Currently Browsing: Jessica Perry
Mudbound, written/directed by Dee Rees, is set in Mississippi after WWII, and takes us through racism and sexism, and is a haunting metaphor: we all come from mud in some way or another, we are sculpted by the places and events around us, and are all destined to return to it when we finally meet our maker. (4.5/5)
NOTE: This review of Sofia Coppola’s film The Beguiled is written from the POV of someone coming to the material for the first time. Jessica has not [yet] seen the 1971 version starring Clint Eastwood, Elizabeth Hartman & Geraldine Page. For more from the POV of someone who has seen the 1971 version, click HERE […]
The Los Angeles Team — FF2 Executive Editor, Jessica Perry + FF2 Associate Eliana M. Levenson & FF2 Contributor Elyse B. Thaler — weighs in on this weekend’s box office hit Wonder Woman 🙂 Elly’s Rating: 4/5 Over the next few weeks, perhaps even longer, a lot will be said about the first female directed superhero film and […]
Written by Annie J. Howell and directed by Rob Meyer, Little Boxes follows an interracial family as they move from the diverse and bustling city of New York, to a small town in Washington State. The film highlights their struggles, both familial and racial, while serving as a sort of coming of age transition for […]
The Zookeeper’s Wife, adapted from Diane Ackerman’s novel of the same name, is directed by Niki Caro and written for the screen by Angela Workman. The film tells of the Zabinski family, the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, and how they saved hundreds of Jews during the German invasion of Poland by hiding them on […]
Directed by Ry Russo-Young, written for the screen by Maria Maggenti, and based on the novel by Lauren Oliver, Before I Fall is a female powerhouse: written, directed, and starred in by talented women. Before I Fall follows “Samantha Kingston” (Zoey Deutch) as she is forced to live her last day on repeat, struggling to […]
Written and directed by Catalina Aguilar Mastretta, Everybody Loves Somebody is a feel good, bilingual romantic comedy about a successful doctor named Clara who has given up on the romanticized idea of love. But when a new doctor and an old love both come into her life, Carla finds herself, for the first time in […]
While other teenagers worry about prom and college, this film follows three students from the Bronx who have much bigger things to worry about. Unlike their friends, they are undocumented. With the help of a kindhearted teacher and lawyer they hope to stay in the US and attend college, but will they be able to […]
Written and directed by Sylvie Verheyde, Sex Doll is surprising in its poignant and raw take on modern day romance. Set in London, the film follows “Virginie” (Hafsia Herzi), a high class call girl, as she begins to question her life and career when a handsome stranger, “Rupert” (Ash Stymest), enters her life and turns […]
Co-directed by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, Strike A Pose (2016) catches up with the troupe of backup dancers that accompanied Madonna on her 1990 “Blonde Ambition” tour. Reliving the tour stirs up a host of emotions for the seven men, as we follow each one’s story through the tour and onward to see how the AIDS […]
The Sunshine Makers is a highly compelling documentary about the 1960s psychedelic movement and the rise and fall of LSD. The men and women who used hallucinogens to make it through a tumultuous decade are profiled, detailing how acid users continue to believe that psychedelic drugs lead to enlightenment and transcendence. (GEP: 4/5) Review by […]
Director Stacy Title’s The Bye Bye Man centers on a group of possessed college students who try their best not to spread their knowledge of a name that brings hallucinations, fear and even death when spoken. (GEP: 3/5) Review by Social Media Manager Georgiana E. Presecky The frightening pull of the titular Bye Bye Man […]
Claire in Motion, directed and written by Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson, tells the story of a woman, “Claire” (Betsy Brandt), whose husband disappears on a survivalist hike. The film centers around her journey to find out what has become of him and whether he will ever return home. (EBT: 3/5) Review by FF2 […]
Directed, written, and starring Celia Rowlson-Hall, MA is a surreal reimagining of the Virgin Mary’s spiritual journey. A modern Madonna is pregnant and looking for a place to give birth to the savior, but first she must find her way through the highways and motels of the American Southwest. (GPG: 4.5/5) Review by FF2 Contributor […]
