Deb Shoval | Film Festival Today

The Fifth Annual Annapolis Film Festival Shows Its Worth

April 8, 2017

Film Review: “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song” Is Repetitive but Interesting
By Matthew Anderson
June 29, 2022
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song (Daniel Geller/Danya Goldfine, 2021) 2½ out of 4 stars. The documentary Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song discusses singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s life in great detail, from his birth to an Orthodox Jewish family living in Quebec to pursuing a career in poetry during the 1950s through the mid-60s. In 1967, he started a music career creating his first few albums with a folk-music style, ... >>
Film Review: Sometimes Hackneyed “Official Competition” Still Delivers Sharp Barbs
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 24, 2022
Official Competition (Mariano Cohn/Gastón Duprat, 2021) 2½ out of 4 stars. Satires about the art world run the danger of trafficking in tired stereotypes of moody and/or arrogant creatives, talented and hack alike; their cinematic cousins are no different. In Official Competition, Argentinian filmmaking partners Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat (The Distinguished Citizen) come far too close to the edge of burlesque pitfalls for comfort, yet ... >>
Film Review: “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” Overflows with Wonder
By Robin C. Farrell
June 23, 2022
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Dean Fleischer-Camp, 2021) 4 out of 4 stars. It’s difficult to articulate what makes Marcel the Shell with Shoes On so wonderful. The film delivers on the promise of its trailer: a surplus of wholesome charm and quirky humor throughout but underneath the whimsy beats an unironic, introspective heart. The story is both simple and intricate: Marcel (Jenny Slate, The Bob’s Burgers Movie) is an anthropomorphic ... >>
Film Review: “Press Play” Delivers Heartbreak and Hope
By Robin C. Farrell
June 22, 2022
Press Play (Greg Björkman, 2022) 3 out of 4 stars. The oft-revisited time-rewinding narrative can be difficult to pull off. Press Play manages to do so by leaning into expectations and relishing the experience. Laura (Clara Rugaard, I Am Mother), a painter living in an exquisite beach town, reluctantly allows her best friend, Chloe (Lyrica Okano, Story Game), to arrange a set-up with her brother, Harrison (Lewis Pullman, Top Gun: Maverick), a ... >>
Film Review: “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” Is a Joy and a Delight
By Heidi Shepler
May 27, 2022
Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story (Frank Marshall/Ryan Suffern, 2022) 3½ out of 4 stars. For more than fifty years, the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival, better known as Jazz Fest, has brought hundreds of thousands of people to a relatively plain-looking fairgrounds for a celebration of New Orleans’ music, culture, and food. With seven thousand musicians performing over the course of eight days, not to mention the thousands of pounds of fried and ... >>

Film Review: “Lost Illusions” Doesn’t Quite Find Its Focus but Still Proves Engaging
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Specialty Releases, Spotlight
Film Review: While It May Not Always Captivate, “Rubikon” Tells a Modest Sci-Fi Thriller Story
In >> Adam Vaughn, Breaking, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: “Elvis” Is a Fast-Paced Adventure Celebrating the King of Rock and Roll
In >> Adam Vaughn, Breaking, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: “The Black Phone” Comes A-Creepy Calling
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight

Victoria Reviews “Morbius”
May 3, 2022
With THE LITTLE THINGS and his sensational, transformation in HOUSE OF GUCCI, Leto is totally ...>>
Victoria Reviews “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”
May 3, 2022
Nic Cage serves up a terrific movie. Cage sets the career procedural for pariahs Mel and Armie: ...>>
Victoria reviews “Anatomy of a Scandal”
April 24, 2022
Another standardized Kelley production with enough twists to keep one watching. I’ll admit it. I ...>>
Victoria Reviews “Deep Water”
March 31, 2022
Sensational erotic thriller with de Armas commandeering the film. Lyne returns with more aggressive ...>>