Vampires vs. The Bronx

Direction: Oz Rodriguez
Country: USA

More feel-good than squeamish, Vampires vs. The Bronx connects with the viewers through a trio of charismatic young characters. In fact, this small bloodsucking spin provides a few laughs but it’s scarce in tension, telling the story of three brave teenage friends who join forces to save their Bronx neighborhood from a real-estate machination led by merciless vampires.

The non-elaborate scenarios and relaxed posture generate a likable indie flavor but the film would have drawn more attention if the director Oz Rodriguez, who co-wrote it with Blaise Hemingway, had put a fresh perspective on the pop, urban vampirism. All the same, up-to-date topics such as gentrification, mischaracterization of emblematical neighborhoods and a moving sense of community are present. Limited yet watchable horror-comedy.

Time (2020)

Direction: Garrett Bradley
Country: USA

Shot in black-and-white for artistic purposes and using both original footage and home videos recorded over 18 years, Garrett Bradley’s Time is a short documentary film turned feature that succeeds as an example of a tenacious years-long fight against the American justice system.

This is the story of Sibil Fox Richardson, a committed mother of six and modern-day abolitionist, who spent more than 20 years fighting for the release of her husband, Robert, from the Louisiana State Penitentiary, after both had attempted to rob a bank in a desperate phase of their youth. While she served three and a half years, he was sentenced to 60, an injustice that, as the film claims, is the story of many other in America.

Although delivered with fortitude, steadfastness and passion, the film fails to maintain the promptitude in showing a troubled, flawed legal system. However, the numerous frustrations in the process as well as the trepidation and matureness that gradually increase as the years sped forward are definitely bonus points. A grievous love story with a light at the end of the tunnel.

His House (2020)

Direction: Remi Weekes
Country: UK

Intelligent in the way it combines refugee drama, cultural clash, loss and supernatural curse, His House is an atmospheric, unhinged horror movie with some minor flaws and major revelations in the plot.

Remi Weekes deserves credit in his strong feature debut, whose story, marked by torment and punishment, counts on taut, grippingly intense performances by Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosako. They play a South Sudan-couple who, after fleeing from their war-ravaged country in a small boat, are given asylum by the English government. However, besides dealing with deep grief due to the loss of their young daughter, they experience horrifying paranormal activity in their new house, located in a sinister suburban town.

Quite a few startles may catch you off-guard, but I found the isolation and emotional detachment to be more disturbing than the horror scenes. Hence, social commentary goes hand-in-glove with spectral abomination here.

The Devil All The Time (2020)

Direction: Antonio Campos
Country: USA

American director Antonio Campos has a penchant for dark thrillers, usually packing them with mystery, violence and emotional burden (Afterschool; Simon Killer). However, his new outing, The Devil All the Time, is not as crafted as the previous works, failing to live up to its potential as it never goes deep enough in the darkness of the chained plot threads.

This rural Southern tale, based on the novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock (the film’s narrator) and co-written by Campos and his brother Paulo, is presented with bluntly dried tones and little imagination.

It’s true that the storytelling is never muddled, but it’s too cold, bleak and tedious in its cinematic vistas. In the end, what stays with us is a repulsion for nearly every character and that weird sensation that there’s no message besides the evil omens.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

Direction: Jason Woliner
Country: USA

In the return of Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Sasha Baron Cohen) to America, the latter heavily mocks the dim-witted Republican supporters, parodies on how they deal with the virus, and tries to limit the wonderful discoveries of Tutar (Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova is a revelation), his 15-year-old daughter. Here, Tutar is shockingly taken into a hotel bedroom by Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, after a fabricated interview. There’s also a wild and unforgettable debutante ball, and a well-intentioned middle-aged African-American babysitter (Jeanise Jones), who patiently tries to educate the misled Tutar in several aspects of life. She is the only non-fictional character that deserves our respect. 

The film, directed by Jason Woliner from a screenplay that Cohen co-wrote with seven others, is often messy in its ludicrousness, but a trip worth taking, considering the delicate situations that Cohen and Bakalova put themselves in. It’s incredible how they pull out some sad truths from an America in tatters. We never know what to expect next, and perverse laughter is inevitable.

