Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbot star in director Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor
Review by Jessica Carr
With its amazing visuals and effective storytelling, I think Possessor is able to create a riveting cinematic experience. It isn’t a comfortable one by any means, but it’s definitely something you feel viscerally.
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Kate Lyn Sheil stars as Amy in She Dies Tomorrow by Amy Seimetz
Review by Jessica Carr
Director and writer Amy Seimetz has created a movie that not only perfectly encapsulates the anxiety we are all feeling during the pandemic, but also shows an honest portrayal of her own personal struggle with it.
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Festival Coverage by Jessica Carr
Amazon Prime Video & SXSW came together to showcase a small portion of the films that were going to screen at the festival. The filmmakers who opted to participate had their shorts streamed on Amazon Prime from April 27 to May 6. I was able to catch 6 short films that were featured in the program. Although I thought the overall lineup was pretty limited, I tried to watch the short films that I found most appealing. It was nice to see fresh films from upcoming filmmakers even at a limited capacity.
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Review by Jessica Carr
Films like Tigertail can help audiences everywhere develop stronger empathy for other immigrants and understand their experiences, and I hope they also inspire immigrants to tell their own stories – or entrust those stories to someone close to them so they can share it with the world.
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Jonathan Majors and Jimmie Fails star in director Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Review by Jessica Carr
This was the first time in 2019 that I left the theater feeling like I had just witnessed something truly masterful. This film is truly a work of poetry-in-motion.
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Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami – the stars, writers, and directors of The Breaker Upperers
Review by Jessica Carr
When I saw The Breaker Upperers, I was immediately caught up in the chemistry of writer-director-star duo Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami.
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Retro Review by Jessica Carr
Whether you view it simply as a necessity needed to live or as something to truly be treasured, we are all connected by food. That’s why it was a work of genius in 1985 for Juzo Itami to create a Japanese film that uses food as a way to meditate on human behavior.
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Festival Coverage by Jessica Carr
On May 10th, Rotimi Rainwater’s documentary Lost in America premiered at the Nashville Film Festival. The documentary focuses on youth homelessness in America. It is a film that is near and dear to Rainwater’s heart because he was also homeless at one point in his life. In the film, Rainwater travels the country to shed some light on the epidemic of youth homelessness in America- highlighting issues like: human trafficking, the foster care system, youth rejected because of their sexuality, domestic violence, abuse and more. It also examines what many organizations, politicians and other public figures are doing (or not doing) to help these youths.
Cinematary's own Jessica Carr spoke with Rainwater about his film and why he thinks making this documentary was important.
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Amy Schumer stars in Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn's I Feel Pretty
Review by Jessica Carr
After watching the trailer for I Feel Pretty, I worried that Schumer would be the butt of every joke because she thinks she is attractive and others do not. However, I think the film is smarter than people are giving it credit for.
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Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy in Thoroughbreds
Review by Jessica Carr
On the surface, it seems like the ideal place to live life to the fullest without a care in the world. But Thoroughbreds is much more interested in cracking the surface and revealing the rotten core underneath.
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Tragedy Girls was one of the ten feature films screened at the 2017 Knoxville Horror Film Festival.
Personal Essay by Jessica Carr
After the three days were over, I was left with one question. Am I officially a horror fan now?
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Miami Man (Jason Momoa) and Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) start to fall for each other in Ana Lily Amirpour's cannibal love story The Bad Batch.
Review by Jessica Carr
Whether you are a huge fan of Ana Lily Amirpour’s work or not, it’s hard to describe The Bad Batch as an ordinary movie experience.
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Best friends, Okja and Mija (Seo-Hyeon Ahn, explore the mountains of South Korea in Bong Joon-ho's thought-provoking film Okja.
Review by Jessica Carr
In a film about greed, Bong Joon-ho still allows some of his characters to have redemptive qualities that help their humanity shine through.
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Nick Robinson and Amandla Stenberg have an undeniable chemistry in the charming YA adaptation Everything, Everything directed by Stella Meghie.
Review by Jessica Carr
It’s OKAY to let yourself enjoy a charming YA romance, especially if it means women like Amandla Stenberg get more lead roles.
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Garance Marillier stars in the cannibal coming-of-age thriller Raw, the debut film for French director Julia Ducournau.
Sandra Hüller stars in director Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann
Review by Jessica Carr
With Toni Erdmann, German writer/director Maren Ade creates a film that explores father-daughter relationships, the meaning of life and depression all while creating a comedic experience that had me laughing until my sides ached.
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Shia LeBeouf and Sasha Lane star in director Andrea Arnold's American Honey
Review by Jessica Carr
For Star (Sasha Lane), the dream is to live in a trailer somewhere with lots of trees and room for lots of kids, and I’m so thankful to see a film that shows me what her life is like.
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Ralph Fiennes and Art Parkinson star in Kubo and the Two Strings
Personal Essay / Review by Jessica Carr
(Read original review by Andrew Swafford here)
When I was sitting next to my parents watching Kubo and the Two Strings play out, I couldn’t help but let the tears fall from the corners of my eyes. This was a story that resonated with me so closely.
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Julian Dennison and Sam Neill star in Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Review by Jessica Carr
At the end of the day, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a feel good film. Taika Waititi gives us loveable characters with flaws and over the course of the film, we have the opportunity to see them grow into better people.
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Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe star in Swiss Army Man
Review by Jessica Carr
Swiss Army Man has the ability to make the viewer laugh and cry simultaneously. Underneath the absolutely ridiculous plot, lies a heartfelt message about accepting the truths of life while also learning to accept your own truths.
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