Category Archives: Drama

Berlinale Panorama review: Betânia

Posted on March 21, 2024 by admin

Shot largely in Brazil’s Lençóis Maranhenses park, Betânia follows a widow as she returns after many years to her ancestral home. The debut feature for writer and director Marcelo Botta, it screened in this year’s Panorama section of the Berlin … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama, Film Festivals | Leave a comment

New Mexico Noir: Loves Lies Bleeding

Posted on March 8, 2024 by admin

A solid, nasty film noir set in New Mexico, Love Lies Bleeding is a stylish blend of genre set pieces and director and co-writer Rose Glass’s distinctive vision of erotic bodybuilding. A tough sell to mainstream viewers, it will build … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama | Leave a comment

New York Noir: 5lbs of Pressure review

Posted on March 7, 2024 by admin

Getting films completed and released is so difficult that finding fault with them is no longer appealing. As long as filmmakers are trying to be constructive, shouldn’t they be given some credit? Putting that theory to the test is 5lbs … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama | Leave a comment

Float review: Adrift in life

Posted on February 9, 2024 by admin

A low-key romance set in the Pacific Northwest, Float rests almost entirely on the appeal of its two leads, Andrea Bang and Robbie Amell (also a producer). They play mismatched neighbors hiding personal wounds. Before the movie ends they will … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama | Leave a comment

Ranbir Kapoor is an Animal in his latest blockbuster

Posted on December 5, 2023 by admin

Clocking in at over 200 minutes, Animal is a film defined by excess. A multi-generational crime drama, it topped the global box office on its opening weekend. It is the highest-grossing opening of star Ranbir Kapoor’s career. Bigger, longer, bloodier: … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama, India | Leave a comment

Life is a cage fight in Rumble Through the Dark

Posted on November 3, 2023 by admin

You don’t expect a dark, gritty boxing drama from Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, but that’s exactly what Rumble Through the Dark is. Set in a grim world of fight clubs, liquor stores, traveling carnivals, and orphanages, the film … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Drama | Leave a comment

Barber: Private eye blues in Dublin

Posted on September 20, 2023 by admin

Slow-paced and dignified, Barber plays by genre rules. Set in Dublin, the story follows private eye Val Barber (Aiden Gillen) as he investigates the disappearance of a young co-ed. It’s a mystery more interested in character than plot, one that … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The lost dreams of Past Lives

Posted on May 30, 2023 by admin

Quietly devastating, Past Lives follows two childhood friends as they face the paths their choices have left them. Made with remarkable skill and precision, it is a wrenching account of how dreams die. Childhood friends in Seoul, Nora and Hae … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian, Drama | Leave a comment

Hidden Blade: Wartime intrigue in Shanghai

Posted on February 15, 2023 by admin

Shanghai in World War II was a viper’s nest of competing interests. Occupying Japanese forces had to deal with Chinese fighters who were themselves splitting under two leaders, Communist and Nationalist. French and British nationals along with Shanghai natives were … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian, Drama, New Releases | Leave a comment

The Eight Mountains: how friendships change

Posted on January 24, 2023 by admin

Based on a 2016 novel by Paolo Cognetti, The Eight Mountains is memorable more for what it shows than what it means. The novel, vivid descriptions of living and climbing in the mountains near the Aosta Valley alternating with observations … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama, Film Festivals | Leave a comment