American Night, the first feature from writer-director Alessio Della Valle, has just premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. A neo-noir thriller simmering then exploding within a corrupt New York art milieu, it stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Emile Hirsch, Paz Vega, and Jeremy Piven. …
There’s a new love story in town, and it will move you. From writer-director Angel Kristi Williams and writer Felicia Pride, financed and co-produced by MACRO (Fences), comes Really Love, an apparently simple film about the vast complexities of the heart, and soul. Featuring breakout performances by Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing (Hunter…
Making its world premiere this Sunday as part of the Outfest 2021 Film Festival in Los Angeles (and online, details below), Homebody mixes supernatural surprise with personal reflection to deliver unusual comedic portraiture. Defined as a genderqueer body-transfer fantasy, it concerns a nine-year-old boy (Tre Ryder) who’s so obsessed with…
To delve into difficult subject matter with grace and tenacity is not the only way to approach the arts, however it often yields the most fortifying results. Such is the case with The Rest of Us, the quietly impactful new feature film directed by heretofore documentarian — and wearer of…
“It’s about family, and that’s what’s so powerful about it,” spake an erstwhile actress better known for her wit than her poignancy, of a spaceship series that had seen much better days; a recent yet already iconic quote, but whereas Hollywood’s fictions sometimes bellyflop, documentaries may zero in on heart…
Film festivals abound, and bringing artists together is always a good thing, but nothing compares to the HollyShorts Film Festival: based right in the middle of Hollywood, it’s Oscars-adjacent and Oscar-qualifying, its alums often proceeding to increasing renown. …
Imagine an exotic beauty cream smeared among Hollywood’s vain semi-elite, promising miracles but bringing disaster. But hey, you don’t have to imagine it, as filmmakers Chris W. Freeman and Spain Willingham explore this ripe context for you in their new monster mash-up, Beast Mode, which is available digitally on multiple…
If you dig ideological intensity coming at you from all sides, check out Paradise City, the third feature film from writer-director John Marco Lopez. This complex, layered work feels like a full, old-school TV season’s worth of characters and conflicts, yet is every frame a feature film boasting tableaux that…
A young engineer in France is beginning fertility treatments with his partner when he sees — or seems to see — his missing and presumed-dead sister in a televised news bulletin from Syria. Choosing against accepted fact and common sense to investigate, he delves into No Man’s Land: both a…
Chances are, unless you’ve actually met Tonya Williams, you’ve never met anyone quite like Tonya Williams. Most widely known for her Daytime Emmy-nominated role on The Young and the Restless, this truly global citizen is presently celebrating the 20th anniversary of Canada’s Reelworld Film Festival, which she founded. …
