Author: Cortland Jacoby
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Sundance Review: ‘Winner’
Emilia Jones, Zach Galifianakis, And Director Susanna Fogel Fail To Bring A New Perspective To The Reality Winner Story
The story of Reality Winner has been adapted three times now for the screen. The first, Reality, was a 2023 HBO movie starring Sydney Sweeney that followed the former US solider and NSA contractor’s two-hour interrogation by FBI agents for leaking classified documents. It was based on Tina Satter’s play Is This A Room and…
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Sundance Review: ‘The Outrun’
Saoirse Ronan, Alcoholism And The Scottish Isles Make A Powerful Trio In Nora Fingscheidt’s Recovery Drama
Saoirse Ronan is known for her performances. She’s the kind of actress who can take a bad movie and elevate it (looking at you Foe). The Irish native doesn’t need to do that with her latest project and Sundance standout, The Outrun. The second English language feature from German director Nora Fingscheidt was based on…
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‘Thelma’ Interview: June Squibb And Director Josh Margolin Talk About The Sundance Breakout Action-Comedy
If there’s one film that everyone was talking about at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, it was Thelma. Written and directed by newcomer Josh Margolin, the heist action comedy gave 94-year-old June Squibb the starring role she’d never received in her decades-long career. Inspired by a close-call experience with his own grandmother, Margolin’s Thelma follows a 90-something grandmother as…
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Sundance Review: ‘Out Of My Mind’
Disney Plus’ Upcoming Coming-Of-Age Story Gives A Nonverbal Teenager Her Voice
Almost seven years ago, Wonder took the children’s film and book world by storm. Focusing on a kid with facial differences and starring Owen Wilson, Julia Roberts, and Jacob Tremblay, the Stephen Chbosky-directed piece was lauded for its depictions of disability. There was backlash for casting a child without the character’s condition in the main…
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Sundance Review: ‘Good One’
Newcomer Lily Collias Braves The Woods And Complicated Paternal Relationships In India Donaldson’s Directorial Debut
Good One, India Donaldson’s first feature, starts with various shots of the Catskills– lush green woods, bright orange salamanders scurrying across mossy rocks, picturesque ponds and rivers. This sequence not only gives us a sneak peek of where we will be spending the next 90 minutes but it also provides a peaceful juxtaposition to the emotional…
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Sundance Review: ‘Will & Harper’
Will Ferrell Took A Road Trip With His Best Friend And Made The Most Important Movie He Will Ever Make
The road movie is a quintessential part of American cinema. Some would argue that Will Ferrell is a quintessential part of American comedy. Until recently, trans stories have not been a quintessential part of mainstream media, often ignored or reserved for subculture-like spaces. Ironically, all three topics combine in Josh Greenbaum’s latest film and fourth…
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Sundance Review: ‘My Old Ass’
Aubrey Plaza Meets Her Younger Self In Megan Park’s Coming-Of-Age Comedy
The concept of talking to your younger self is not new. It’s asked in interviews, on personal questionnaires, and in graduation speeches. Director Megan Park took that concept and made her second feature, My Old Ass, where she flips the question and has her young protagonist meet her future self during a night on shrooms. …
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Sundance Review: ‘A Different Man’
Sebastian Stan’s Rise Continues As A Paranoid Man With Disabilities in A24’s Latest Artistic Darling
For the last three years, Sebastian Stan has played various degrees of fucked up characters in between his time portraying Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s been a cannibal and human trafficker in Fresh, Tommy Lee in Pam and Tommy, a bipolar deadbeat dad in Monday, and a morally questionable billionaire in Dumb…
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Sundance Review: ‘Ghostlight’
Alex Thompson And Kelly O’Sullivan Invite You To The Healing World Of Community Theater In This Moving Dramedy
Ghostlight lets you know its theater roots from its opening scene. As Dan (Keith Kupferer), a middle-aged construction worker, wakes up at the crack of dawn to head to his site, a tinny version of Oklahoma’s “Oh What A Beautiful Morning” plays over the scene. It might seem clićhe in any other movie, but it…