Take a few minutes to walk around any major city: New York, Los Angeles London, Paris, and one will notice the graffiti artwork that scales buildings, rides around on busses, and is scattered across public parks. For years (and still to this day), many people argue that this art form is actually vandalism. Some graffiti artists […]
Based on French film Nuit Blanche, Writer Andrea Berloff Americanizes the tired tale of undercover cops, drug lords and the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Aside from its stellar cast of Jamie Foxx, T.I, Michelle Monaghan or Dermot Mulroney, Sleepless may only be entertaining to rabid fans of the genre. (BKP: 3/5) Review […]
Written and directed by Dave Davidson and Amber Edwards, Vince Giordano: There’s a Future in the Past brings us jazz musician Vince Giordano, the dedicated and eclectically gathered members of his band the Night Hawks, and the strange and magical corner of New York’s jazz world they influence. Giordano’s interest is in 1920s and 30s […]
From filmmaker and activist Crystal Emery, Black Women In Medicine highlights the experiences of a number of successful black women in the medical field, and it also suggests solutions to the challenges facing young black women entering medical careers today. Emery assembles an impressive array of interviewees, with the likes of Dr. Claudia L. Thomas, […]
Fatima is a perfect little film. French director Philippe Faucon and an entourage of script consultants (Yasmina Nini-Faucon, Mustapha Kharmoudi, and Aziza Boudjellal) take their time to chisel Fatima bit by bit from a debris of mundanity till she emerges, exuberant with life and full of heart. In fact, it is impossible to finish the […]
Mia Madre, co-written by Nanni Moretti,Valia Santella, Gaia Manzini, and Chiara Valerio, follows famous film director “Margherita” (Margherita Buy) as she struggles to come to terms with her mother’s hospitalization and dwindling health. While attempting to devote equal time to both her film and her dying mother she begins to tear at the seams. This […]
Under the leadership of child-fearing, type A, borderline alcoholic, “Annie” (Melanie Lynskey), four couples return to a sprawling childhood summer home for a weekend away. But the weekend getaway is actually an artful guise for a marital intervention the group has planned for one of the couples. As tensions run high, friendships are tested and […]
As much as one might want to love A Tale of Love and Darkness, it is difficult to do so. Natalie Portman’s directorial debut was meant to inspire others by sharing the life story of Amos Oz, a famous Israeli storyteller; but it gets dragged down in dreary sidestory ultimately fails to invigorate the audience […]
When Two Worlds Collide is a chilling documentary about the Amazonian indigenous tribes in Peru, and how their lives are drastically affected by encroaching corporate companies. Co-directed by Heidi Brandenburg, this documentary exposes the Peruvian government by depicting the pain and suffering of the indigenous people caused by underhanded deals with big companies. These companies […]
Written and directed by Alice Winocour, Disorder follows a soldier back from Afghanistan as he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and coping with hallucinations and hearing loss. Through the help of some friends, “Vincent” (Matthais Schoenaerts) secures a job as a member of a security team to earn some extra cash. The job seems simple: […]
Kurt Vincent’s The Lost Arcade (written by Irene Chin) is a nostalgic documentary on a fading industry that some claim as home but most won’t know. The film has its ups and downs with its best almost carrying the weight of the less glamorous part of New York. It, however, is a bore. Aimless and […]
Directed and co-written by Maïwenn, My King (Mon Roi) depicts the turbulent story of a woman, who has just begun rehabilitation after a terrible skiing accident, and is now completely dependent on the doctors, nurses, and staff at the center while she heals. With nothing but time on her hands, and excruciating work ahead of her, […]
Written and directed by Dana Brawer, our filmmaker to watch, The Red Card does not shy away from pressing social issues. Instead, Brawer focuses her lens on the realities of sexual assault in high school, effectively opening a dialog instead of closing one. When “Sam” (Amber Collins-Ives) gets an invite to the most coveted party […]
