REVIEW: Repair Us [2014]

“What do you suggest we do?” There’s a moment at the beginning of Mikael Ayele and Catherine Ames‘ short film Repair Us when Nicole (Ames) is joking around with her boyfriend Brandan (Ayele) about what they can do to spice up their stagnant relationship and rekindle a waning flame. She goes through a list of the usual suspects as far as role-playing is concerned—nurse, schoolgirl, nun—before eventually laughing off a suggestion of doubling herself for a menage a trois. It’s a deft bit of reaction shot cutting from his wry…

Read More

REVIEW: Train to Stockholm [2012]

“What’s Bruce Lee’s favorite drink?” A very intimate portrait into the life of a young man lost amidst a foreign culture, J. Erik Reese‘s Train to Stockholm is an emotionally naked work composed of the crossed signals and false starts lining everyone’s path towards personal identity. We’re the product of our environment, upbringing, and curiosity—forever changing as adventures, relationships, and time progress. Some keep a practical head by orientating their lives along a series of successive goals while others break free from the mold to explore the unknown. It’s through…

Read More