Movie Review

SXSW Review: The Big Sick

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Coming into the festival I was excited to see that The Big Sick was actually playing after it did so well at Sundance, and considering its content. I’ll get into the plot in a bit, but the content I’m talking about is that it is an adaptation of the writing team of Kumail Nanjiani (who also stars) and Emily V. Gordon’s relationship. I’ve been a fan of Kumail for quite some time and I know Emily from podcasts he’s done with her and as such I felt kind of close to their story already. So I was excited to see if it held up with more detail and a dramatization of it all.

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SXSW Review: Prevenge

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It’s always a pleasure to see an actor you like make their first move into directing, and that was what drew me to Alice Lowe’s directorial debut Prevenge. If you don’t know her she is likely best known for writing and starring in Sightseers, though I know her most from Hot Fuzz and she has been close with Edgar Wright since then. With two wonderfully macabre comedies being what I know her for, this one sounded right up my alley. So without further putzing about let me tell you about it.

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SXSW Review: Becoming Bond

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I’ve made it no small secret that I am a big fan of the James Bond franchise and all of their films. Those of you that know the series well will likely have a question for what is widely considered biggest shortcoming of any official Bond film (so, not counting Never Say Never Again) and that is, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. George Lazenby stars in it as the second actor to play Bond and also as the only one to do it just once, and his story is even more interesting than that. That interesting story is what is the focus of Becoming Bond to tell, from Lazenby’s own words, so it easily topped my list of must see films this year at SXSW. I got into the premier and its time for me to tell you what I think.

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SXSW Review: Walking Out

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Walking Out popped up on my radar as I’m a fan of one of it’s stars, Matt Bomer, so I chose it over a few other options. I knew the basic summary going in but that was about it which is always the best way to see a film so I was ready to go for a drama. I don’t really have much else to say on that though so let’s get right to our review.

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SXSW Review: Atomic Blonde

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You know what’s a great feeling at a festival: Knowing nothing about a movie and maybe not even being that interested and then suddenly needing to see it. That was the case for me with Atomic Blonde since even just reading the description slightly I didn’t think I was interested until the trailer showed up a few days before the premier. Seeing a crazy action movie with Charlize Theron and directed by David Leitch who co-directed John Wick had me waiting in line 2 hours during SXSW to see this one and to be able to give you this review now.

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SXSW Review: This is Your Death

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This is Your Death poster art

When I went into This is Your Death while at SXSW I was excited by the talent behind it, but admittedly I wasn’t so sure on the story. Some of you may know this old story of watching a trailer and guessing the plot. All things considered I feel that may not be the case for everyone going in but either way it still left me excited to see Giancarlo Esposito’s direction as this was the first time I’d seen him do so, even if it was his second outing. But that is enough rambling, without further ado lets get into it

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Reel Review: London Has Fallen

Ben Reviews

I was surprised back in 2013 when I heard that Olympus Has Fallen wasn’t too bad since it seemed like braindead action crap. I always like Aaron Eckhart and like Gerard Butler enough so it shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did but not enough to see it. Another thing that surprised me was that they were deciding to make a sequel coming out 3 years later. But with how surprisingly good the first one supposedly was, I was pretty excited going into my screening.

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Fantastic Fest Review: Anomalisa

Ben Reviews

If you know Charlie Kaufman’s work you know that you rarely know exactly what you’ll be getting going into one of his movies the first time. You then also have the consistent quality Claymation work or Duke Johnson which is primarily seen in comedy but certainly is one of the best directors in the medium at least in the US. So the big question is what happens when you mix these two together to make a movie, and it’s my pleasure to be able to share that with you now.

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Fantastic Fest Review: Victoria

Ben Reviews

One movie that struck me right from the trailer leading up to the festival was certainly Victoria, as heist movie by the director of Run Lola Run all done in one 2 hour take. If I didn’t already love heist films the technical challenge presented is enough to make me want to see this film so I we ecstatic to have it as my first film on Day 2 of Fantastic Fest. Now that I’m well on the other side of that screening and day I’m happy to bring share with you about this movie.

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Reel Review: Felt

Ben Reviews

I will fully admit that I kind of avoided Felt at Fantasitc Fest when it premiered for the same reason I had a hard time getting into the movie when I recently watched it for review. Its not that I thought it would be bad or even an aversion to discussion of rape and gender issues (if you know anything about Fantastic Fest you know that isn’t unusual ground for the movies) but rather it was the naturalist approach to the movie. This is a movie supremely grounded in reality to the point that it makes you uncomfortable frequently and makes the ominous tones throughout really worrying.

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