Hannah Tran | Film Festival Today

10 Films to Watch at Sundance 2023

January 18, 2023

Film Review: Electrifying Mother-Daughter Mystery of “Missing” Lights up the Screen

January 13, 2023

Hannah Tran’s Top 10 Films of 2022

December 26, 2022

Film Review: “The Menu” Serves Bland Satire and Half-Baked Characters

November 18, 2022

Film Review: “Love, Charlie” Savors the Sweet and Bitter Sides of Its Fascinating Subject

November 18, 2022

Film Review: “Enola Holmes 2” Solves the Riddle of a Great Sequel

November 4, 2022

Film Review: AI Music Documentary “The Computer Accent” Inventively Analyzes the Creative Process

October 21, 2022

Film Review: “V/H/S/99” Playfully Pays Homage to Y2K Horror with Modest Success

October 20, 2022

HIFF Review: “Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game” Takes an Admirable Shot but Never Quite Sinks It

October 9, 2022

Film Review: “Dreamland: A Storming Area 51 Story” Is a Journey into Idiocy

September 13, 2022

Film Review: “The Youth Governor” Is a Feel-Good Documentary That Lacks Feeling

August 26, 2022

Sundance Review: “In My Mother’s Skin” Is Bloody Real
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
January 26, 2023
In My Mother’s Skin (Kenneth Dagatan, 2023) 3 out of 4 stars. The year is 1945, and the Japanese still occupy the Philippines. As two children, a sister and brother, watch a soldier and Filipino collaborator enter their sumptuous home accompanied by their father, the girl tells a tale she heard of how a Japanese man speared a baby with his bayonet. There are atrocities all around, in other words, and no such thing as innocence anymore. Prepare ... >>
Sundance Review: “Little Richard: I Am Everything” Showcases the True Architect of Rock & Roll
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
January 25, 2023
Little Richard: I Am Everything (Lisa Cortés, 2023) 4 out of 4 stars.* Richard Wayne Penniman (1932-2020), otherwise known as Little Richard, is one of the 20th-century’s greatest musicians, yet has never yet received a documentary treatment. Thanks to director Lisa Cortés (All In: The Fight for Democracy), that error is now rectified. Her profile of the star undertakes not only to highlight his artistic achievements, but to remind us of his ... >>
Sundance Review: In “Kim’s Video,” Art and Life Are One and the Same
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
January 23, 2023
Kim’s Video (David Redmon/Ashley Sabin, 2023) 3½ out of 4 stars.* Any cinephile who lived in New York City in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s (the latter two were my era) remembers well the wonderful video-rental chain Kim’s Video. Stocked with a wide variety of options—initially on VHS, then also on DVD—Kim’s was a popular destination for those looking for what they might not find at a place like Blockbuster’s. The rise of Netflix spelled the ... >>
Series Review: “The Silence” Is a Grim but Defiant Portrait of Human Trafficking
By Heidi Shepler
January 18, 2023
The Silence (Dalibor Matanic, 2021) 3½ out of 4 stars. [Content warning: while not gratuitous, The Silence contains graphic depictions of sexual assault against teenage girls.] The Silence opens in Osijek, Croatia, where a veteran with acute PTSD rides a bicycle along a peaceful river. He’s horrified to see that the river is full of dead bodies, but then stops short and reminds himself to take a picture. He often sees horrors that aren’t there, ... >>
Film Review: “On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier” Explores Bigfoot and Beyond
By Matt Patti
January 16, 2023
On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier (Seth Breedlove, 2022) 2½ out of 4 stars. Seth Breedlove is a writer, director, and producer of several documentaries involving urban legends. He has covered subjects ranging from the Mothman to skinwalkers to the Bell Witch. Breedlove has produced and directed several films involving Bigfoot, as well, all donning the title On the Trail of Bigfoot. With On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier, Breedlove is ... >>