Split Decision: Kurosawa Week
In honor of what would have been his 111st (eleventy-first for you Tolkien readers) birthday on March 23, what is your favorite film directed by Akira Kurosawa?
Miami Film Festival 2021: 1991, PIGEON DROP, and BRIDGES are new offerings from Latin American cinema
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
The Miami Film Festival, which was held March 5-14, always provides a terrific showcase for new Latin American cinema
LONG WEEKEND is a dull, undemanding romance
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
The film, however, has the feel of seeing a couple enjoying their vacation video. It quickly gets a bit dull.
KID 90 works best as self-therapy for Soleil Moon Frye
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
The actress/filmmaker now reexamines her life and wonders, “Did this happen as I remember?”
Celebrate Juliette Binoche's birthday with LET THE SUNSHINE IN
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
Binoche always elevates whatever film she is in, but her leading role in the 2017 film Let the Sunshine In, is one of her career-best performances.
Split Decision: A Dance With Dragons
In honor of Raya and the Last Dragon, who/what is your favorite on screen dragon?
Read MoreSplit Decision: Start Making Sense
In honor of his February 22 birthday, what is your favorite film by Jonathan Demme?
Read MoreRAGE lacks enough thrills to justify its length
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
A thriller without any sense of urgency.
Tommy C. Appreciation Club - ENDLESS LOVE
by Ryan Silberstein, Gary M. Kramer and Andy Elijah
In this edition, the Moviejawn crew dissects Tommy’s performance in Franco Zeffirelli’s Endless Love.
Read MoreSplit Decision: Date Night
This week’s question: What is a film you love that premiered at any year's Sundance Film Festival?
HAPPY TIMES revels in murder and mischief
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
Happy Times is uneven, but it hits its stride once the bodies start piling up.
Split Decision: Sundance Faves
This week’s question: What is a film you love that premiered at any year's Sundance Film Festival?
Sundance 2021: THE DOG WHO WOULDN'T BE QUIET is a warm and low key coming of age story
by Gary Kramer, Staff Writer
“Can we talk about the puppy,” Luis (Carlos Portaluppi), a neighbor says to Sebastian (Daniel Katz) in the opening moments of The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet, which is having its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
Read MoreSundance 2021: VIOLATION packs impressive visuals and performances
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
Violation uses arresting visuals—closeups of insects (some of them trapped), and body parts—to communicate its sense of dread, and the soundtrack features sinister music to up the ante.
Sundance 2021: SON OF MONARCHS is as fleeting and mysterious as a butterfly
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
The colors of a butterfly are what allows it to hide or attract others, and Son of Monarchs does dodge and turn as viewers are asked to piece together the various narrative fragments.
Sundance 2021 Preview: Gary’s Flick Picks
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
Here are a few titles I’m expecting to see among all the independent and international films screening this year.
Read MoreLove Sarah
Written and directed by Eliza Schroeder
Starring Candace Brown, Shelley Conn, Celia Imre
Running time: 1 hour and 38 minutes
By Gary M. Kramer
The cinematic confection, Love Sarah, is like those pastries that look good but are tasteless. This feel-good British rom-com—that is briefly romantic, and never witty or amusing—is merely a trifle, to use a British dessert pun. This film is so inconsequential that the calories spent consuming it will result only in guilt.
Read MoreStars Fell on Alabama
Directed by VW Scheich
Starring Ciara Hanna, James Maslow, Jason Burkey
Running time: 1 hour and 43 minutes
by Gary M. Kramer
Stars Fell on Alabama is as gentle and likable as the romantic country song that gives this modest, charming film its title. This predictable romance may lean into its genre conventions, but it is so aggressively wholesome that resistance is almost futile. Sure, cynics can scoff, and haters are gonna hate, but this film is just made for pre-teen girls or adults who cuddle up and watch Lifetime.
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.
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