Shakira Ja-Nai Payne | Film Festival Today

Film Review: “All Day and a Night” Loses Its Message in Its Own Mess

April 30, 2020

Film Review: “Test Pattern” Offers a Nuanced Examination of a Sexual Assault’s Aftermath
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
February 18, 2021
Test Pattern (Shatara Michelle Ford, 2019) 4 out of 4 stars. Two women, close friends Renesha and Amber, meet in a bar for drinks, just to catch up and blow off steam. Soon they are approached by two men very much on the make, who ply them with drinks and weed gummies. Amber is into it; Renesha not, as she not only has work in the morning, but a boyfriend waiting for her at home. As the night goes on, the pot and alcohol cloud her thinking, and ... >>
Interview with “Savage State” Director David Perrault
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
February 18, 2021
A few weeks ago, as the film Savage State (which I reviewed) came out, I had the opportunity to send its director, David Perrault, some written questions, to which he soon thereafter responded. His movie is a metaphysical western that follows a French family trying to extricate itself from the 1860s American Civil War. As they flee one conflict, they soon find themselves immersed in another. What starts out as one kind of story slowly morphs ... >>
Film Review: “Happy Cleaners” Thoughtfully Explores the Korean-American Experience
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
February 11, 2021
Happy Cleaners (Julian Kim/Peter S. Lee, 2019) 3 out of 4 stars. The Choi family is in crisis. Son Kevin has dropped out of school and wants to leave the family nest in Flushing, NY, for Los Angeles, where he hopes to make his fortune running a food truck. Daughter Hyunny, though gainfully employed as a nurse, finds that her long-term relationship with the man she thought would be her life partner may not survive both his own feelings of ... >>
Sundance Review: “Land,” Despite Occasional Missteps, Offers Profound Healing
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
February 11, 2021
Land (Robin Wright, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. An alternately melancholy and vibrant exploration of grief and its gradual transformation into something else, actress Robin Wright’s directorial debut, Land, delivers a moving, if maudlin, tale with a powerful life-affirming lesson at its center. Starring Wright (House of Cards), herself, in the lead role of Edee, a woman who has just lost her husband and child, the movie brings us on a voyage of ... >>
Sundance Interview with Dan Deacon, Composer for “All Light, Everywhere,” “Philly D.A.” and “Strawberry Mansion”
By Hannah Tran
February 10, 2021
Acclaimed composer and electronic musician Dan Deacon continued his impressive streak as a film composer at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where he was responsible for creating the scores for three feature films: Strawberry Mansion, Philly D.A. and All Light, Everywhere. The lattermost of these was one of my favorite films of the festival. Made by Rat Film director Theo Anthony, that documentary focuses on the intersection between vision ... >>

Film Review: “Wonder Woman 1984”
December 30, 2020
What happen to Wonder Woman? She is a supporting character not given much to do. What happened to ...>>
Film Review: “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
October 24, 2020
It’s Baron Cohen’s commitment to the character and no wink to the audience that still captivates. ...>>
Film Review: “Cuties”
September 13, 2020
In defense of Cuties, it is a cultural eye-opener. Stop trying to bully Netflix. No one is forcing ...>>
Film Review: “Ava”
August 31, 2020
Don’t miss these three great fight scenes: Colin Farrell and John Malkovich, Jessica Chastain and ...>>