Authors: Jimmy Martin
Think of the Children! Tumbleweeds Joins Forces With Sundance
With the Tumbleweeds Film Festival, now in its fourth year, already making waves with its age-appropriate programming with locals, the efforts of Patrick Hubley and his colleagues were noticed by an even larger organization, the Sundance Film Festival. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Cooties
With a fantastic intro reminiscent and eerily similar to the first season of “American Horror Story,” my hopes for this zombie black comedy starring Elijah Wood were high. After a child ingests a rotten chicken nugget in a school cafeteria in the small town of Fort Chicken, a rabid virus soon spreads through the hallways infecting only the pre-pubescent attendees.
… read more
Sundance Film Review: Ivory Tower
Is the price of higher education really worth it? Director Andrew Rossi asks this question, and many others, in this overwhelming look at the direction of colleges and universities in the United States. Rather than focusing on one area, Rossi jumps from subject matter to subject matter to address every angle of the debate—from the fact that 68% of American students do not graduate in four years, which increases their vast student debt, to multiple schools that offer free tuition to its students. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Web Junkie
I’m a gamer. I’ve caught myself playing for hours on end with titles like “Grand Theft Auto 5” and “Halo: Reach,” but, after a session of that magnitude, my brain chimes in with, “Hey, jackass, go do something productive.” For others who enjoy the thrill of virtual adventures, such is not the case. China has become the first country to deem “internet addiction” as an official clinical disorder. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Cold in July
Director Jim Mickle returns to the Sundance Film Festival after terrifying people last year with his cannibalistic horror “We Are What We Are.” This time around, we’re transported to 1989 in a small town in East Texas. After hearing a window break in the middle of the night in his home, Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall) shoots and kills the intruder. Upon hearing the invader’s father (Sam Shepard) has just been released from prison, it doesn’t take long for the parolee to bring his own wave of revenge to the Dane’s home. However, just when you think Mickle’s tale is about two fathers fighting against each other, a cyclone of mysteries, twists and turns band the adversaries for a greater purpose. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Skeleton Twins
The tone is set in Craig Johnson’s dramedy immediately as we’re introduced to twins Maggie (Kristen Wiig) and Milo (Bill Hader). As Milo lies in a blood-soaked bathtub with two slit wrists, Maggie, on the other side of the country, is questioning whether or not to take a handful of pills, but a call informing her of her brother’s situation makes her think otherwise. However, all is not fine when the pair is reunited and Milo moves in with his estranged sister and her overtly courteous husband, Lance (Luke Wilson). Johnson takes on an array of taboo topics including suicide, infidelity, molestation and successfully walks a fine line between dark realities and comic relief. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Happy Valley
If you haven’t heard about the sexual abuse scandal erupting from the Penn State University football program, then that rock you live under must be mighty hefty. Director Amir Bar-Lev embedded himself within a town that was once revered as a wholesome community until tragedy stuck due to the multiple sexual molestation charges brought up against the Penn State University’s Assistant Coach, Jerry Sandusky. Bar-Lev lightly touches on Sandusky’s case and verdict, but the primary focus is set upon the head coach, Joe Paterno. Records indicate Paterno was made aware of an incident with Sandusky and a minor and emailed his superiors, but nothing ever came of his report. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Life Itself
If you were a film critic or essentially anyone in the film industry on April 4, 2013, you took a minute to pause and respect the memory of film critic, Roger Ebert. I know I did. As the first film critic to ever win a Pulitzer, Roger Ebert became the face of movie criticism, but his smiling demeanor had a history of mesmerizing tales, personal anguish and laughable escapades. Director Steve James was granted access by Ebert himself to capture what would be the last five months of the icon’s life. … read more
Sundance Film Reviews: The Overnighters
Due to the process of fracking in the Bakken Shale region of Western North Dakota, oil drilling has exploded and garnered the attention of desperate men across the country looking to find work in an economy that is not offering much. In the small town city of Williston, North Dakota, Pastor Jay Reinke of the Concordia Lutheran Church has opened the doors to his facility to new arrivals that have nowhere to sleep with “The Overnighters” program. While this act of kindness appears to be the methods of his religion, he did so without the approval of his congregation or community, and not everyone is pleased with the results. … read more
Sundance Film Reviews: I Origins
It’s extremely rare when a science-fiction film comes along and makes you ponder as you walk out of the exit, “What if that really happened?” Such is the case with director Mike Cahill’s chilling exploration into the existence of the human species. When Dr. Ian Gray (Michael Pitt) becomes infatuated with the mysterious Sofi (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) after a one-night-stand, the two randomly find each other and become a couple. … read more