Cryptozoo - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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Cryptozoo - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Dash Shaw

Written by: Dash Shaw

Starring: Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Angeliki Papoulia, Zoe Kazan, Peter Stormare, Grace Zabriskie, Louisa Krause, Thomas Jay Ryan

Runtime: 95 min

Synopsis: Cryptozoo is a hand-drawn, gritty and fantastical parable about society versus the individual. A zoo that rescues mythological creatures in psychedelic 1960’s San Francisco races the U.S. Military to find and save a Baku, a Japanese dream-eating cryptid, to prevent the military from using the Baku to eat the dreams of the counterculture and suppress the anti-Vietnam War movement.

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Human Factors - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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Human Factors - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Ronny Trocker

Written by: Ronny Trocker

Starring: Sabine Timoteo, Mark Waschke, Jule Hermann, Wanja Valentin Kube, Hannes Perkmann, Daniel Séjourné

Runtime: 102 min

Synopsis: To escape mounting tensions at the advertising agency they co-own, French-German couple Nina (Sabine Timoteo) and Jan (Mark Waschke) whisk their kids, Max (Wanja Valentin Kube) and Emma (Jule Hermann), away to their seaside vacation home. The couple has signed a new politically charged client, forcing them to confront their clashing priorities. But what’s meant to be an idyllic off-season retreat turns sinister when burglars tear through the house, unseen by anyone except Nina.

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CODA - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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CODA - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Siân Heder

Written by: Siân Heder

Starring: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Marlee Matlin

Runtime: 111 min

Synopsis: CODA follows 17-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only hearing child in a deaf family, as she finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her family's reliance on her as their interpreter and connection to the hearing world.

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Day Zero | Sundance 2021

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Day Zero | Sundance 2021

2021 might turn out to be an even more challenging year than its predecessor, but January had a massive surprise in store for me. I was lucky enough to get approval to cover this year’s (online) edition of Sundance, arguably one of the most important, influential film festivals of today. I don’t have enough words to describe how delighted I am for having the opportunity to (finally) attend an international festival, even if it’s only virtually. This article is the first of many I’ll be publishing throughout the next few days, not only here on my website but also the respective Portuguese translations on Echo Boomer. I’ll explain my upload system and share a list of my most anticipated movies without elaborating too much.

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Malcolm & Marie (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

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Malcolm & Marie (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Sam Levinson

Written by: Sam Levinson

Starring: Zendaya, John David Washington

Runtime: 106 min

Synopsis: Writer-director Sam Levinson teams up with Zendaya and John David Washington for an achingly romantic drama in which a filmmaker and his girlfriend return home following a celebratory movie premiere as he awaits what's sure to be imminent critical and financial success. The evening suddenly takes a turn as revelations about their relationships begin to surface, testing the strength of their love.

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Palmer (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

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Palmer (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Fisher Stevens

Written by: Cheryl Guerriero

Starring: Justin Timberlake, Ryder Allen, Alisha Wainwright, June Squibb, Juno Temple

Runtime: 110 min

Synopsis: After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer (Justin Timberlake) returns home to put his life back together - and forms an unlikely bond with Sam (Ryder Allen), an outcast boy from a troubled home. But then, Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.

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The White Tiger (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

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The White Tiger (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Ramin Bahrani

Written by: Ramin Bahrani

Starring: Adarsh Gourav, Rajkummar Rao, Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Runtime: 126 min

Synopsis: Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav) narrates his epic and darkly humorous rise from poor villager to successful entrepreneur in modern India. Cunning and ambitious, our young hero jockeys his way into becoming a driver for Ashok (Rajkummar Rao) and Pinky (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), who have just returned from America. Society has trained Balram to be one thing - a servant - so he makes himself indispensable to his rich masters. But after a night of betrayal, he realizes the corrupt lengths they will go to trap him and save themselves. On the verge of losing everything, Balram rebels against a rigged and unequal system to rise up and become a new kind of master.

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Mini-Reviews - 2020 Edition

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Mini-Reviews - 2020 Edition

As we know, 2020 has been a horrible year everywhere for everyone and everything, including the beloved art of filmmaking. Countless delays, complete removals of the year’s schedule, and a total stop in filming production. It couldn’t be any worse for cinema. Movie theaters are struggling to survive, blockbusters are gradually moving to home viewing… 2020 is the year everyone hoped to never live through.

Obviously, everyone’s lives and jobs are being affected, but even though the number of films released this year is inevitably shorter than in previous ones, time is still hard to find if someone wants to watch every single film like me. Therefore, this article will contain concise opinions on some films I can’t afford writing a full review right now.

This article will be updated each time I add a new entry, as well as its date of publication, so these mini-reviews can be seen by every reader of mine.

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Pieces of a Woman (2020) - SPOILER-FREE Review

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Pieces of a Woman (2020) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Kornél Mundruczó

Written by: Kata Wéber

Starring: Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie, Jimmie Fails, Ellen Burstyn

Runtime: 126 min

Synopsis: Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) are a Boston couple on the verge of parenthood whose lives change irrevocably when a home birth ends in unimaginable tragedy. Thus begins a yearlong odyssey for Martha, who must navigate her grief while working through fractious relationships with Sean and her domineering mother (Ellen Burstyn), along with the publicly vilified midwife (Molly Parker), whom she must face in court.

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Promising Young Woman (2020) - SPOILER-FREE Review

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Promising Young Woman (2020) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Emerald Fennell

Written by: Emerald Fennell

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Laverne Cox

Runtime: 113 min

Synopsis: Nothing in Cassie's (Carey Mulligan) life is what it appears to be - she's wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she's living a secret double life by night. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs from the past.

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