AwardsWatch - Film Reviews

‘Self Reliance’ review: Jake Johnson’s spoof on high concept game show premise plays it a bit too safe | SXSW

Kevin L. Lee March 13, 2023

Right before we were about to see Jake Johnson’s feature length directorial debut Self Reliance at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, he came on stage... Read More

‘I Used to Be Funny’ review: Rachel Sennott is spectacular in Ally Pankiw’s confrontation of comedy and trauma | SXSW

Abe Friedtanzer March 13, 2023

How do comedians deal with PTSD? Typically, it’s to tell jokes to mask or subvert the trauma, but that doesn’t necessarily make the pain go... Read More

‘Bottoms’ review: Emma Seligman’s unapologetically queer-centric high school sex comedy is a revelation for the subgenre | SXSW

Ryan McQuade March 13, 2023

As Emma Seligman’s sophomore feature film, Bottoms, begins, we are introduced to PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri), our two protagonists who we will... Read More

‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ review: Quest love and the friends you met along the way | SXSW

Ryan McQuade March 12, 2023

Behind the core of the role playing fantasy board game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) lies the simple idea that makes audiences go to the movies;... Read More

‘National Anthem’ review: Luke Gilford explores the wondrous, inviting world of America’s queer rodeo | SXSW

Abe Friedtanzer March 10, 2023

Midway through National Anthem, Dylan (Charlie Plummer) asks Sky (Eve Lindley) why she’s interested in him, self-proclaiming that he’s boring. “I don’t think you’re boring,”... Read More

‘Scream VI’ review: Welcome to New York, it’s been slaying for you as thrills, tension, and blood flow in gory legacy sequel

Film Reviews

‘Scream VI’ review: Welcome to New York, it’s been slaying for you as thrills, tension, and blood flow in gory legacy sequel

Nate Adams March 8, 2023

When Radio Silence duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett rebooted Wes Craven’s iconic franchise, 2022’s Scream, (the first sequel since the filmmaker had passed away),... Read More

‘Suzume’ review: Makoto Shinkai’s latest anime masterpiece is a jaw-dropping epic | Berlinale

Ben Rolph February 26, 2023

If you follow the career of Makato Shinkai, you know he is renowned world-wide for his anime films, Your Name and Weathering With You being... Read More

‘In Water (mul-an-e-seo)’ review: Hong Sang-soo blurs the lines of his own self-reference to middling effect | Berlinale

Savina Petkova February 24, 2023

What’s a year without a Hong Sang-soo film? Does a film festival even exist, if it does not feature a regular slot for the prolific... Read More

‘Roter Himmel (Afire)’ review: Paula Beer is on fire in Christian Petzold’s tragicomic climate crisis allegory | Berlinale

Ben Rolph February 23, 2023

Berlin Film Festival favourite Christian Petzold is back in competition with his latest film, Roter Himmel, titled Afire in English. Thomas Shubert stars alongside long-time... Read More