Movie review by Greg Carlson One of several powerful films included in the upcoming 2021 North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival — screening virtually from April 11 through April 25 — director Shannon Kring’s “End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock” looks at recent history through the eyes of several committed and passionate […]
End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock
Posted by GBC on April 3, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4636
Collecting Movies with Toby Jones
Interview by Greg Carlson Toby Jones is an Emmy-nominated writer, director and cartoonist from Fargo, North Dakota currently living in Los Angeles. He has worked as a writer and storyboard director on “Regular Show,” an executive producer on “OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes,” and is the creator of “AJ’s Infinite Summer.” Greg Carlson: What […]
Posted by GBC on March 28, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4626
The Last Blockbuster
Movie review by Greg Carlson Memories of 1980s and 1990s video store culture will draw viewers of a certain age to “The Last Blockbuster,” Taylor Morden’s breezy, goofy documentary on the king of the corporate movie renting business. Long since destroyed by on-demand ease and streaming subscriptions, there was a time when millions “made it […]
Posted by GBC on March 22, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4621
Freeland
Movie review by Greg Carlson An engrossing portrait that takes viewers deep into the world of marijuana farming in Northern California’s Humboldt County, “Freeland” rumbles along on the strength of a lovely central performance by Krisha Fairchild as Devi, a one-time hippie and last-woman-standing from the idealistic commune of the title. Fairchild, who played the […]
Posted by GBC on March 15, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4616
Tom Brandau (1960-2021)
Reflection by Greg Carlson When I first made his acquaintance, I didn’t think I liked Tom Brandau. And I was certain the feeling was mutual. Following the unexpected death of Minnesota State University Moorhead film studies professor Ted Larson — a mentor to me and to Rusty Casselton and to many others — Rusty […]
Posted by GBC on March 8, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4610
Collecting Movies with Dava Whisenant
Interview by Greg Carlson Dava Whisenant received the Best New Documentary Director Award at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival for her feature debut “Bathtubs Over Broadway,” which opened the 2019 Fargo Film Festival. Whisenant continues to collaborate with Steve Young, and their short comedy “Photo Op” is part of the 2021 Fargo Film Festival, which […]
Posted by GBC on February 27, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4601
Lorelei
Movie review by Greg Carlson Filmmaker Sabrina Doyle’s “Lorelei” aims for hardscrabble, working-class romance. Good onscreen chemistry between Jena Malone and Pablo Schreiber lifts the filmmaker’s debut feature out of traps set by occasionally mundane dialogue and predictable complications. Tonal and stylistic swings trade off between grim realism and dreamy expressionism. Savvy viewers will be […]
Posted by GBC on February 22, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4597
Stalking Chernobyl
Movie review by Greg Carlson Filmmaker and activist Iara Lee’s “Stalking Chernobyl: Exploration After Apocalypse” ventures into the sites and surroundings of the abandoned Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, introducing an assortment of “stalkers” drawn to the growing popularity of this upside-down variant on eco-tourism. Lee incorporates excellent, pre-disaster archival footage that emphasizes a constructed, utopian, […]
Posted by GBC on February 14, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4594
A Glitch in the Matrix
Movie review by Greg Carlson Rodney Ascher’s previous two nonfiction features, “Room 237” and “The Nightmare,” played out like the cinematic equivalent of staying up late with friends to swap scary stories, conspiracy theories, and the kind of half-remembered word-of-mouth urban legends that have only grown more potent in the internet age. The filmmaker’s new […]
Posted by GBC on February 6, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4589
The Mole Agent
Movie review by Greg Carlson Maite Alberdi’s “The Mole Agent” is currently enjoying some award season love, with late January recognition from the National Board of Review in the Foreign Language Film group and steady buzz as a possible feature documentary Oscar contender and/or inclusion in the International Feature category as the official entry from […]
Posted by GBC on January 27, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4583