La Brea Tar Pits | Film Festival Today

Film Review: Amateur Filmmaking Drowns Redeeming Qualities of “Tar”

October 1, 2020

TIFF Review: “Listening to Kenny G” Makes the Man and His Music (Surprisingly) Come Alive
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 20, 2021
Listening to Kenny G (Penny Lane, 2021) 3½ out of 4 stars. Before launching into my review of director Penny Lane’s latest work of evocative nonfiction, I must come clean: I do not like, in any way at all, the music of Kenny G (né Kenneth Gorelick). Though he has his legions of followers (a fact which mystifies me), when I think of him, I think of shopping malls, doctor’s offices, massage-therapy rooms, and any other place where one is meant to ... >>
TIFF Review: Like It or Not, “Jagged” Is All About Alanis
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 19, 2021
Jagged (Alison Klayman, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. It would be irresponsible to write a review of Alison Klayman’s latest documentary, Jagged, without addressing its protagonist’s vocal opposition to its current form. Canadian musician Alanis Morissette, whose landmark 1995 album Jagged Little Pill gives the film its title, may not like what she’s seen, but good movies, or at least insightful ones, often need to create space between subject and ... >>
Film Review: “Wife of a Spy” Wisely Contrasts Spousal and Civil Loyalty for Brutal Results
By Hannah Tran
September 16, 2021
Wife of a Spy (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2020) 3 out of 4 stars. Wife of a Spy might be a slightly misleading title for what is a heavy, complex political drama. Set in 1940s wartime Japan, the latest film from Kiyoshi Kurosawa (To the Ends of the Earth) deals with the marriage of Yūsaku, a leader in charge of an import-export business, and his wife, Satoko, who is deeply in love with her husband and also stars in low-budget heist films that he ... >>
TIFF Review: “Petite Maman” Is Pure Magic
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 14, 2021
Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021) 4 out of 4 stars. In Petite Maman, French director Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) crafts a fable that is as lovely as it is powerful. To all who have ever wondered what their parents were like when young, the film offers an answer simultaneously self-evident and revelatory: they were like us, but different. And so begins an adventure that fills the soul with joy even as it practices remarkable ... >>
TIFF Review: In Empowering “Violet,” the Voice of Male Derision Is Real
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 9, 2021
Violet (Justine Bateman, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars.* An experimental work that examines the fraught realities of female identity, Violet, from actress-turned-director Justine Bateman (here making her feature debut behind the camera), stars Olivia Munn (Love Wedding Repeat) as a woman consumed by her own insecurities and fears. Those take actual voice inside her head, spoken by a deriding, unseen male (Justin Theroux, Mute) who constantly ... >>

Film Review: “The Lady of the Manor” Falls Down the Stairs
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Specialty Releases, Spotlight
Film Review: “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” Positively Shines
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, Robin C. Farrell, Spotlight
Film Review: Don’t Expect Many Laughs in Otherwise Compelling “Best Sellers”
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, Robin C. Farrell, Spotlight
Film Review: Uneven “Nightbooks” Knits a Twisted Yarn of a Fairy Tale
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight

Victoria Reviews “Respect”
August 17, 2021
Starts off too slow and do we really need all that establishing framework to a dazzling career? ...>>
Victoria Reviews “Free Guy”
August 10, 2021
Dazzling fun with Reynolds playing a very likable character. An A-list actor’s cameo is perfect and ...>>
Victoria Reviews “F9: The Fast Saga”
July 3, 2021
It held my attention until Roman and Tej went Beyond Jupiter and met Dave Bowman. These guys are ...>>
Victoria Reviews “In the Heights”
June 8, 2021
Broadway behemoth Hamilton must have been a fluke. This is a musical without songs. And the ...>>