Movie Blurbs and Initial Impressions, COVID edition

Since I haven't posted many reviews here since the pandemic began, outside of the Oscar Nominated Shorts (film festivals canceled, movie theaters closed, unable to get a press pass to virtual ones), here's a smattering of film and limited series reviews that I posted on Letterboxd during the pandemic (some of which have been slightly …

SIFF 2019: Week Three Capsule Reviews

The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (Archival, Japan 1985, 100 min) Digital Screener, Sun 6/2 Makoto Tezuka (son of Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Japanese manga) directed this wild Japanese musical at the age of 23. Basic plot: media mogul Mr. Minami (the late Kiyohiko Ozaki) takes rival singers Shingo (Shingo Kubota) and Kan (Kan …

SIFF 2019: Week Two Capsule Reviews

A Family Tour (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Singapore/Malaysia 2018, 107 min) Digital Screener, Fri 5/24 Of all the movies I've seen as screeners that I wish I'd woken up for and seen in a theater, this one is at the top (followed by Sibel), mainly due to the abundance of written information plastered all over the screener. Still, …

SIFF 2019: Week One Capsule Reviews

Sibel (Turkey/France/Germany/Luxembourg 2018, 95 min) Digital Screener, Sun 5/19 The good thing about screeners is that you can watch them whenever you want. The bad thing is that you aren't getting the full cinematic experience. While I benefited from seeing Sibel on the small screen in terms of sleep (it was playing that same day …

SIFF 2019: Pre-Festival Press Screenings and Digital Screeners

  Non-Fiction (France 2018, 108 min) Press Screening: Wed 5/1 The latest film from Olivier Assayas (Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper) centers around the future of publishing and the struggles to adapt to new technology, as told through the eyes of a publisher (Guillaume Canet), a novelist who barely clothes his nonfiction with fiction …

SIFF 2018 Edition: Capsule Reviews, Week Three

Here are all the capsule reviews for week three in alphabetical order, including the entire final weekend of SIFF. Release dates are included where applicable. Again, my rating system: 1=Awful. Major flaws in plot/characters/writing/filmmaking. No reason to see this film unless you have to, and then I still wouldn't. 2=Okay to average. Some major/minor flaws …

SIFF 2018 Edition: Capsule Reviews, Week Two

Here are my capsule reviews for the second week of the festival. None of these films have release dates outside of the festival, except for some of the web series. Again, my ratings are: 1=Awful. Major flaws in plot/characters/writing/filmmaking. No reason to see this film unless you have to, and then I still wouldn't. 2=Okay …

SIFF 2018 Edition: Capsule Reviews, Week One

Here are capsule reviews for all the films I've seen so far at the Seattle International Film Festival. Reviews are alphabetical by title. Included is my rating of each film. As per Golden Space Needle ballots, films are rated on a scale of 1 to 5: 1=Awful. Major flaws in plot/characters/writing/filmmaking. No reason to see …