Category: Indie

Indie Suspense/Thriller

“Profile”

By Brett_G on

6.2

Entertaining enough, but fell flat in the end. I and the rest of row B spent most of the third act laughing at the stupidity of the reporter’s actions. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Hundreds of lessons of “what not to do” in the realm of personal security. Especially if you’re catfishing a terrorist. Like, come on!

Technically speaking, I understand why they chose this format for the film, but the screen capture genre seems to have met an appropriately timely death. It had a great deal of novelty in early indie horror films but now feels like it’s a cheap gimmick used to trim the budget of a poorly written project. The sleight of hand doesn’t cover for a story you won’t want to believe is based on a true story by the end. It’s similar to watching a video of a bullfighter being gored by a bull… We in row B left with a feeling of “what did you think was going to happen?”

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Drama Indie

“Dream Horse”

By Brett_G on

7.6

I loved the sense of community that bled through the screen and into your heart while watching this one. The story was a bit cheesy at times, but the people were so damn relatable and likable, you couldn’t help but root for them and their horse. Get ready to cheer like a fool at a movie screen while watching the race scenes. After the past year, it’s great to see such an uplifting film that has a happy ending even more since it’s based on a true story.

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Indie Romance

“Finding You”

By Brett_G on

8.2

With these types of movies, I typically judge them by the feeling I’m left with leaving the theater. Does it give me the butterflies? This one checked all of the boxes and left this forever bachelor inspired.

Uptight person who needs to learn how to relax from their polar opposite counterpart? Check.

Gorgeous leads who have spectacular chemistry? Check.

Beautiful locale? Check.

Overbearing manager/parent who makes it a forbidden love? Check.

Just enough twist on the story we’ve heard a million times before so we don’t mind rendition 1,000,001? Check.

Just wait until you find out the “you” that she finds… it’s going to blow your mind.

This film reminded me heavily of “Letters to Juliet” and “Leap Year,” which still stand as two of my favorites. Come to think of it, it’s also checking boxes that make it similar to “Somewhere in Time” as well. It’s also possible that this pounced on me in a time of sappiness to have a more significant impact. Totally possible. Either way, the cast was perfect, the story was exquisite, and the end product was *chef’s kiss*.

Side note: This rendition of “Whiskey in the Jar” was much different than the one I typically listen to.

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Drama Indie

“Four Good Days”

By Brett_G on

8.1

Get ready to get sad. Then mad. Then worry. Then sad again. Then happy? I think it’s happily ever after, but damn… if it wasn’t a rough path to get there.

Huge Kudos to Mila Kunis and Glenn Close for taking on these roles. For a mainstream film, this story goes down some dark rabbit holes. It’s fairly unafraid to go places that help give the narrative much more weight and impact in the end. Stephen Root is a bit of a sleeper hit, though, serving to provide perfectly timed perspective to the other cast around him. Without him, I don’t think the story lands half of the punches it does.

May have to set your morals aside for the third act, or be ready to process some things. In the end, an incredible story to bring to the big screen.

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Drama Indie

“Minari”

By Brett_G on

8.5

A24 made this?!? I mean, there is a fire in the third act that reflects flickering light in the face of the cast that serves as a potent metaphor. But it’s not one of their family members ablaze, and there’s no witch in the woods who steals the children. Very out of character for them.

That said, this was an incredibly heartfelt and impactful family drama about the struggle to find the “American Dream” as an immigrant family. I loved the way that the story wove together so many different perspectives. American Culture, Korean Culture, Midwestern culture. The similarities and differences. What ties us all together as a community and what makes us unique as individuals.

Well worth having to read subtitles. I look forward to the film market becoming more international in the future, because of films like this.

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