Zander Emlano | Film Festival Today

Film Review: “Shortcut” Is a Fun, Engaging Creature Feature, but Nothing We Haven’t Seen Before

September 24, 2020

Film Review: “Belle” Is a Peculiar Remix of “Beauty and the Beast”
By Robin C. Farrell
January 13, 2022
Belle (Mamoru Hosoda, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. Quite obviously inspired by the “Beauty and the Beast” tale, Belle’s heroine is the quiet, inconspicuous Suzu (newcomer Kaho Nakamura), a high-school girl still debilitated by grief many years after her mother’s death. Suzu has lost all of her childhood enthusiasm for music, including the ability to sing. She discovers “U,” however, a virtual-reality social-media platform. Science-fiction style, U’s ... >>
Film Review: Missteps Aside, “Breeder” Still Proves Engaging
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
January 10, 2022
Breeder (Jens Dahl, 2020) 2½ out of 4 stars. With a title like Breeder, one might expect a very different kind of horror film than what we get in Danish director Jens Dahl’s sophomore feature. Given the evocative poster and tagline about “eternal youth,” I imagined despicable acts involving forced copulation and harvested fetal tissue. The fact that the movie has none of that is a welcome relief, though there is plenty to disturb, and even to ... >>
Film Review: “June Again” Is a Funny and Compelling Story About Dementia
By Hannah Tran
January 8, 2022
June Again (JJ Winlove, 2020) 3 out of 4 stars. While June Again may be a feature debut (from JJ Winlove) set in Australia, its craft feels mature and its story feels universal. We meet the titular character, June, living as a patient in a home that helps her deal with debilitating dementia. When a rare medical phenomenon temporarily revitalizes June’s memory, this home is turned into a horror as she struggles to come to terms with her condition ... >>
Christopher Llewellyn Reed’s Top 10 Films of 2021
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
December 24, 2021
This last year saw me once again attend in-person screenings (at least a few). A Quiet Place Part II was my first such movie, and while it comes nowhere near my favorites of 2021 (as it did for my Film Festival Today colleagues Matt Patti and Adam Vaughn), I did enjoy it; it was no doubt enhanced by the theatrical experience. Still, most of what I saw over the past 12 months I watched at home via link, though I managed to make it to one ... >>
Hannah Tran’s Top 10 Films of 2021
By Hannah Tran
December 23, 2021
This year warmly welcomed us back to the movies with a wealth of long-awaited releases from both before and during the pandemic. Whether these stories came to us on the big screen or at home, however, the vast perspectives within them were transportive. Often political, intricate, and challenging, many of these films managed to be equally relevant and timeless. Not only were we able to laugh at them, but we were able to laugh with them, cry with ... >>

Film Review: “Scream” Works As a Suspenseful Slasher, But Not Quite As Part of the Franchise
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, Matt Patti, Spotlight
Film Review: In “Sex Appeal,” The Positive Can’t Quite Defeat the Negative
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: While the Concept of “Stoker Hills” Allures, the Execution Fails
In >> Adam Vaughn, Breaking, Film Reviews, Specialty Releases, Spotlight
Film Review: “Brazen” Is an Uninspired Murder Mystery
In >> Adam Vaughn, Breaking, Film Reviews, Spotlight

Victoria Reviews “Dune”
November 3, 2021
Dune’s messiah is a 14 year old scrawny boy. He’s the prettiest and his best friend picks him up ...>>
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 ...>>