REVIEW: The Swerve [2020]

Little Holly Hippo. The insomnia is a symptom, not the disease. That’s what you’d hope someone would tell Holly (Azura Skye) as she slowly descends into the maddening purgatory that exists between waking life and nightmare. We see it quite clearly once her husband Rob (Bryce Pinkham) asks to be doted upon because he’s too stressed out from working sixteen-hour days while their kids Ben (Taen Phillips) and Lee (Liam Seib) do everything to make her life more difficult than it already is as a full-time teacher and housewife working…

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REVIEW: Take Me To the River [2016]

“The beans have to come out of the oven” First-time feature writer/director Matt Sobel set out to create a film that allowed its viewers to become active participants in the story process and he’s succeeded. Take Me to the River is nothing if not ambiguous in a way that forces us to give meaning to unanswered questions and oddly truncated scenarios. It’s claustrophobically emotional with intense discomfort both for the characters and audience. How you interpret what’s happening beneath the surface of knowing looks, fierce provocations, and devastating guilt says…

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REVIEW: Least Among Saints [2012]

“Everyone’s scared of something” That-guy actor Martin Papazian goes for dramatic gravitas in his directorial debut Least Among Saints and finds more success than not in the process. Wanting to tackle a tale about two lost souls helping each other understand their place in the world, it seemed only natural for the first-time screenwriter to dig back into his past as well as bring to life tales heard at present. Creating his central dynamic with a young boy and the haunted man willing to ensure his well being in the…

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