6.5
I KILL GIANTS Review
As a fan of the source's unsuspecting depth, this isn't nearly enough for me, but as an introduction to this story, it is more than suitable.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
6.5
6
RAMEN HEADS Review
Ramen Heads comes apart, not because of its failings as much as its unintentional reiteration that it could have worked better as a short film.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
7
OPERATION RED SEA Review
Operation Red Sea should not be watched for its weak point in writing but be appreciated for its earnest proficiency in action directing.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
7.5
ARE WE NOT CATS Review
Not since the days of David Cronenberg has the classical approximation of love as being the act of “giving a part of one's self to another” ever been more grotesquely literal than in Xander's Robin's destitute romance Are We Not Cats.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
5
INTERCHANGE Review
Existing on a precipice between its police-procedural grittiness and the fantastical digressions of its local mythology, Interchange is an anomaly with a failure to delineate these worlds from one another or to give exposition to their coexistence, making its investigative trip to mystic territory obtuse at best.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
3.5
THE FEMALE BRAIN Review
The Female Brain seems like the CliffsNotes of Dr. Brizedine's greater work and condensed into a romantic comedy schema, which desperately attempts to reject it.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
5.5
BILAL: A NEW BREED OF HERO Review
Bilal fails at establishing its central hero for any of the teaching points you graft onto him.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
7
BEFORE WE VANISH Review
It should be emphasized that the elements corralled together are strong in their own rights, and if Kurosawa could have shored up the dragging run time necessary to cover his juxtapositions, Before We Vanish could have been a much more promising endeavor.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
2
PSYCHOTIC! Review
Psychotic! is the perfect middle ground that manages to be equally unfunny and not scary in almost respectable equilibrium of incompetent filmmaking.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
4.5
AMERICAN FOLK Review
Too serious to be lighthearted but too nonchalant to hold any weight, American Folk is an anomaly that doesn't work either way.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
7
Slamdance 2018: QUEST Review
Either from the often strikingly intimate handheld shots or his script, which bleeds unfiltered affection for his characters and the night-soaked streets of Berkeley, Quest is uncomplicated humanism that plays equally to the people at the front row as well as those at the back of theater.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
6
Slamdance 2018: MAN ON FIRE Review
With his camera at hand and a burning human to point it on, the most the film gets out of its subjects is an ill-advised, one-sided conversation where black residents and “woke” allies point to clear-cut racism and the folksy residents shrug their shoulders and deflect.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
3.5
DELIRIUM Review
Enter Johnny Martin's Delirium, which, through its own incompetence invents a subgenre no one asked for (that I will be dubbing “Lazy Found Footage”).
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
5.5
THE POLKA KING Review
There is the potential for a moving tragicomic exercise in the Jan Lewan story, but sadly the latest Netflix feature settles for a middling goofball romp that has a few smiles but little staying power.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
3.5
ALMOST PARIS Review
There is no detectable personality in either the robotic performances or the garrulous script.
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
Chris’ Top 20 Films of 2017
Continuing our year-end list extravaganza is Chris Luciantonio‘s top 20 films of 2017.
20. Okja – Finding himself on a tonal balancing act yet again in his career, Bong Joon-ho surprised me and anyone else who has followed the Korean master’s
Posted by: Chris Luciantonio
