Movie review by Greg Carlson For Beastie Boys fans, the personal “soundtrack of our lives” stories are at least equal in number to the records, cassettes, and compact discs sold. Some of us got in with “Licensed to Ill” in 1986 (gratitude to you forever, Brandon Roy) and never looked back, anxiously awaiting each album […]
Babyteeth
Movie review by Greg Carlson Writer Rita Kalnejais adapts the script of her own 2012 play “Babyteeth,” and Shannon Murphy, delivering her feature directorial debut, guides a fantastic ensemble of performers to success in what could have been an all-too-familiar dying-young melodrama. The depiction of terminal illness is so tried and true as a storytelling […]
Posted by GBC on June 27, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4372
Da 5 Bloods
Movie review by Greg Carlson One of the most effective storytelling strategies in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” is the application of the simple and elegant dichotomy. Lee has long enjoyed exploring dualities, as the apparent bifurcation of moral choice-making appeals to our human nature: black and white, yin and yang, stop and go, yes […]
Posted by GBC on June 20, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4369
Collecting Movies with Brady Daley
Interview by Greg Carlson Brady Daley does UI/UX design, data visualization, and media production in Seattle, where he lives with his girlfriend Erika, dog Phinneas (Finn), and his girlfriend’s cat Annie, who hates him. He primarily collects horror but also rescues and archives special interest, conspiracy theory, and instructional titles he fears will be lost […]
Posted by GBC on June 11, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4362
Shirley
Movie review by Greg Carlson Another significant 2020 title skipping theatrical release for digital platforms, Josephine Decker’s “Shirley” premiered at Sundance in January, where Decker received a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Auteur Filmmaking. “Shirley” marks yet another career milestone for the dynamic filmmaker as she moves in the direction of wider accessibility and […]
Posted by GBC on May 30, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4358
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
Movie review by Greg Carlson Natasha Gregson Wagner, known to David Lynch fans for her performance in “Lost Highway,” guides viewers through an intimate but tightly controlled portrait of her iconic mother in “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind.” Available on HBO following a Sundance premiere in January, the biographical documentary is directed by veteran “making […]
Posted by GBC on May 29, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4353
The Assistant
Movie review by Greg Carlson The most compelling and powerful idea in Kitty Green’s compelling and powerful film “The Assistant” resides in the network of complicity protecting the predator/stand-in for Harvey Weinstein and those like him. Green expresses, in the microcosmic minutiae of office-life orbit, a detailed picture of institutionalized harassment and mistreatment. Even though […]
Posted by GBC on May 22, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4350
Collecting Movies with Caity Birmingham
Interview by Greg Carlson Caity Birmingham is a production designer who lives in Los Angeles. We have been friends for a long time, and originally bonded over our mutual appreciation of teen movies. In addition to that genre, she also loves costume dramas and apocalyptic sci-fi. Caity works on feature films, and also does a […]
Posted by GBC on May 15, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4337
Le choc du futur
Movie review by Greg Carlson Cinematic depictions of the creative process are as common as they are usually unconvincing. Whether encapsulated in a montage or stretched out over several scenes, images of painters painting, composers composing, writers writing, and rockers rocking are regularly meant to convey to the viewer a sense of awe or accomplishment […]
Posted by GBC on May 10, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4332
Broken Bird
Movie review by Greg Carlson As alternative viewing strategies for avid moviegoers seeking fresh content continue, the South by Southwest filmmakers who opted to join the Amazon Prime collection have benefited this week from attention that would have otherwise been more limited by the in-person version of the Austin, Texas showcase. One of the best […]
Posted by GBC on May 2, 2020
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4326