Film Festival Today - The Business of Film and Entertainment

Film Review: New “The Little Mermaid” Both Sparkles and Drags

May 24, 2023

Film Review: Another Fumble for the Fast and Furious Franchise, “Fast X” Is Disastrous

May 17, 2023

Film Review: “STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie” Offers Delightful Homage

May 12, 2023

Film Review: “Anxious Nation” Offers Fine Cinematic Therapy

May 5, 2023

Film Review: “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Achieves Comedy Without Romance

May 5, 2023

Film Review: Emotionally Wrenching “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Is a Winner

May 4, 2023

Film Review: “Clock” Is Initially Brilliant, Then Crumbles

April 28, 2023

Film Review: “Fear” Lacks Nightmare Fuel

April 25, 2023

Film Review: “To Catch a Killer” Intrigues but Fails to Fully Capture Audience

April 20, 2023

Film Review: Supported by Guts and Gore, “Evil Dead Rise” Goes Through Motions of Horror

April 20, 2023

Film Review: Emotionally Wrenching “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Is a Winner

May 4, 2023

Film Review: “Clock” Is Initially Brilliant, Then Crumbles

April 28, 2023

Film Review: “Fear” Lacks Nightmare Fuel

April 25, 2023

Film Review: “To Catch a Killer” Intrigues but Fails to Fully Capture Audience

April 20, 2023

Film Review: Supported by Guts and Gore, “Evil Dead Rise” Goes Through Motions of Horror

April 20, 2023

Film Review: “Beau Is Afraid” But Not Quite Compelling Enough

April 20, 2023

Film Review: “Renfield” Is Bloody Enough Fun

April 13, 2023

Film Review: Noble Intentions of “Wild Life” Lost in Muddle of Hagiography

April 12, 2023

Film Review: “One True Loves” Provides Only Surface-Level Romance

April 7, 2023

Film Review: “Air” Soars on Charm and Wit

April 4, 2023

Film Review: “STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie” Offers Delightful Homage
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
May 12, 2023
STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Davis Guggenheim, 2023) 3½ out of 4 stars. Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim has made many fine documentaries, including the 2006 Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, a justly celebrated examination of the perils of climate change, featuring former Vice President Al Gore. Despite those credentials, he also directed the 2010 Waiting for Superman, a movie which committed the egregious sin of blaming the problems plaguing ... >>
Film Review: “Anxious Nation” Offers Fine Cinematic Therapy
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
May 5, 2023
Anxious Nation (Laura Morton/Vanessa Roth, 2022) 3 out of 4 stars. In the new documentary Anxious Nation, directors Laura Morton (a best-selling author making her feature-film debut) and Vanessa Roth (Mary J Blige’s My Life) explore the many different ways in which children and young adults suffer from anxiety in our modern world. Morton is herself a partial subject, since her daughter, Sevey, is one such teenager. But the movie covers a ... >>
Film Review: “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Achieves Comedy Without Romance
By Hannah Tran
May 5, 2023
What’s Love Got to Do with It? (Shekhar Kapur, 2023) 2½ out of 4 stars. The cover’s classic rom-com trappings may suggest a by-the-numbers romance, but Indian director Shekar Kapur’s What’s Love Got to Do with It? bites off a bit more, asking its title’s central question in regard to the larger topic of arranged, or assisted, marriages in modern Britain. When Zoe, a thirty-something documentarian, finds out her neighbor and lifelong friend Kaz ... >>
Film Review: In Compelling “Imagining the Indian,” Native American Mascots Must Go
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
April 4, 2023
Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting (Aviva Kempner/Ben West, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. Sports teams serve an important function in the modern world, sublimating societal aggression into something more benign than actual martial conflict. That’s the idea of their purpose, anyway, even if fans occasionally have other notions (I see you, European soccer enthusiasts). Within that universe, team mascots help rally the ... >>
Series Review: “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” Offers Insight and Inspiration
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
April 2, 2023
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (Lana Wilson, 2023) 3 out of 4 stars. The two-part documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, from director Lana Wilson (Miss Americana), is both a fan’s dream and a solid, in-depth look at the actor’s life and career. Following Brooke Shields from infancy to the present, the series (if we can call it that with so few episodes) examines the highs and lows of a very public existence. One may envy celebrities their wealth ... >>

Film Review: New “The Little Mermaid” Both Sparkles and Drags
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: Another Fumble for the Fast and Furious Franchise, “Fast X” Is Disastrous
In >> Adam Vaughn, Breaking, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: Emotionally Wrenching “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Is a Winner
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: “Clock” Is Initially Brilliant, Then Crumbles
In >> Adam Vaughn, Breaking, Film Reviews, Spotlight

Christopher Llewellyn Reed’s SXSW 2023 Wrap-Up
March 23, 2023
Pardon my delay in writing this, but on the day I flew ...>>
What to See at the 2023 Annapolis Film Festival
March 23, 2023
The 2023 Annapolis Film Festival kicks off tonight, ...>>
XR Beats from SXSW 2023
March 15, 2023
VR, AR, MR … XR … so many acronyms to describe a ...>>
Christopher Llewellyn Reed’s Picks for SXSW 2023
March 8, 2023
It will be nice to head back to SXSW in person this ...>>
Searchlight Pictures’ “Chevalier” to Open 11th Annual Annapolis Film Festival
February 28, 2023
Annapolis, MD (February 24, 2023) [all text courtesy ...>>