Film: Trapped in the Thriller ‘Outlier’
When the pandemic first hit, L.A. filmmaker Nate Strayer went back to Michigan to lock down with family. As COVID continued, he decided to make a film there. He flew…
Film Review: ‘Single Mother By Choice’
When stars become pregnant during production, Hollywood’s usual procedure is to hide the bump, as they did when Gal Gadot returned to do some “Wonder Woman” reshoots while five months…
Film Review: Circumnavigating for Survival
When navigating a return to civilian life after being in the Navy proved rocky for one veteran Taylor Grieger, he dedicated himself to a mother mission: sailing down fo the…
Selling Trophy Hunting as Conservation
There’s some beautiful footage of East Africa in the documentary film “Killing the Shepherd” about a struggling rural village in Zambia whose lives, we are told, is threatened by poachers…
Film Review: ‘The Last Days of Capitalism’
“The Last Days of Capitalism” is the wonkier-than-necessary title of Adam Mervis’ latest film. Its two characters do discuss and demonstrate some of the ups and downs of the free…
Film Review: Optimistic ‘Seeding Change’
The preponderance of documentaries on climate crisis are so deeply depressing, with the prospects for the future so dire, one can hardly make it to a conclusion where there might…
Film Review: From Raleigh, ‘Fever Dreams’
Rob Underhill’s “Fever Dreams” began as a series of episodes for a “Creepshow” type anthology that never got made. Largely written by producer Al Julian (who appears in three of…
Documentary Reminds: He’s Rick James
More than 20 years after his hitmaking heyday, Rick James became a household name to a whole new generation in 2004 when Dave Chappelle mocked his brash personality with the…
Film Review: The Story of the Band Luxury
The indie band Luxury from Georgia gained some mild regional attention in the mid-1990s for mixing the ferocity of punk with the Smiths-like melodicism of its lead singer. What might…
Film Review: Taking ‘Steps’ to Forgiveness
In the opening scenes of Eddie Harris’ screenplay for “Steps,” a man (Rob Morgan) is randomly shot in a robbery outside a Jersey City bodega, is injured enough to lose…