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UNSUNG INDIES: Nandan Rao’s HAWAIIAN PUNCH

UNSUNG INDIES is a new feature where we'll highlight the best of the overlooked films to come out of the American Indie scene over the past 10 or so years, mostly dealing with films from the micro budget end of the spectrum. For our first iteration, I take a look at Nandan Rao's HAWAIIAN PUNCH, a docu-fiction concoction displayed in relaxed, sun-drenched frames.

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THE KEEPING ROOM Review

A quote attributed to William Tecumseh Sherman prefaces the limited action of The Keeping Room - a female-driven, Civil War set survival - stating that “war is cruelty” with no hope of reform. While the overall action may be limited, the cruelty of which Sherman speaks lingers and looms in every second of every frame. It’s a sentiment echoed later on by Sam Worthington’s character, one of the two Yankee scouts bringing the quote to life through their ceaseless procession of destruction, operating only in configurations of three functioning modes - drinking, killing, and raping.

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FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: THE WINDS THAT SCATTER

Given the current circumstances of the turmoil in Syria, Bell’s tender portraiture is as timely as they come. Although, he refrains from overloading the film with political viewpoints choosing instead to, merely, present a man looking for work. The cinematic equivalent of walking a mile in another man’s shoes, The Winds That Scatter is, unfortunately in this day and age, a necessity.

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HOW THE SKY WILL MELT Review

Three years in the making, Matthew Wade’s How the Sky Will Melt has the distinction of being an extremely rare piece of cinema for its time. A feature-length filmed on Super 8mm released into a cinematic landscape overcrowded with digital films upon digital films. Wade’s debut definitely possesses a hook intriguing enough (Super 8!) to a garner a certain amount of curiosity. Although, the question of, does the film and its narrative contain enough substance to warrant a feature-length? or, are we merely working with nothing more than an overdrawn novelty?

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FORT TILDEN Review

A familiar setting populated with familiar personalities, Bliss and Rogers’ Fort Tilden is a rehash  of several well-worn idea overly adorned with attempted pointed observations and situational set-pieces at home under a mountain of cynicism and self-absorption. Two friends, in tandem, tasked with the straightforward mission of reaching the beach before the day’s conclusion happens to be the narrative’s concern; a day long journey trekking across various New York neighborhoods, each with their own idiosyncrasies, for two twenty-somethings stuck in a state of arrested development.

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TWO STEP Review

Small town crime dramas of the Southern persuasion, with their glut of Southern-drawl colloquialisms liberally interspersed throughout a landscape of violent, homespun justice and double/triple crossings, are a familiar sight and Alex R. Johnson’s Two Step is as about as familiar as they come. A film populated with (just about) every element generally associated with crime narratives - idiom-heavy dialogue, vintage autos, inexplicable criminal networks, et al. - Two Step has it all, except for the one element it desperately needs - conviction.

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PHOENIX Review

Another Nina Hoss/Christian Petzold collaboration, this time a historical thriller of sorts set in the wake of World War II in the bombed-out shambles of Berlin with identity at the thematic forefront. A film dealing with reconciling with the past and moving forward during a desperate pursuit for the truth but, more importantly, a search for an identity and with it autonomy.

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FIVE STAR Review

The docufiction concept seems to be in high demand as of late in the American Independent scene given the recent flush of films intent on blurring the lines between fiction and reality into oblivion. Using real world settings, along with the real-life people that inhabit those neighborhoods, filmmakers attempt to successfully plant a narrative within the confines of the world they wish to represent on-screen with varying results.

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Top 10 Films of 2015 So Far: Kevin Rakestraw

Continuing our mid-year top 10s, below are Kevin Rakestraw’s picks for the best films to be release this year so far. There are a number of surprises on his list so be sure to check it out and se if there are

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FELT Review

The entire affair that is Jason Banker's latest feature, Felt (co-written with Amy Everson), feels like a missed opportunity; which, as a whole, remain fairly common within the world of cinematic offerings. However, Banker and Everson's collaboration happens to deal with the difficulty existing in a rape culture society and its effect upon the film's main character. A significant, and undeniably challenging, issue to tackle effectively within the span of 80 minutes.

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For Future Reference: THANATOS, DRUNK

Thanatos, Drunk  is a fairly straightforward narrative, a slice of life excursion through the nightclubs and narrow back-alleys of Taiwan. Underneath the fairly mundane day-to-day activities that comprise the surface level plotline lays an elaborate tapestry of emotional entanglements as guilt, pain, love and indifference wrestle within everyone day and night. All matter of existential struggles present themselves throughout the languid days, every new development or occurrence is yet another thread added to the complexities of the interconnected web being woven until everything, inevitably, comes to a head, unraveling all around those involved.

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Tribeca 2015: APPLESAUCE Review

That’s a question you might ask yourself early on while watching Applesauce, the latest from writer/director Onur Tukel as it serves as the jumping off point for his tried and true brand of acerbic comedy. And, if you’re familiar with Tukel’s propensity to play rather unlikeable, yet somehow appealing, characters you might ask yourself “how in the world is Tukel playing a high school teacher?” Furthermore, what class demands him to teach these kids about empathy?

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FÉLIX & MEIRA Review

The majority of the film’s poignancy emanates from the graceful performance of Hadas Yaron as Meira, the lost soul routinely shamed and guilted for trivial transgressions, acquiescing into an involuntary solitude of sorts. Not to belittle the performances of the supporting cast (all of whom provide solid turns), but Yaron’s subtle, yet powerfully resounding, emotional portrayal is the heart and soul of Félix and Meira.

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CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA Review

Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart ably carry their weight in the new film from writer/director Olivier Assayas which centers around a veteran actress, Maria Enders (Binoche), at the top of her international career set to appear in the same play that made her famous twenty years ago, but in a different role. The past, along with reflections of herself, as well as perspectives new and old swirl around her like the cloud phenomena of Sils Maria; spellbinding and nauseating all at the same time.

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THE RESURRECTION OF A BASTARD Review

Something has changed in Ronnie (Yorick van Wageningen) as he no longer appears to be the bastard referred to in the title of Guido van Driel’s feature length debut. He seems calmer, less prone to sudden outbursts of gruesome violence, and the rough edges of his volatile personality have softened a bit. He might have picked up the ability of clairvoyance somewhere along the way. Yet it remains to be seen if Robbie truly has changed as a person as he searches for the man that left him for dead.

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For Future Reference: THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF PÉROLA

For Future Reference is a new feature in which we review and recommend festival films yet to be picked up for US distribution (although, hopefully, they will be in the near future). For our inaugural episode, I've chosen Guto Parente's The Mysterious Death of Pérola, an almost dialogue-free, snail's pace slow-burn murder mystery wherein subtle, unsettling imagery replaces more traditional scare tactics.