Two-Paragraph Review: Land (2021)

If the theme that Robin Wright wanted to explore in her film Land is loneliness, she managed to do it more than justice. However, while she took off on this exploration of the human soul in her small directorial debut, Wright also avoided the chance for the audience not to feel the same towards her main character, which she also portrayed.

Played also by Wright, Edee is a middle-aged woman who goes off into the wilderness of Wyoming after losing her husband and son in a senseless tragedy. The move is unclear and remains between a hope for a spiritual rebirth and a slow suicide-by-nature. That emotional space is seemingly interesting, but Wright, behind and in front of the camera, makes it distant and unconnectable. The strong tone of loneliness slowly turns into an even stronger sense of disconnection and throughout the film, Wright fails to do anything there, even when the script is supposed to show us something different. For me, Edee never finds a way out of the woods in every sense of this phrase.

The Best (2023) - Short and Explosive Wrestling Tale!

 

"To be the best you must beat the best. Don't poke the wrestling bear and expect him to go out gently."

The trailer for the upcoming short action film called The Best (2023) starts with this simple premise. From here, the same trailer showcases a ring and what is soon to be the grounds for an incoming wrestling match but does it with a lot of tension and expectation. Thanks to a powerful music tune and the blood-red color effect - all in less than a minute - the same trailer manages to set the stage for what could be an iconic short wrestling film.

The film is based on the tale of a young wrestler and his journey to turn into the very best of this unforgiving and demanding business. From its shots and soundtrack, the film promises a sharp and hard experience, which is completely in line with the same tough-as-nails entertainment industry. Of course, the professional background of the crew working on the film definitely adds to this as well.

The Best is directed by Marc Ash, a veteran of the industry, who is also starring in it. Besides him, the film also features Thomas Bragg and Malcome Dhark, but also introduces Laurie Lennon Williams. Between them, the same crew has decades of experience in the wrestling and movie domains, and that immediately shines through.

The Best is available on video-on-demand services and any wrestling fan should check it out - that goes most of all for those who are willing to go beyond the multi-million dollar spotlights and see the same space in a new, gritty, and very much authentic light.

Two-Paragraph Review: How to Blow up a Pipeline (2023)

An effective thriller needs little to be successful, especially in terms of things like locations and props. The Standoff at Sparrow Creek showcases this concept in a highly specific setting but with so much force and an equally strong effect on the viewers. How to Blow up a Pipeline takes that notion to an even bigger level, using a deserted house (as compared to a huge warehouse in The Standoff at Sparrow Creek), set in a southern US backwater to create a gripping story of the modern capitalistic trajectory of environmental destruction and the inevitable but unclear backlash.

In this tale, that backlash comes in the form of a group of environmental activists who are now seeking to take radical action and blow up a part of the pipeline on US soil in Texas. The film, masterfully directed on a knife edge by Daniel Goldhaber, showcases all of their previous lives and the courses of some type of suffering at the hands of the present political and economic system which led to this point. Finally, all of that culminates in a very effective and bold ending, which could also sadly prove to be very prophetic in the years to come.

Sankofa Chicago - Powerful US Black History and Black Future Documentary

 

The past, present, and future of African Americans and Black Americans is often a hard topic for so many in the modern US. From the issue of Black history and how it is (or is not) taught in schools to contemporary problems like biased police practices or street violence, there are a lot of subjects that impact and shape the future of everyone, but especially children, in the same communities. Sankofa Chicago is a documentary by director and producer Vanessa Page Wright that wants to tackle these issues in a single, unified cinematography work.

The documentary focuses on the idea of Sankofa, a concept that underlines the need to know history to be able to comprehend the current time. Set in Chicago, a huge US city that embodies many successes but also massive challenges of the Black community, the film shares very personal narratives of people like local leaders, scholars, and ordinary individuals who experienced the US Black history as a part of their everyday lives.

Thanks to the huge experience of Wright, who is a former Talent Agent who switched to filmmaking, Sankofa Chicago really offers a unique mixture of voices from the past and voices of the future. The first belongs to people who experienced so much Black history firsthand, while the children of the film present their honest views of the present and their aspirations for an uncertain future.

All of this combines into a potent mixture that showcases the concept of Black history, not only as an academic notion but as a very real and alive aspect of so many US communities. That makes Sankofa Chicago a powerful documentary that is more than needed in the present day and age. Follow it on its official website and go see it as soon as you can!

MiP: The Journey Across the Universe - Unique Upcoming Cinematographic Experience

Independent films, especially short ones, often try to focus on everyday topics. However, other projects do the exact opposite and try to soar as high and as far as possible. MiP: The Journey Across the Universe is one such cinematographic undertaking and it promises a truly unique experience. Written and directed by Jason Wexler, the same short film was made in Blender and Element3D, while it uses the music of the legendary band Pink Floyd. Through the same tunes and sounds, it creates an intense psychedelic space-rock experience. Check out its trailer right here:

In the film, the main storyline revolves around MiP, a small alien robot that has the job of assisting evolution, including life on planet Earth. The film is a prequel to the movie VGHW, which came out in 2022, and which details the arrival of the same robot to our planet. You can watch the entire VGHW film here as well:

MiP: The Journey Across The Universe sets out to explore the nature and origin of MiP, but do it in an immersive and thought-provoking manner, especially thanks to the soundtrack of Pink Floyd. Clearly, Jason Wexler built a unique and touching experience and there is no doubt in my mind that all fans of exotic inner and outer spaces will enjoy the film immensely when it comes out on December 30th, 2023.

Two Paragraph Review: Last Sentinel (2023)

 

Great thing about sci-fi is the fact that you can do a lot with little. Coherence is a perfect example, which remains a fantastic movie years after its original release. However, there are still many other movies that simply fail to do much with its premise, leaving the viewers in the low-budget, low-expectation zone. They are straight to video material that is forgotten as soon as it is seen.

Last Sentinel is an odd film that kind of falls between these two categories. It is a story of a military outpost in an endless sea that has become planet Earth in the 2060s. Global war ensues among the two surviving landmasses even though the winner will turn into water sooner or later. In that gloomy setting, a cast of four manages to pull off an interesting thriller which is similar to a lifeboat scenario, but still has a big narrative element up its sleeve. Yet, at the same time, it never manages to pack a full punch to use its solid cast at any memorable level. Instead, the Last Sentinel is not as bad as it could first seem, but neither is it as good as it might have been with a few more risks in its original script