Review by Greg Carlson WARNING: The following review reveals information and details contained within the live show. Read only if you have seen “The Empire Strips Back.” Embarking on an inaugural tour of Canada and a return to the United States following a 2018 run, Australian burlesque impresario and creative director Russall S. Beattie’s “The […]
The Beach Bum
Movie review by Greg Carlson Harmony Korine keeps a tight grip on his title as one of the most critic/critique-proof filmmakers of recent times with “The Beach Bum,” a sultry companion piece to 2012’s memorable “Spring Breakers.” Not without its own kind of middle-aged charm and a worldview to match, “The Beach Bum” is virtually […]
Posted by GBC on April 12, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4045
Native Son
Movie review by Greg Carlson Following a world premiere as one of the opening night selections of the Sundance Film Festival in January, conceptual visual artist Rashid Johnson’s adaptation of Richard Wright’s venerable “Native Son” debuts April 6 on HBO. The third big screen version of the story of Bigger Thomas, Wright’s film retains many […]
Posted by GBC on April 5, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4041
Us
Movie review by Greg Carlson With enough mirrors, doublings, and doppelgangers to make Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Welles proud, Jordan Peele’s “Us” cements the filmmaker’s reputation as a master craftsman and visual stylist. Creepy, funny, and wicked sharp, the film’s genre is horror, the ideas are expansive and the execution clean. An ominous text prologue alludes […]
Posted by GBC on March 29, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4033
Little Woods
Movie review by Greg Carlson Set in the fictional Little Woods, North Dakota — a small town in the western oil patch not too far from the Canadian border — Nia DaCosta’s first feature film as writer-director marks an auspicious and confident debut. Recalling some of the same issues explored in Courtney Hunt’s memorable “Frozen […]
Posted by GBC on March 19, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4026
To the Stars
Movie review by Greg Carlson Early 1960s Oklahoma is an ideal setting for classic coming of age themes in Martha Stephens’s “To the Stars.” Richer in characterization and emotion than it is in plotting, “To the Stars” capitalizes on Andrew Reed’s beautiful monochromatic cinematography, with inky blacks and shimmering silvers aspiring to the same kind […]
Posted by GBC on March 14, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4022
Fargo Film Festival 19
Preview by Greg Carlson The 19th Fargo Film Festival begins on Tuesday, March 19th and runs until Saturday, March 23. Continuing a tradition of quality local arts programming, the event provides both casual moviegoers and cinephiles with multiple opportunities to see remarkable shorts and features on the two big screens of the Fargo Theatre. Guided […]
Posted by GBC on March 11, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4012
Bathtubs Over Broadway
Movie review by Greg Carlson Almost relegated to the trashcan of history and the file drawer marked for popular cultural ephemera, the audio and/or video recordings of the industrial musical are properly dusted off and polished to a state of splendor in Dava Whisenant’s “Bathtubs Over Broadway.” The first-time feature director, who earned the Albert […]
Posted by GBC on March 4, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4007
Efren Ramirez Interview
Interview by Greg Carlson Bonafide modern classic “Napoleon Dynamite” celebrates fifteen years of sweet jumps with a victory tour featuring stars Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez. As part of the 2019 Fargo Film Festival, Jade Presents will bring the film to the Fargo Theatre on Thursday, March 21. Heder and Ramirez will participate in an […]
Posted by GBC on February 24, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=4001
David Crosby: Remember My Name
Movie review by Greg Carlson Director A.J. Eaton’s rock star biography “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” checks all the boxes of the lion-in-winter music documentary. Crosby’s clear-eyed laments for heady days of monumental drug consumption simultaneously see him twinkle with pride and blush with regret as he recounts his unbelievable adventures. As the irreplaceable C […]
Posted by GBC on February 15, 2019
https://southpawfilmworks.net/?p=3997