Jay Cheel | Film Festival Today

Middleburg Film Festival Review: “Bergman Island” Intrigues, Despite Missed Connections
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 14, 2021
Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2021) 2½ out of 4 stars. Beautifully rendered and exquisitely cast, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Bergman Island takes us to Fårö Island, just north of Gotland Island, both of which lie south of Stockholm, Sweden, in the Baltic Sea. We journey in the company of Chris (Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread) and Tony (Tim Roth, Luce), a filmmaker couple making a pilgrimage of sorts to the home of one of their favorite directors. That ... >>
Film Review: “Mass” Offers a Profoundly Moving Cinematic Experience
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 14, 2021
Mass (Fran Kranz, 2021) 3½ out of 4 stars. One of the wonders of engaged artistic expression, regardless of medium, is how it can lead us towards profound catharsis. Drama, especially, can be quite effective at this, its scripted narrative designed, if structured accordingly, for maximum effect. Still, some subjects prove especially challenging. How can one tackle a topic as horrific as a school shooting without somehow trivializing the horror? ... >>
Film Review: “Crutch” Examines Perception, Dance, and Disability
By Heidi Shepler
October 13, 2021
Crutch (Sachi Cunningham/Chandler Evans, 2020) 3½ out of 4 stars. Bill Shannon, a.k.a. “Crutch,” “Crutch Master,” or “Crutches,” is a multidisciplinary artist. He’s a dancer, a street performer, a choreographer, a skateboarder, and a filmmaker, among other talents. His range and experience would be impressive no matter who he was, but what people inevitably notice first about him is that he uses crutches with round bottoms as a mobility aid. ... >>
Film Review: “Luzzu” Asks Whether We Must Choose Between Survival and Tradition
By Hannah Tran
October 11, 2021
Luzzu (Alex Camilleri, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. You’ve probably seen the Maltese coast a dozen times in movies without realizing it. Despite its popularity as a stage for others’ stories, it rarely moves beyond the coastline to tell stories of its own. Alex Camilleri’s Luzzu, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, was the first of the small archipelago’s to compete in a major international film festival. ... >>
NYFF Review: “The Tale of King Crab” Basks in the Wonder of Legend
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 10, 2021
The Tale of King Crab (Alessio Rigo de Righi/Matteo Zoppis, 2021) 3½ out of 4 stars. Heretofore documentary filmmakers Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis (Il solengo) try their hand at a fictional narrative, albeit one grounded in their previous nonfiction work, to deliver a two-part fable of failure and rebirth. Set, in the beginning, in a small Italian municipality north of Rome, the movie then jumps to the majestic peaks of Argentina’s ... >>

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 ...>>
Victoria Reviews “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
October 4, 2021
Chastain gives an astonishing performance. Its impossible to see the actress in the role. Chastain ...>>

Series Review: More Cursed Films (Episodes 4 and 5) Equal Greater Cinematic Delights

Interview with “Cursed Films” Showrunner Jay Cheel

Series Review: “Cursed Films” Offers Blessings of Cinema