AwardsWatch - Reviews

Sundance Review: Not even a charming Dakota Johnson can save bland coming out rom-com ‘Am I OK? [Grade: D]

Catherine Springer January 25, 2022

It has taken Hollywood a long time to embrace the full breadth of the queer experience, only recently discovering that LGBTQ people are more than... Read More

Sundance Review: Eva Longoria Bastón examines the feud and friendship of Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez, Latinx pride in documentary ‘La Guerra Civil’ [Grade: B+]

Ryan McQuade January 25, 2022

In sports, there is nothing better than a rivalry. When two opponents step up to face one another, and have nothing more than animosity towards... Read More

Sundance Review: ‘Emily the Criminal’ is a lean, mean thriller with Aubrey Plaza’s most subversive performance ever [Grade: A]

Catherine Springer January 25, 2022

If a film’s logline refers to the protagonist as someone who “gets caught up in the criminal underworld in Los Angeles,” there’s a good chance... Read More

Sundance Review: Mind the age gap and narrative cohesion in ‘Palm Trees and Power Lines,’ stay for Lily McInerny’s bracing performance [Grade: C-]

Ryan McQuade January 24, 2022

Bored out of her mind, 17-year-old Lea (Lily McInerny) is doing what a normal teenager has to do to fill in the time before her... Read More

Sundance Review: Jono McLeod’s doc ‘My Old School’ threads a fine line between humor and pain, truth and lies [Grade: B]

Catherine Springer January 24, 2022

Exactly a year removed from the premiere of the acclaimed documentary Flee at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, comes My Old School, another nonfiction film... Read More

Sundance Review: Julian Higgins’ ‘God’s Country’ is a showcase for a powder keg performance from Thandiwe Newton [Grade: B]

Ryan McQuade January 24, 2022

Ashes in the snow. That is what we see in the beginning of Julian Higgins’ slow-burn thriller, God’s Country, as Sandra Guidry (a dynamic Thandiwe... Read More

Sundance Review: Riley Stearns’ sci-fi satire ‘Dual’ gives us a killer double dose of Karen Gillan [Grade: B+]

Kevin L. Lee January 24, 2022

Riley Stearns was one of my favorite discoveries at SXSW 2019. Nearly every writing and directing decision in The Art of Self-Defense was on my... Read More

Sundance Review: The cute and quirky ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ glides right into your heart with pitch perfect performances from Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson [Grade: A]

Ryan McQuade January 24, 2022

At a certain point in our lives, we’ve fallen in love. Could happen at a young age, as it does for Andrew (Javien Mercado), at... Read More

Sundance Review: In Andrew Semans’ tense and terrifying ‘Resurrection,’ Rebecca Hall gets under your skin [Grade: A]

Catherine Springer January 23, 2022

In an opening scene of Resurrection, a film by writer/director Andrew Semans, premiering at Sundance Film Festival, Margaret, played by Rebecca Hall, counsels a young... Read More