Category: Festivals

By Mark Saldana  Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars)  To set one’s musical artist biopic apart from many others that have preceded it, is a difficult task for any filmmaker attempting an entry in the well-worn genre.  Some films like Walk the Line, Get on Up, and Ray have managed to stand-out with superb performances… Continue reading SXSW Film 2016 Review: MILES AHEAD

By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ There is plenty of home invasion horror films that I have seen during the several years that I have been writing about films and just when I think they can be predictable, another one arrives that leaves me a little bit unsettled when the story is tweaked a bit from… Continue reading SXSW Film 2016 Review: HUSH

By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ Losing a loved one is not easy, and the grieving process is very different for each individual. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a cocky Wall Streeter, Davis Mitchell, married to Julia (Heather Lind) in his latest film, Demolition. At the beginning of the film, this couple is having what appears to… Continue reading SXSW Film 2016 Review: DEMOLITION

By Liz Lopez Rating: C- I am not a fan of roller coaster rides, but yet the feature film, Hardcore Henry, gives the audience a feeling of being on one huge carnival ride of some sort. It is as if you are mounted on the shoulders of the protagonist that is having some limbs replaced… Continue reading SXSW FILM 2016 Review: HARDCORE HENRY

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Not since the movie King Kelly (SXSW Alum, 2012) have I seen a more modern style of filmmaking, besides the often frustrating found-footage horror film.  9 Rides takes place on a New Years Eve in the car of an Uber driver working the eventful night to… Continue reading SXSW Film 2016 Review: 9 RIDES

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Close to two years ago, acclaimed director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) offered audiences the true story of Cheryl Strayed and how she overcame her grief for her deceased mother and her subsequent drug abuse in the amazing film Wild.  This year Vallée and screenwriter Bryan Sipe brought to… Continue reading SXSW Film 2016 Review: DEMOLITION

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) My second favorite Midnighter film of the festival is a suspenseful and edgy thriller that would make Alfred Hitchcock proud.  Ethan (Logan Miller) and Sean (Keir Gilchrist) are two high school boys conducting a “social experiment.”  They attempt to convince their grouchy neighbor Harold Grainey (James… Continue reading SXSW Film 2016 Review: THE GOOD NEIGHBOR

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) My favorite Midnighter of the festival is an utterly disturbing film about an animal shelter employee named Seth (Dominic Monaghan) who becomes so obsessed with his former high school classmate Claire (Jeanette McCurdy) that he takes her prisoner.  Keeping her locked up in a cage in… Continue reading SXSW Film 2016 Review: PET

By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ Directed and written by Richard Linklater, Everybody Wants Some!! is the SXSW Film Festival Opening Night film in the Headliners category and after a couple of more screenings during the festival, followed by a fundraiser for the Austin Film Society on March 26th, it opens in theaters nationwide on April… Continue reading SXSW Film 2016 Review: EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!