"How you get to a crisis."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA INDPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2021: Though many people are touched directly enough by what is often called "the opioid crisis" or "the opioid epidemic" for it not to be abstract, some are lucky enough for it to not be directly affected and others, quite naturally, are concerned enough about the immediate ill effects that they don't tend to think about the other end of the supply chain. "The Oxy Kingpins" does a fair job of remedying that; it may not have a proper ending, but the filmmakers do yeoman's work explaining how so many pills got into the wrong hands, and maybe what can be done about it." (more)
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| DRY, THE |
"The town's ready to ignite."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2021: Early on in "The Dry", there's a subtitle specifying that it's been 324 days since the last rain in the town of Kiewarra, and I wonder whether that was the inspiration for the story or just something the filmmakers couldn't avoid, given how bad the drought and heat waves have been in Australia in recent years. Either way, it's a way to add some color to a somewhat dour mystery." (more)
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| WATER MAN, THE |
"Basic, quality kids' fare."
Jay Seaver says... ""The Water Man" is a movie of charmingly modest ambitions, an adventure for kids that doesn't slip in anything that's just for the parents or aim to be the start of a larger series. It's pretty good little movie that will hopefully get a few people to come to matinees before disappearing into the vague "family" category online." (more)
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| WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM IN AMERICA |
"Likely won't change opinions, but may intensify them in the right direction"
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2021: There's a segment early on in "Who We Are" when Jeffery Robinson tries to have a conversation with a man standing in front of a Confederate statue with a matching flag, and it goes about as well as it can: There's no profanity or violence, but also no visible movement. It's not exactly the film in miniature, but it does make one worry about how much two hours of even the most earnest, well- crafted talk on the subject can be." (more)
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| ABOUT ENDLESSNESS |
"Quiet wonderment."
Rob Gonsalves says... ""It is the common fatigue." That’s what my ears thought they heard during a scene in Roy Andersson’s typically deadpan "About Endlessness."" (more)
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| I WAS A SIMPLE MAN |
"At and after the end."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2021: Point a camera in any random direction in Hawaii, and odds are that you're going to get a great-looking movie, and though that is not entirely the direction Christopher Makoto Yogi takes with "I Was a Simple Man", it is a major part of what makes the film work. Not so much the scenery, but the star, who often seems to embody his character to the point where everything more than taking him in is (entirely welcome) elaboration on a theme." (more)
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| WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR |
"An okay proof-of-concept for the movie that eventually does it right."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2021: There's a great movie to be made about the ground that this one covers, but I'm pretty sure that "We're All Going to the World's Fair" isn't it. It may be closer than I thought - for as much as I've dabbled in the sort of social-media storytelling that filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun is playing with, I've never been that engrossed. It's a younger person's game, after all. Still, I found myself remembering the feeling of watching "The Collingswood Story" back in 2005 - a prototype for the later "screen life" movies that hadn't quite figured out how to make it work yet - and wondering what the next movie that plays with this hook would do." (more)
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| HOLLER |
"We could do with a few more movies set in these parts of the country."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2021: I wouldn't necessarily have guessed that "Holler" is filmmaker Nicole Riegel's second go at the material, but it makes sense in retrospect - the story at the center is straightforward, but with a lot more room to explore the world around it, even if she doesn't make things that much more intricate and complicated than you might find in a ten-minute short. It kind of lives right on the line where one might want her to explore certain things further but are also glad they aren't forced, winding up a familiar tale but still fairly satisfying." (more)
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FILMS I NEGLECTED TO REVIEW: HILLBILLY EULOGY
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Please enjoy short reviews of "About Endlessness," "Above Suspicion," "Benny Loves You," Here Today," "Initiation," "The Paper Tigers," "The Water Man" and "Wrath of Man."" (more) |
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'I WENT TO SEE IT EXPECTING SOMETHING LOUSY TO MOCK - I COULDN'T MUSTER THE STRENGTH. THE FILM DIDN'T BOTHER TO MAKE AN EFFORT - WHY SHOULD I?'
- Hawkboy, On "Baby Geniuses"
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