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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
31078 |
| Total Ratings: |
245564 |
| Total Reviews: |
28741 |
![[202819889 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?202819889)
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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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| DOG WHO WOULDN'T BE QUIET, THE |
"There are some things you really, really can't predict."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2021: "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet" has maybe the strangest mid-film detour I can recall, surprising me as I watched it although I'll bet that two-weeks-ago me put this film on the schedule because the description hinted at it. Even before that, it's a movie that's as amiably eccentric as its title, well worth a look before it finds the most peculiar way it can to tell what could be a fairly conventional story." (more)
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| HERE ALONE |
"Sometimes Alone Is Better"
Erik Childress says... "When Rod Blackhurst’s Here Alone premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, it was probably deemed as just another apocalyptic survival tale. Films of the type are prime fodder for independent filmmakers who only need a few actors and an unpopulated location. Given the events of 2020 to the publishing of this review and beyond, there is a whole new appreciation for survival instincts after a viral pandemic, or at least one for wearing masks. COVID-19 spawned a feverish lockdown revisit of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion and maybe that was as far as people wanted to take it despite some really harrowing films awaiting their own re-appreciation. Here Alone starts with promise and ended by winning the fest’s Audience Award. However, as the film actually ends with a near-silent scream, I finished with an even louder one which reverberated over its many flaws." (more)
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| SUMMER OF SOUL (...OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) |
"An experience worth remembering."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2021: "Summer of Soul" isn't quite a concert film, but it's hard to blame director Ahmir-Khalib "Questlove" Thompson for never wanting to stop the music: The raw material is a treasure trove of great performances not seen in fifty years, and more often than not, they say just as much on their own as anybody talking about them later might. The trick, which Questlove, editor Joshua L. Pearson, and the rest of the crew pull off nicely, is to insert just enough present-day reminiscences to give a little bit of context without slowing the party down." (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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'YOU KILLED THE CAR.'
- Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller's Day Off
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