Sundance 2021: MA BELLE, MY BEAUTY burns with quiet love
by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer
Ma Belle, My Beauty is a true enough story. It’s someone’s truth. Multiple someones.
THE LADY AND THE DALE is a fascinating, stylish look at a scandal
by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer
Produced by the Duplass Brothers, The Lady and the Dale is the story of Liz Carmichael and the car that never was.
You Can’t Sit With Us: Cinematic Lives of American Teens
by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer
You Can’t Sit With Us: Cinematic Lives of American Teens is going to be a year-long series where I look at American teen cinema through specific genres, comparing and contrasting two films per column, starting with Heathers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Tommy C. Appreciation Club - Magnolia
by Jaime Davis, Ian Hrabe and Emily Maesar
In this edition, the Moviejawn crew dissects Tommy’s performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia.
Read MoreI Blame Society
Written by Gillian Wallace Horvat and Chase Williamson
Directed by Gillian Wallace Horvat
Starring Gillian Wallace Horvat, Keith Poulson, Chase Williamson and Morgan Krantz
Running time: 1 hour and 24 minutes
by Emily Maesar
“I guess I just don’t know what ‘likeable’ is.”
I Blame Society is Gillian Wallace Horvat’s baby. She wrote, directed and starred in the found footage style look at one woman’s quest to make a great film - no matter the cost.
Read MoreMJ's Top Ten of 2020
by Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy
A couple weeks before the end of the year (and what a year it’s been), I asked everybody to list their top five movies that they’d seen so far. This is always a tough chore because people are trying to cram in the films they’d heard about but missed throughout the year and then there’s the Christmas Day releases that only a few people have seen by that point. This means that people will always look back at their list in a year or two and find things that they wish they would've included, but just hadn’t seen yet. I feel like this year has exacerbated that situation because everyone has had to settle into finding films through different avenues.
Here, I’ve compiled everyone’s rankings and responses to give the MovieJawn Top Ten for 2020.
Read MoreMuseum Town
Written by Jennifer Trainer, Pola Rapaport and Noah Bashevkin
Directed by Jennifer Trainer
Featuring Meryl Streep, Nick Cave, David Byrne, Bill T. Jones and James Turrell
Running time: 1 hour and 16 minutes
by Emily Maesar
North Adams, Massachusetts is a small town in the north east corner of the state. The Hoosic River runs through it, forking around the vestige of Sprague Electric. It was once a factory town, like so many others in the country, but in 1985 the electric company made the devastating choice to close the factory down entirely.
Read MoreThe Mystery of D.B. Cooper
Written and directed by John Dower
Featuring Peter Caulfield, Hannah Pauley and Marla Cooper
Running time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
by Emily Maesar
“It’s an endless loop - it just sucks people in.”
There is only one unsolved plane hijacking in American history: D.B. Cooper. Set to air on HBO 49 years, almost to the day, after the November 24th, 1971 anniversary, documentarian John Dower is out to make compelling arguments for who the man might have been in The Mystery of D.B. Cooper.
Read MoreRun
Directed by Aneesh Chaganty
Starring Sarah Paulson, Pat Healy, Erik Athavale, Kiera Allen and Onalee Ames
Running time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
MPAA rating: Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic content, some violence/terror and language
by Emily Maesar
In 2018, along with many other people, I saw Searching in theatres and was completely taken. It featured one of my favorite actors, though I fear he still remains deeply overlooked by the mainstream, and held my attention like nothing else. It was a thriller told through screens, not a new concept by any means, but I remain convinced it’s still the best and most creative use of this newer storytelling device.
Read MoreS#!%HOUSE
Written and directed by Cooper Raiff
Starring Cooper Raiff, Dylan Gelula, Logan Miller and Amy Landecker
Running time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
MPAA rating: R for language throughout, sexual content and drug/alcohol use
by Emily Maesar
On the surface, Cooper Raiff’s Shithouse is basic. The bare bones description of the plot is that it’s about a college Freshman who goes to a party and meets a girl. They spend an intense weekend together that changes both of their lives. Now, that’s a totally normal breakdown of a coming-of-age college film, no doubt. However, what Shithouse proves is that just because you’ve seen the premise before, doesn’t mean the story isn’t worth your time. And I think Shithouse is absolutely worth everyone’s time.