The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)

Direction: Radha Blank
Country: USA

Flowing at the right beat, Radha Blank’s debut feature is made of honest words, genuine characters, irreverent humor, and raw emotions.

Set in Harlem, this semi-autobiographical story focuses on Radha (Blank), a playwright/teacher who decides to try something new and find her real voice by becoming a rapper at the age of 40. She has been struggling lately, and if the best of inspirations usually becomes trapped in the ‘system’, then gentrification is a real, scary threat. In need of a prompt transformation in her life, she will dive headfirst into the art of rhyme with the help of D. (Oswin Benjamin), a young beatmaker, and, even if intermittently, Archie (Peter Kim), her longtime gay best friend.

Gorgeously shot in black-and-white 35mm film, The Forty-Year-Old Version converts a slice of real life into a powerful artistic statement.

Digging For Fire (2018) - capsule review

Direction: Joe Swanberg
Country: USA

The frivolous blend of ludicrous mystery and tepid romance offered in Digging For Fire got me quickly bored. Writer/director Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies) fails to surprise, while actors Jake Johnson (who co-wrote based on his real experience) and Rosemary DeWitt never stepped it up. During a planned house sitting weekend at a client’s, a tired yoga teacher and her relaxed husband go on separate adventures.

The problem is that both adventures are terribly unsatisfying and real laughs are missing, taking this unfurnished two-sided tale to drag along with no gravity whatsoever, but rather burdensome moves that often feel contrived.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Direction: Aaron Sorkin
Country: USA

Aaron Sorkin is someone from whom we can expect good things, especially when we look into his solid past work - he’s the screenwriter of The Social Network, Steve Jobs and Moneyball. This playwright-turned-screenwriter-turned-director frequently centers on fact-based material and his sophomore directorial effort, The Trial of the Chicago 7, is an entertaining legal drama with a few successful comedic passages.

The film guarantees a lively screen translation of the episodes that took seven anti-Vietnam War protesters to court, charged with conspiracy and riot-related offenses on the occasion of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Yet, most of the pic’s duration concentrates on the often hilarious court sessions led by the obnoxious, discriminatory and incompetent Judge Julius Hoffman (veteran actor Frank Langella).

Even tolerably wobbly in the structure, this film comes in a time where the words ‘protest’ and ‘conspiracy’ are most heard. The fine performances give the story a boost, especially Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman and Jeremy Strong as Jerry Rubin.



Enola Holmes (2020) - capsule review

Direction: Harry Bradbeer
Country: UK

A quite charming detective adventure, Enola Holmes is also extremely entertaining, regardless the messy way it was assembled.

The plot, adapted from Nancy Springer’s writings, follows Sherlock Holmes’ sister, Enola (a launching pad for Millie Bobby Brown’s career), in a double mission. While she tries to solve the mysterious, if deliberate, disappearance of her liberal mother (Helena Bonham Carter), she also helps a young Lord (Louis Partridge) to escape his controlling family and a relentless killer sent his way.

An expedite pace, strong production values, easy humor, candid romance, and a pertinent subtopic involving women’s rights are all motives to see Harry Bradbeer’s first non-TV movie.



Tigertail (2020) - capsule review

Direction: Alan Yang
Country: USA

Tigertail, the quiet debut feature of American writer/director/producer Alan Yang, is rudimentary but honest. It’s a bitter immigrant song immersed in simplicity and sacrifice, whose interest decreases with the time. Patiently structured with numerous flashbacks and temporal leaps, the narrative never succumbs to the melodrama artifice, providing the right tonal balance to favor connectedness with the viewer. It might be forgettable and meager, but the truth is that Yang never loses contact with his characters and their emotional states. 

