Movie review by Greg Carlson Following a 2019 premiere in the Un Certain Regard program at the Cannes Film Festival, director Kantemir Balagov’s second feature has made the Oscar shortlist as Russia’s entry for Best International Feature Film. A historical drama photographed in a palette of unexpectedly vibrant hues that expands well beyond the desaturated […]
Nomadland
Movie review by Greg Carlson Even without the dark shadow of the pandemic, economic instability looms large in “Nomadland,” Chloe Zhao’s third feature. Already an award season favorite sure to pick up steam en route to multiple Oscar nominations, Zhao’s film affirms the moviemaker’s auteur bona fides ahead of her leap into the higher financial […]
Posted by GBC on January 1, 2021
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4558
Collecting Movies with Alicia Coombs
Interview by Greg Carlson Alicia Coombs is an archivist and the head of business affairs for the American Genre Film Archive in Austin, Texas. Outside of watching and collecting movies, she likes to drink coffee, read about cults, and turn down plans so she can hang out with her cats instead. Greg Carlson: How […]
Posted by GBC on December 28, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4547
Promising Young Woman
Movie review by Greg Carlson Talented hyphenate Emerald Fennell, the season two “Killing Eve” showrunner, unleashes one of the most audacious and provocative films of the year with “Promising Young Woman,” the writer-director-producer’s feature debut. A pitch black commentary on the unrelenting and insidious misogyny that keeps a tight grip on the culture even in […]
Posted by GBC on December 19, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4543
Farewell, Safari
Appreciation by Greg Carlson The Safari, known more recently as the Marcus Safari 7 Discount and the Marcus Safari Value Cinema, has been sold to Ignite Church. The unsurprising news heralds the transition of Moorhead, Minnesota’s surviving public movie exhibitor from one kind of sanctuary to another. Like any cinema, the Safari brought people together […]
Posted by GBC on December 14, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4535
Mank
Movie review by Greg Carlson David Fincher lays down plenty of track on the great big electric train set of “Mank,” the filmmaker’s return to the director’s chair after “Gone Girl” in 2014. Depending on one’s interest in the evergreen legend of “Citizen Kane” and the politics of classic Hollywood, mileage may vary, but Fincher’s […]
Posted by GBC on December 4, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4527
Collecting Movies with Rob Dunkelberger
Interview by Greg Carlson Rob Dunkelberger works in telecommunications and lives in Hopkins, Minnesota with his wife Micky and their dog MayBea. They currently have one child remaining with them in the nest. Rob’s theatre reviews can be read at www.thestagesofmn.com. With live events mostly dark, he has found more time to watch and talk […]
Posted by GBC on November 29, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4517
The Meaning of Hitler
Movie review by Greg Carlson Filmmakers Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker step gingerly into the minefield of serious media considerations of the infamous dictator with their new documentary “The Meaning of Hitler,” a Doc NYC world premiere available to stream through November 29. Acutely aware of the likelihood that they might be “contributing to the […]
Posted by GBC on November 23, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4513
Miss Juneteenth
Movie review by Greg Carlson Channing Godfrey Peoples makes a noteworthy debut as feature writer/director with “Miss Juneteenth,” a 2020 Sundance Film Festival premiere now collecting early — and well-deserved — award season accolades including, among others, a Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director nomination from the IFP Gotham Awards. The film provides lead performer Nicole Beharie […]
Posted by GBC on November 16, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4508
On the Rocks
Movie review by Greg Carlson Sofia Coppola’s delightful distraction from national affairs sees the writer-director returning to her sweet spot: the tiniest whiff of autobiography in a story that, to paraphrase James Stewart’s Macaulay “Mike” Connor in “The Philadelphia Story,” eavesdrops on “the privileged class enjoying its privileges.” A mashup of thematic terrain explored in […]
Posted by GBC on November 9, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4502