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September 10, 2009

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Newsworthy Titles from First Run Features

June 1, 2009

Oak Cliff Review: “The Spirit of Halloweentown”
By Billy Ray Brewton
July 1, 2025
[Billy Ray Brewton, no stranger to film criticism and filmmaking, joins Film Festival Today for coverage of the 2025 Oak Cliff Film Festival.] Now in its fourteenth year, Dallas’s Oak Cliff Film Festival has continued to expand its reputation as one of the most eclectic, filmmaker-forward festivals on the circuit. Consistently ranked as one of the best festivals in the United States, Oak Cliff utilizes gorgeous, historic theaters ... >>
Interview with “Union” Co-Director Stephen Maing
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 23, 2025
In the new documentary Union, directors Stephen Maing (Crime + Punishment) and Brett Story (The Hottest August) collaborate on an in-depth portrait of workers at an Amazon warehouse on New York’s Staten Island attempting to unionize in 2021 and 2022. With impressive access and sharp filmmaking skills, the two create a nonfiction thriller with high stakes and valuable payoffs. I watched the film at DC/DOX 2024, where I wrote a brief capsule ... >>
Tribeca Review: “A Tree Fell in the Woods”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 20, 2025
A Tree Fell in the Woods (Nora Kirkpatrick, 2025) 3 out of 5 stars There’s a lot of fraught and frantic activity in A Tree Fell in the Woods, writer/director Nora Kirkpatrick’s feature debut. Some of it proves comically effective, while other parts come across as merely hyperactive. When the magic works and the ensemble comes together, it’s an entertaining romp about relationships and cheating; when neither go quite according to plan, it drags. ... >>
Tribeca Review: “Widow Champion”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 19, 2025
Widow Champion (Zippy Kimundu, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars Throughout human history and across cultures, the institution of marriage has almost always been a means by which property is carefully controlled (usually by men). Amongst royals and the nobility, such title transfers might involve vast estates, territories, or even entire countries. In poorer communities, the acreage may be smaller, yet the stakes are no less high for those involved. ... >>
Tribeca Review: “Oh, Hi!”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 18, 2025
Oh, Hi! (Sophie Brooks, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars At the start of Sophie Brooks’ sophomore feature, a young woman, Iris (Molly Gordon, Theater Camp), frantically greets a friend, Max (Geraldine Viswanathan, Thunderbolts, who has come to the door late at night, apparently in answer to a summons for help. So when we then quickly cut to “33 hours earlier,” we know that the romantic idyll we watch unfold, between Iris and her beau, Isaac (Logan ... >>

“Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” Interview with Director and Star
June 12, 2025
Director Shoshannah Stern makes her feature debut with ...>>
Five Films to See at Tribeca 2025
June 4, 2025
This year, as always at the Tribeca Festival (formerly ...>>
Our Coverage of 2025 Oscar Nominees
January 25, 2025
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and ...>>
10 Films to Watch at Sundance 2025
January 21, 2025
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival runs in-person January ...>>
Chris Reed’s Top 10 Films of 2024
December 31, 2024
This was another good year for movies, though perhaps ...>>