Shakira Ja-Nai Payne | Film Festival Today

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

April 30, 2020

Middleburg Film Festival Review: Clifton Collins Jr. Gives “Jockey” Its Drive
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 24, 2021
Jockey (Clint Bentley, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. A jockey’s life is hard, especially as the years go by. Plagued by injuries and declining revenue, the members of this rough profession need to pick just the right moment to jump off the horse. Stay in the saddle too long, and your value drops, or you sustain more damage. But the joy of the ride is difficult to abandon. Such is the conflict facing Jackson Silva (Clifton Collins Jr., M.F.A.), ... >>
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. ... >>

Film Review: Outrageous Dark Comedy “The Estate” Is Anchored by Exceptional Performances
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, Matt Patti, Specialty Releases, Spotlight
Film Review: “Rhapsody of Love” Is a Patchwork of Stories That Never Fully Resonates
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, Robin C. Farrell, Specialty Releases, Spotlight
Film Review: Visually Resplendent “Dune” Loses Its Messaging in the Desert
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: “Halloween Kills” Struggles but Still Succeeds
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, Matt Patti, Spotlight

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 ...>>