California | Film Festival Today

SXSW Review: “Sasquatch” Is a Monster-Hunt Docuseries That Showcases the Intriguing, but Sometimes Frustrating, Aspects of Investigative Journalism

March 24, 2021

Film Review: “Ham on Rye” Offers a Visually Full Meal

January 10, 2021

Film Review: “Future People: The Family of Donor 5114″ Proves Metaphysically Profound
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
April 10, 2021
Future People: The Family of Donor 5114 (Michael Rothman, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. Imagine you are minding your business as a freshly minted teen and you receive a Facebook message from someone claiming to be your half-sister. Not only that, but there are more siblings where she came from. Sure, you always knew your mom used a sperm donor to conceive, but the details of the faceless dad, much less the possibility of other children emerging ... >>
What to See at the (Virtual) 2021 Annapolis Film Festival
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
April 8, 2021
It looks like we are not yet out of the global coronavirus pandemic (please remember to get vaccinated!), and so we enter its second year with a continuation of the virtual versions of film festivals that evolved over the course of 2020. Last year, the Annapolis Film Festival had to quickly convert itself from a live event to an online one (hardly alone in that quick transformation), but now the 2021 fest, which runs April 8-18, returns with a ... >>
Interview with “Phobias” Star Leonardo Nam
By Matt Patti
March 29, 2021
I recently had the pleasure of speaking via phone with actor Leonardo Nam about his work in Phobias (which I previously reviewed). In the film, five people with specific, extreme fears are gathered at a government testing facility where a lunatic doctor attempts to weaponize their fright. Nam plays Johnny, one of the patients at the facility, who is diagnosed with “robophobia”: the fear of robots, drones, robotic materials and, most prevalent in ... >>
SXSW 2021 Recap
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 26, 2021
FROM CHRIS REED: Just before the start of this year’s virtual SXSW, Matt Patti and I each presented our recommendations of what to see at the festival. In my case, the five films I mentioned were all ones I had already watched via advance screeners. I could and still do vouch for them. They were, in alphabetical order: Lily Topples the World, The Lost Sons, Potato Dreams of America, Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free and Women Is Losers. I ... >>
SXSW Review: Episodes 1 and 2 of “Them” Show Promise
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 24, 2021
Them (Little Marvin, creator; Nelson Cragg, director, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. Premiering April 9 on Amazon Prime, the 10-part series Them explores the horrors of 1950s America through the eyes of a Black family moving into a white neighborhood. The Emorys leave Jim Crow-era North Carolina to relocate to the West Coast … Compton, California, to be exact, which at that time was almost exclusively white. Though the current residents react poorly to ... >>

Film Review: “The Odds”
March 8, 2021
Bravo! A Herculean effort to deliver a highly original two-character horror movie. You want to ...>>
Film Review: “Nomadland”
March 7, 2021
NOMADLAND’s star and producer is two-time Best Actress winner, Frances McDormand. She was given the ...>>
Film Review: “Wonder Woman 1984”
December 30, 2020
What happen to Wonder Woman? She is a supporting character not given much to do. What happened to ...>>
Film Review: “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
October 24, 2020
It’s Baron Cohen’s commitment to the character and no wink to the audience that still captivates. ...>>