Gretchen Hildebran | Film Festival Today

Christopher Llewellyn Reed’s Picks for the 2019 Maryland Film Festival

May 6, 2019

Five Docs to Watch from DOC NYC 2018

November 20, 2018

Sundance Review: “FRESH” Has a Stellar Cast, but its Social Commentary Only Cuts Skin-Deep
By Hannah Tran
January 24, 2022
FRESH (Mimi Cave, 2022) 2 out of 4 stars. FRESH may not be the first movie to delve into the aptly named horrors of modern dating, but the particular horrors at hand here certainly set it apart. Written by Lauryn Kahn (Ibiza) and directed by Mimi Cave (making her feature debut), FRESH is a stylish and gory spectacle about a woman named Noa who decides to go on a weekend getaway with a new lover and, unsurprisingly, discovers he has a terrifying ... >>
Sundance Review: In “Emily the Criminal,” Aubrey Plaza Rocks the System
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
January 24, 2022
Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford, 2022) 3 out of 4 stars. Another in a series of patented misfit roles from Aubrey Plaza (Black Bear), Emily may look familiar but is sui generis, steel born of hardship just below the seemingly placid exterior. We see flashes of it right away, in an opening job interview where the camera stays on her, in close-up, as a prospective employer queries her about the police record from the background check he ... >>
Sundance Review: “Emergency” Is a High-Stress Comedy That Sufficiently Juggles Humor and Horror
By Hannah Tran
January 23, 2022
Emergency (Carey Williams, 2022) 2½ out of 4 stars. Best friends Kunle and Sean seem like an unlikely pair. Nearly everyone who interacts with them says Sean is a bad influence on Kunle, a thriving biology student who just made it into a Princeton grad program. Whatever their differences, they have one goal in mind: to be the first Black students to complete a legendary party route on one of their last nights in college. Their plans are ... >>
Sundance Review: In “Nothing Compares,” Sinéad O’Connor Is Agitator, Activist and Seed
By Melanie Addington
January 22, 2022
Nothing Compares (Kathryn Ferguson, 2022) 3 out of 4 stars. A woman who speaks her mind always faces consequences. And for some, redemption comes too late. It is true now and it was very true in 1992 when Sinéad O’Connor spoke out about her own trauma. And yet as Nothing Compares reminds us, O’Connor stood so we could, too, and that change marches on. Thirty years after her fateful Saturday Night Live appearance, Shuhada Sadaqat ... >>
Sundance Review: “When You Finish Saving the World” Is a Sharp and Sweet Debut for Jesse Eisenberg
By Hannah Tran
January 21, 2022
When You Finish Saving the World (Jesse Eisenberg, 2022) 4 out of 4 stars. “Congratulations on your birthday,” says Evelyn, the stiff and intellectual upper-middle class woman who runs a domestic violence shelter. This awkward phrasing and even more awkward delivery typifies the intelligent grasp on character in When You Finish Saving the World, the directorial debut of multi-hyphenate talent Jesse Eisenberg (Resistance). Much like this line of ... >>

Victoria Reviews “Dune”
November 3, 2021
Dune’s messiah is a 14 year old scrawny boy. He’s the prettiest and his best friend picks him up ...>>
Victoria Reviews “The Last Duel”
October 18, 2021
Ridley Scott’s THE LAST DUEL is rightfully an epic given the stars and the vast production. And ...>>
Victoria Reviews “Titane”
October 13, 2021
Provocative, daring and fearlessly original. The director, Julia Ducournau, has inherited Lars Von ...>>
Victoria Reviews “No Time To Die”
October 4, 2021
You’ll be thrilled to know that the Woke Army has won. The masculine icon of a 60 year reign is ...>>