#SUNDANCE: “AT THE READY”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
At The Ready is an enthralling, insightful and all-around excellent Documentary.
It follows students at Horizon High School in El Paso, Texas who are enrolled in law enforcement classes and join the after-school program: Criminal Justice Club. The program puts students in mock-up situations in order to prepare them for a career with the police force, border patrol or DEA. The Documentary primarily focuses on Mexican-American students Mason ...
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#SUNDANCE: “IN THE EARTH”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
As a deadly virus is loose in the world, Dr Martin Lowery (Joel Fry) and park scout Alma (Ellora Torchia) embark on a mission to reach a research hub deep in the Arboreal Forest. However, their journey is set back after an attack that leads to a spiral of wicked events.
Writer-Director Ben Wheatley is back with this pandemic-filmed Horror, thriller that will make you happy you stayed home. In The Earth is a brutal trip into the forest to ...
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#SUNDANCE: “WILD INDIAN”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Years after covering-up a murder as teenagers, Makwa (Michael Greyeyes) and Ted-O (Chaske Spencer) must face the truth of what they did and who they’ve become.
Wild Indian has a storyline that has been done before, however, Writer-Director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. makes it his own. Through Makwa, Corbine Jr. studies the trauma of familial abuse as a child, while showing the lasting effects into adulthood. Refreshingly, Corbine ...
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#SUNDANCE: “WRITING WITH FIRE”
By Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
This inspiring Documentary follows the ambitious women who work at India’s only all-female news network Khabar Lahariya. We watch as this group of Dalit women switch from print to digital, armed with smartphones and invigorated to correct injustices. Their conviction and passion lead them to question their government, the caste system, patriarchy and more.
Directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s decision to focus-in on Chief Reporter, Meera, a ...
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#SUNDANCE: “SEARCHERS”
By Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
This Documentary interviews New Yorkers as they navigate online dating during the summer of 2020. Dating is difficult enough, whether using matching-making apps or doing it the old fashioned way. But then the pandemic hit and a need for human connection became even stronger. This is at the heart of Documentarian Pancho Velez’s latest.
Velez places his subjects in front of the lens as they scroll through their preferred apps. This could become dull, ...
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#SUNDANCE: “MASS”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Years after a mass shooting at a high school, two sets of parents —Richard (Reed Birney), Linda (Ann Dowd), Jay (Jason Isaacs), and Gail (Martha Plimpton) — meet to discuss the tragedy. The interaction is going to be tense. Jay and Gail’s son was killed in the mass shooting by Richard and Linda’s son.
Writer-Director Fran Krantz’s debut Feature is a heartbreaking look at the aftermath of tragedy. He examines guilt, ...
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#SUNDANCE: “PASSING”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Irene (Tessa Thompson) is an upper-class 1920s woman who lives in Harlem with her husband, Brian (André Holland), and their two sons. One day, while out at the Grand Tearoom in New York City’s Drayton Hotel, she runs into an old high school acquaintance, Clare (Ruth Negga). She finds out that Clare has been passing as white. Her ability to pass is proven as Irene learns she’s married to a white man (Alexander Skarsgård) and have ...
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#SUNDANCE: “MA BELLE, MY BEAUTY”
By Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Newlywed musicians Bertie (Idella Johnson) and Fred (Lucien Guignard) are adjusting to their new life in the countryside of France. This new lifestyle is easy for Fred but Bertie is grappling with depression that’s affecting her singing. However, a change begins happening with Bertie when their former shared lover Lane (Hannah Pepper), surprisingly shows up for a visit.
Director-Screenwriter Marion Hill takes audiences through the desires of three ...
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#SUNDANCE: “I WAS A SIMPLE MAN”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
I Was A Simple Man is set on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawai’i. It follows Masao (Steve Iwamoto) and his family through three different time periods. From the pre-World War II sugar plantations of Oahu to Hawai'i statehood, to the present gentrification of Honolulu. In the present, Masao is facing his imminent death and is visited by ghosts of his past, including his wife Grace (Constance Wu).
Writer-Director ...
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#SUNDANCE: “ON THE COUNT OF THREE”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Best friends Val (Jerrod Carmichael) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott) are having a tough go of it. Val is feeling out of control in his life being stuck at a job he hates and the fear of becoming a father. Kevin tried to kill himself three days ago and now sits in a psychiatric hospital attempting to convince the doctors he’s fine. When Val visits Kevin he decides to break him out. This leads to the two make a pact to end their lives by ...
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