Film Festival

Sundance 2023 Review: “Fair Play”

Posted January 27, 2023 by Mitch Salem

  In a generally depressed indie film market, Netflix shelled out a reported $20M at Sundance for Chloe Domont’s feature writing/directing debut FAIR PLAY.  The splurge made sense:  Fair Play has that combination of strong storytelling and hot-button ideas on its mind that should allow it to temporarily take over the internet when it launches […]

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Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Obvious Child”

Posted January 23, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  A surprisingly commercial concoction by Sundance standards, Gillian Robespierre’s OBVIOUS CHILD doesn’t feel very much unlike the pilot for a cable dramedy.  That’s not meant as any kind of dire criticism; TV could use more smart, funny female voices like Robespierre’s and star Jenny Slate’s (Slate is already featured in a multitude of high-class TV shows, […]

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Articles

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: “The Woman In the Fifth”

Posted September 14, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> Pawel Pawlikowski is a filmmaker whose name deserves to be better known: his films Last Resort and My Summer of Love are small but beautifully realized stories of intricate human emotion. His new picture The Woman In the Fifth, is in a somewhat different mode, edging toward genre, but it continues to display his […]

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Science Fiction

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “The Phantom Menace 3D”

Posted February 12, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> STAR WARS EPISODE I:  THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D, to give it its fully identifying title, has the distinction of being the most successful movie ever made that is generally agreed to be terrible.  Over $900M in tickets have been sold for Phantom Menace since its opening in 1999 (that number will go over $1B […]

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Film Festival

Sundance 2024 Film Reviews: “The American Society of Magical Negroes” & “Sasquatch Sunset”

Posted January 21, 2024 by Mitch Salem

  THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGICAL NEGROES (Focus/Universal – March 15):  The title of Kobi Libii’s first feature refers to the unfortunately well-established movie trope where a noble Black character exists only as a catalyst to make the white protagonist a better person.  (Think of everything from Driving Miss Daisy to The Green Mile, The Legend of Bagger Vance to Green […]

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Archive

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”

Posted December 16, 2011 by Mitch Salem

  MISSION:  IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL:  Worth A Ticket – Routine But Spectacular   With MISSION:   IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, Brad Bird makes the very unusual transition from animation auteur to live-action director.   Of course, since his animated work includes The Incredibles, one of the snazziest and smartest action-adventures of recent years, the leap […]

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Articles

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Shadow Dancer”

Posted January 28, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  Plot and character revelations are a critical part of James Marsh’s subtle, complex spy drama SHADOW DANCER, adapted by Tom Bradby from his own novel, so I’ll be circumspect in describing its plot beyond the initial set-up.  (Then again, I saw it at an 8:30AM screening at Sundance, so I’m not altogether sure I […]

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Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ TORONTO: “Great Expectations”

Posted September 13, 2012 by Mitch Salem

At this point in movie history, it’s beside the point to ask why we even need a new film version of GREAT EXPECTATIONS when David Lean’s 1946 masterpiece still exists.  (And for those who want a different slant on the story, there’s Alfonso Cuaron’s 1998 modern-day revamp.)  The industry feeds itself on a diet of […]

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