Category: Reviews

REVIEW: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019 – Documentary)

Release Poster – HBO

The following is a review of The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley — Directed by Alex Gibney.

In 2019, we’ve already been given multiple tantalizing tales of young entrepreneurs revealed to be con artists, phoneys, or fraudsters. Call them what you will, but, with the two documentaries about the catastrophic ‘Fyre festival’ and now this documentary about a wannabe-disruptor and con artist in the biomedical industry, I find myself thinking about the loopholes these young people jumped through and how investors were fooled into making them frontmen, leaders, and innovators. In the case of The Inventor, it is not so much about incompetence but more about deception and how investors were deceived into propping up a transfixing, deep-voiced, and intense Stanford drop-out with delusions of grandeur, even as she spouted out incredibly vague descriptions of her grand idea. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019 – Documentary)” →

REVIEW: The Highwaymen (2019)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of The Highwaymen — Directed by John Lee Hancock.

Set in 1934, The Highwaymen, from director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side; Saving Mr. Banks), tells the story of two former Texas Rangers, Frank Hamer (played by Kevin Costner) and Maney Gault (played by Woody Harrelson) who were hired by Texas governor ‘Ma’ Ferguson (played by Kathy Bates) to stop the notorious criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow by any means necessary. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Highwaymen (2019)” →

REVIEW: Dronningen (2019)

Danish Theatrical Release Poster – Nordisk Film

The following is a review of the Danish film ‘Dronningen‘ (international title: Queen of Hearts) — Directed by May el-Toukhy.

Dronningen is a disturbing and twisted tragedy about double-standards, hypocrisy, and gender-roles from the female Danish-Egyptian filmmaker May el-Toukhy. The Danish film — and controversial conversation starter — stars the outstanding actress and critical darling Trine Dyrholm in the leading role as Anne, a Danish lawyer and mother of two girls. Anne is married to the Swedish doctor Peter (played by Magnus Krepper, who recently appeared in the Danish film Før Frosten), who has a 17-year old troublemaking son, Gustav (played by Gustav Lindh), from a previous marriage in Sweden.

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REVIEW: The Dirt (2019)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Netflix’ The Dirt — Directed by Jeff Tremaine.

Based on the tell-all biography-of-the-same-name, which is co-authored by the band, Jeff Tremaine’s The Dirt tells the rise-and-fall-and-rise-again story of hair metal band Mötley Crüe, which included drummer Tommy Lee (played by Machine Gun Kelly), guitarist Mick Mars (played by Iwan Rheon), lead singer Vince Neil (played by Daniel Webber), and bassist Nikki Sixx (played by Douglas Booth).
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REVIEW: Antoine Griezmann: The Making of a Legend (2019 – Documentary)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a quick review of Antoine Griezmann: The Making of a Legend — Directed by Alex Dell & Damien Piscarel.

The Making of a Legend is a French one-hour Netflix documentary about a famous French football player named Antoine Griezmann, who, in recent years, has become one of the frontmen for the French national team and a world-class player in Spain. In this documentary, Alex Dell and Damien Piscarel tell you the story of how Griezmann went from being a dismissed French talent to becoming a star player for the French national team that won the World Cup last year. Continue reading “REVIEW: Antoine Griezmann: The Making of a Legend (2019 – Documentary)” →

REVIEW: Waiting for the Punchline (2019 – Documentary)

Poster – Rooster Teeth

The following is a short review of the RT Doc ‘Waiting for the Punchline‘ — Directed by Mat Hames.

Nick Scarpino is a co-founder of the San Francisco-based online entertainment company Kinda Funny. Before he began appearing on-camera during podcasts for Kinda Funny, he was most comfortable behind the scenes as a producer. Having found an audience and a sufficient amount of confidence, Scarpino, in early 2017, revealed to the other members of Kinda Funny that he wanted to try stand-up comedy. This documentary, Mat Hames’ Waiting for the Punchline, details his experience as a San Francisco stand-up who desperately wants a chance to do comedy on the stage of a notable San Francisco comedy club. Continue reading “REVIEW: Waiting for the Punchline (2019 – Documentary)” →

REVIEW: Us (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – Universal Pictures

The following is a review of Us — Directed by Jordan Peele.

No directorial debut this decade has made as much noise as Jordan Peele’s Get Out did. The social-horror film was made by a comedian from a popular two-man sketch comedy group who, as it turned out, had his finger on the pulse of America. Get Out is not just one of the most discussed films of the decade, it’s also one of the most interesting, one of the most rewatchable, and, arguably, one of the best. Though Us may not be as sharp, potent, or intelligent as Get Out, Peele here proves that he is no one-hit wonder. Get Out wasn’t a fluke, Jordan Peele knows exactly what he’s doing.
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Short Film Spotlight: The Follow-Up

Two years ago, a short film director contacted me with a comment on the blog. He hoped that I would find the time to have a look at his latest short film. And even though I didn’t — and still don’t — review short films, I did find the time to watch his short film. It was discussed in the first-ever ‘Short Film Spotlight,’ within which I also discussed another short film that I really enjoyed from a filmmaker who had approached me on Reddit. Now, in 2019, both filmmakers have reached out to me again, so, I thought I should give my readers an update on their careers by writing about their latest short films. Continue reading “Short Film Spotlight: The Follow-Up” →

REVIEW: Triple Frontier (2019)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Triple Frontier — Directed by J. C. Chandor.

From the director of All is Lost and A Most Violent Year, J. C. Chandor, and the writer of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal, Netflix’s Triple Frontier — named for the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay — includes arguably the most star-studded blockbuster-like cast for a Netflix Original Film yet. Continue reading “REVIEW: Triple Frontier (2019)” →

REVIEW: Leaving Neverland (2019 – Documentary)

Release Poster – HBO

The following is a review of Leaving Neverland — Directed by Dan Reed.

The saying goes that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. When it comes to the case of Michael Jackson and everything surrounding him there’s been more smoke than you can safely breathe in. Indeed, Leaving Neverland-director Dan Reed and his film’s subjects would allege that Michael Jackson has been blowing smoke most of his adult life about what exactly goes on inside Jackson’s bedroom or his Neverland-ranch. Continue reading “REVIEW: Leaving Neverland (2019 – Documentary)” →