Read MoreTommy C. Appreciation Club: Interview With a Vampire - The Vampire Chronicles
Directed by Neil Jordan
Written by Anne Rice (screenplay and novel)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Kirsten Dunst
Running Time: 2 hours and 3 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content and vampire violence/gore
by Jaime Davis, Ashley Jane Davis, Audrey Callerstrom, Emily Maesar and Ryan Smillie
The Tommy C. Appreciation Club, or TCAC, solemnly swears to watch and appreciate all theatrical performances by Tom Cruise then recap them, round-table style. In this edition, the Moviejawn crew embarks on a bonkers adventure with our pal Tommy in Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles.
Read MoreThe Dead Ones
Directed by Jeremy Kasten
Starring Sarah Rose Harper, Brandon Thane Wilson, Katie Foster, Torey Garza and Clare Kramer
Running time: 1 hour and 13 minutes
By Emily Maesar
What’s going on, and why does it kind of rule?
The Dead Ones is a horror film about four teens who are forced to clean up their high school after a horrific incident. It’s the last week of summer and Mouse (Sarah Rose Harper), Scottie (Brandon Thane Wilson), Emily (Katie Foster) and Louis (Torey Garza) are driven by their teacher Ms. Persephone (Clare Kramer) to what might be the worst detention ever. Their school is fully trashed and, for some reason, they’re the ones who have to deal with it. But when four people in creepy gas masks show up and start locking them in, seemingly preparing for something horrible, things get wild.
Read MoreSummerland
Written and directed by Lankyboy aka Kurtis David Harder and Noah Kentis
Starring Rory J. Saper, Maddie Phillips, Chris Ball, Dylan Playfair and Dion Arnold
Running time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
by Emily Maesar
If you want chill vibes with a bit of queer content and an ambiguously happy ending, then I’ve got the flick for you.
Read MoreHost
Directed by Rob Savage
Written by Rob Savage, Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd
Starring Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore and Emma Louise Webb
Running time: just under an hour
by Emily Maesar
What might movies, especially horror movies, look like during and post the pandemic? If it’s anything like Host, then I’m here for it.
Read MoreThe Rental
Co-written and directed by Dave Franco, with writing help from Mike Demski and Joe Swanberg
Starring Dan Stevens, Alison Brie and Sheila Vand
Running time: 1 hour and 29 minutes
MPAA rating: R for violence, language throughout, drug use and some sexuality.
by Emily Maesar
Here’s something wild and wacky: Dave Franco’s feature directorial debut is kind of a powerhouse.
Read MoreSpaceship Earth
Directed by Matt Wolf
Featuring John Allen, Tony Burgess and Jane Goodall
Running time: 1 hour and 53 minutes
by Emily Maesar
“Any idea that can be conceived in our time, can be executed in our time.”
Matt Wolf’s shockingly relevant documentary, Spaceship Earth, is a fascinating look at the cult of personality, self-isolating from the world and building community. It’s a film that starts with a scientific hope, flies through the hardships of having your monkeysphere drop down to seven other people and lands on corporate greed over scientific advancement.
Read MoreHow to Build A Girl
Written by Caitlan Moran
Directed by Coky Giedroyc
Starring Beanie Feldstein, Michael Sheen, Emma Thompson and Gemma Arterton
Running time: 1 hour and 42 minutes
MPAA rating: R for sexual content, language throughout and some teen drinking
by Emily Maesar
I first became aware of Caitlin Moran in 2011, when her book How to Be a Woman came out. She had written some children’s stories in the early 90s, but, as an American, her memoir was the first time I’d actually come into contact with her. However, she was quite well known in the UK leading up to that point, and continuing forward after it.
Read MoreBanana Split
Written by Hannah Marks and Joey Power
Directed by Benjamin Kasulke
Starring Hannah Marks, Liana Liberato and Dylan Sprouse
MPAA rating: R for crude sexual content and language throughout, drug and alcohol use -- all involving teens
Running time: 1 hour and 28 minutes
by Emily Maesar
You always remember your first great love - and their new girlfriend who became your next great love. And that’s Banana Split in a nutshell, which is a super fun idea and a perfectly fine film.
Read MoreGo Back to China
Written and directed by Emily Ting
Starring Anna Akana, Richard Ng and Lynn Chen
Running time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
by Emily Maesar
Here’s a bit of full disclosure: I adore Anna Akana. The YouTube star has been hitting my subscription box for the last four years. So I know I’m predisposed to have my brain light up whenever I see her. Hit or miss (her short films hit and her music has missed, at least for me), I enjoy watching her grow and develop as a creative force. Like I said, I’ve always really liked her short films, whether she was writing, directing or acting (sometimes all three), she’s an engaging force that I want to see more of, always and forever.
Read More