My Happy Family (2017) - capsule review

Direction: Nana Ekvtimishvili, Simon Groß
Country: Georgia

Hailing from Georgia, this powerful drama film denotes wonderful acting and a compelling direction from Nana Ekvtimishvili, who wrote it, and Simon Groß. Thoroughly engaging from start to finish, this is a fluid and confident effort centered on family and intricate relationships. It surpasses in a large scale the pair’s debut feature, In Bloom (2013). It tugs the heartstrings as the realistic life crisis unfolds.

A Taxi Driver (2017) - capsule review

Direction: Hun Jang
Country: South Korea

A Taxi Driver depicts a black page in South Korean’s history, being often melodramatic to become entirely satisfying. The historical facts are lightened up by a charismatic central character enjoyably played by Song Kang-ho (Parasite; Snowpiercer). Despite overlong and emotionally elaborate, Hun Jang’s drama film has its moments and ensures amusement.



The Assistant (2020) - capsule review

Direction: Kitty Green
Country: USA

Kitty Green’s rigorously observant The Assistant depicts a long, exhausting work day in the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a fresh college graduate and producer-wannabe working as a junior assistant for a wealthy film production company in New York.

Perspicacious, she soon figures out the sordid schemes that occur in a male-dominated office; she identifies the predators and the preys, the indifferent and the ambitious, as well as the frequent sarcasm and passivity in the face of the abusive behavior of a leader, whose face we never see. We have the sense that he hides in the shadows, yet still spreading gloominess around.

Despite strong and able, Julia is about to break down with embarrassment and disappointment, and the taciturn drama poignantly expresses the miserable work environment that many people experience but haven’t the courage to denounce.

Wasp Network (2019) - capsule review

Directed by: Olivier Assayas
Country: France, other

A misstep from acclaimed French director Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper; Clouds of Sils Maria), Wasp Network tangles itself in a plot transferred to the screen with the shopworn conventions associated with the American cinema. The espionage tale, toggling between Cuba and the US, is based on a true story, but the capable cast led by Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramirez was powerless to make it shine.

Sunday's Illness (2018) - capsule review

Direction: Ramón Salazar
Country: Spain

Exhibiting a severe, intriguing mood, this film could have been much more effective if the director, Ramón Salazar, didn’t have stretched a few scenes into the limit while packing them with a lugubrious gloominess. Somewhat painful to watch in all its human suffering and ultimately redemption.

The Social Dilemma (2020) - capsule review

Director: Jeff Orlowski
Country: USA

A comprehensive and eye-opening documentary by Jeff Orlowski about the dependency, isolation and other serious problems caused by social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to their users. What has started with good intentions ended up in greediness, personal data manipulation, adverse political influence, and negligence. The ones who warn us are true connoisseurs of the business, people who have worked in these companies but became conscience-stricken with the direction things went. Watch the film to be both elucidated and petrified about the controversies surrounding the topic.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) - capsule review

Director: Charlie Kaufman
Country: USA

With this new film, Charlie Kaufman (Synechdoche, New York; Anomalisa) confirms his tendency for knotty, moody, suspenseful writing/storytelling crammed with references to past lives, time discontinuities, memory tricks and baffling developments. I found some scenes utterly repetitive and ultimately inconsequent. The final segment of the film touches the ridiculous and, at times, it’s inevitable not to think: ‘I’m thinking of terminating this movie session’. But I give you one good reason to watch it: David Thewlis.

RBG (2018) - capsule review

Director: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
Country: USA

A so-so documentary about a key figure in the fight for gender equality and women’s right. It’s sort of bland the way co-directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West conduct this presentation, but if you want to know a bit more about Justice Ruth Baden Ginsbourg, maybe this is a good place to start.



Cuties (2020) - capsule review

Director: Maimouna Doucouré
Country: France

Most of the polemic involving Cuties, the debut feature of Maimouna Doucouré, is unjustified. It’s just painful to watch. I don’t see a bad intention from the writer/director here, rather seeing the story as an eye-opener for the perils to which susceptible youth is exposed through social media. The pursuit of fame at all cost, cultural differences, estrangement, and insertion in a new community are addressed. Yet, the film gradually loses strength and focus as it moves forward.