Mark O’Brien | Film Festival Today

Film Review: “Hammer” Finds the Power of Parenthood Amid Its Tense Foreground

June 4, 2020

Baltimore Mayor Is “The Body Politic”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 25, 2024
The Body Politic (Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough, 2023) 4 out of 5 stars In The Body Politic, director Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough makes his feature debut with a documentary about the early days of Baltimore’s current mayor, Brandon Scott. It’s no easy task running a metropolis that has long struggled with the related issues of poverty and crime. Thanks to David Simon’s five-season HBO series The Wire—now two decades old—Baltimore has become ... >>
“Never Look Away” Holds Our Gaze
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 21, 2024
Never Look Away (Lucy Lawless, 2024) 3½ out of 5 stars Photojournalist Margaret Moth (1951-2010) lived about as full a life as one could hope for, in terms of adventures had and risks taken. An adrenaline junkie, she looked a bit like Joan Jett (who was younger, so maybe she stole Moth’s look …) and dashed around the world, camera in hand, to crash the latest warzone hotspot and gather striking images. Actress Lucy Lawless (of Xena: Warrior ... >>
DOC NYC Review: “Space Cowboy”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 19, 2024
Space Cowboy (Bryce Leavitt/Marah Strauch, 2024) 4 out of 5 stars Sometimes, boys with toys grow up to be men with even larger toys. In the new documentary Space Cowboy, from directors Bryce Leavitt and Marah Strauch (Sunshine Superman), we meet one such lucky gent, Joe Jennings, who has built a life throwing large objects out of airplanes and skydiving after them with a head-mounted camera to film their descent. It’s exciting stuff, and also ... >>
“Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes” Delivers Goods
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 14, 2024
Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes (Kathryn Ferguson, 2024) 3½ out of 5 stars Born on Christmas Day in 1899, Humphrey DeForest Bogart would grow up to become, eventually, one of the most celebrated actors of Hollywood’s classic period. The American Film Institute lists him at the top of their Top 25 Male Stars of the 20th century, even though he died of cancer in 1957, barely halfway through that century. In her new documentary, Bogart: Life ... >>
Middleburg Review: “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 7, 2024
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni, 2024) 3½ out of 5 stars Despite its increasingly distressing revelations as it goes along, the new film On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, from writer/director Rungano Nyoni (I Am Not a Witch), is filled with many small moments of quiet humor, courtesy of fine performances and sharp dialogue. Starring model-turned-actress Susan Chardy as Shula, a Zambian woman recently returned home from working abroad, the ... >>

5 Films to See at Middleburg 2024
October 16, 2024
This year’s Middleburg Film Festival—held annually in ...>>
10 Films to See at TIFF 2024
September 3, 2024
The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (or TIFF) ...>>
That’s a Wrap at DC/DOX 2024
June 19, 2024
As advertised in my curtain raiser last week, I ...>>
Five Films to See at DC/DOX 2024
June 12, 2024
DC/DOX returns for Round 2, running June 13-16 in its ...>>
Five Films to See at Tribeca 2024
June 5, 2024
This year’s Tribeca Film Festival will take place from ...>>