With Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jamie Foxx in lead roles, how could anything go wrong in this action, sci-fi thriller written by first-time screenwriter Mattson Tomlin and directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost? In a word – plenty.
Any time Joseph Gordon-Levitt appears in a film, or a television series, he is what is known as a “bankable star.” This meant he would deliver a haunting, highly textured performance, which would be reflected at the box office. (Remember those days?)
“One of Us,” is a no holds barred documentary feature illuminating the intricate, almost police state of the Hasidic Jews living in Brooklyn. Originally released in 2017, the film was produced and directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, former members of that biotic community, and illuminates the severe consequences to anyone wishing to leave the safety of that non-secular “state.”
Italian director Giuseppe Capotondi’s directing career kicked off at age 23. He cut his teeth on music videos and over 250 TV commercials, subsequently winning international awards. The Burnt Orange Heresy, his second feature, is a fascinating Hitchcockian mystery which has more twists and turns than a salted pretzel.
Under the deft, delicate hand of Swedish director Levan Akin, who is of Georgian decent, And Then We Danced is a tender love story that combines the long-standing tradition of exciting Georgian folk dancing, which just about every child learns growing up...
Tanel Toom is a talented young Estonian filmmaker who cut his directing teeth on short films. His first full-length feature is “Truth And Justice,” an epic that spans decades. The story is about blind ambition and the cost to those caught in that orbit. It is the most watched film in Estonia.
Faithful to Peter Everett’s novel, Negatives (Continental) is curiously depressing. (Fifty-one years later, I would regard that as high praise!) The promising central idea clicks only in spots, i.e., when Glenda Jackson commands the moment. It remains a superficial piece of work and yet, and yet.
Beth Whitman is the founder of WanderTours and your (mostly) fearless leader... Not everyone is happy about Roman Polanski having a new film in competition in Venice — especially since the festival only has two women directors competing this year... Think the plastic straws you gave up sipping from are bad for our oceans? It’s time to consider the same about the sunscreen you use.
Beth Whitman here. I’m the founder of WanderTours and am your (mostly) fearless leader. I escort groups on most of our trips – the exception being photography trips and yoga retreats where professionals are there to guide and teach you. After my first book was released, Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo, women started asking me to bring them along on my travels.
While I generally don’t begin a review citing production values, I’m compelled to send a love letter to Chanya Button both for the screenplay, co-written with Dame Eileen Atkins, and for her delicate, but commanding direction of this historic, fascinating true story.