Category: Independent Film
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: And all that jazz
by Matt Ward
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the latest awards contending prestige drama from Netflix, will likely forever be known for the final performance of the late actor Chadwick Boseman, whose career was cut short by cancer in August. But what hopefully won’t be left out is that the film based on an acclaimed August Wilson play is also the finest work of Boseman’s career and a … Read More Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: And all that jazz
Wander Darkly: Crashing waves of emotion
by Matt Ward
How we handle pain, grief and tragedy – visceral, raw emotions – has always been a vibrant playground for filmmakers seeking weighty material to create artistic cinema. Relative newcomer Tara Miele found inspiration from her own car accident to blend reality and fantasy in Wander Darkly, a melancholic film that finds new parents Adrienne and Matteo at a crossroads following a family tragedy that … Read More Wander Darkly: Crashing waves of emotion
The Nest: Horrors of a failing marriage
by Matt Ward
Horror films do not have to be scary to be effective. There doesn’t need to be scenes of bombastic violence or frightening jump scares to heighten the tension. Sometimes the most terrifying things in cinema come from slowly built, meticulously crafted inevitability. In that sense, writer/director Sean Durkin’s latest film is incredibly haunting, simply by focusing on a looming sense of doom in a … Read More The Nest: Horrors of a failing marriage
The Way I See It: Capturing humanity in a single frame
by Matt Ward
Pete Souza has had an inside look at Washington politics for decades. He’s been in the room for countless national crises, meetings with foreign leaders and hundreds of White House press events without anyone ever really knowing his name. As the official photographer for both the Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama administrations, Souza has seen intimate moments on both sides of the aisle and … Read More The Way I See It: Capturing humanity in a single frame
On The Rocks: The best, worst of two people talking
by Matt Ward
Sofia Coppola’s new film doesn’t really go much of anywhere, but the road traveled is easy and the banter refreshingly charming. Evoking a Woody Allen-esque style, Coppola’s On The Rocks hit AppleTV+ this weekend to little fanfare, but with a softer touch, a melancholic wistfulness and the dulcet tones of Academy Award nominee Bill Murray philosophizing on why men tend to stray from committed … Read More On The Rocks: The best, worst of two people talking
Dick Johnson is Dead: Long live Dick Johnson
by Matt Ward
How do we confront the inevitability of death? Without fail, everyone will ultimately succumb to their mortality, but when it’s staring you in the face, what is the best way of processing it? More so, is there a way to best handle the looming death of a loved one? Documentarian Kirsten Johnson tackles these questions head on in a strange, yet beautiful and uncompromising … Read More Dick Johnson is Dead: Long live Dick Johnson
The Artist’s Wife: The artistry of fading memory
by Matt Ward
Films often do a remarkable job of showcasing what disease does to a person both mentally and physically. In 2014, Eddie Redmayne transformed himself to play Stephen Hawking struggling with early-onset ALS in an Oscar-winning role in The Theory of Everything and Julianne Moore received an Academy Award for playing a doctor diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in Still Alice. What doesn’t usually take center stage … Read More The Artist’s Wife: The artistry of fading memory
Irresistible: Big spin in a small town
by Matt Ward
Politics is broken. It’s the thesis statement that lies under the surface of former Daily Show host turned filmmaker Jon Stewart’s latest feature and one that evokes a gentler version of the outrage he displayed in a viral moment on CNN’s Crossfire in 2004, raking pundits Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala over the coals for hyper-partisanship ruining American democracy in his opinion. Written in … Read More Irresistible: Big spin in a small town
Boys State: For the people, by the people
by Matt Ward
Over 1,200 high school boys gather annually in Austin to participate in a seven-day democratic experiment designed to test their mettle. A mock government program put on nationwide by the American Legion, Boys State challenges these young men to form their own political parties, hold primaries and eventually a statewide race for a variety of offices culminating in a gubernatorial election. Each iteration of … Read More Boys State: For the people, by the people
Tread: Mayhem in a small town
by Matt Ward
Granby, Colorado feels like the sort of small town you’d find in every state across America. Industrious, hardworking, the kind of place where neighbors know all the scuttlebutt within a few hours and there’s hardly a stranger because everyone is on a first name basis. The fact that the events depicted in director Paul Solet’s gripping documentary “Tread” could plausibly happen in any small … Read More Tread: Mayhem in a small town
Radioactive: Experimentation in biopic film
by Matt Ward
It’s unclear exactly why an avant-garde, cinematic biopic of the adult life of famed scientist Marie Curie was needed, but such is the world of film in 2020. Opting not for the sidesplitting, yet emotional dramedy that powered 2016’s “Hidden Figures,” the demure albeit strange film “Radioactive” from director Marjane Satrapi presents Curie in a traditional light before mixing her journey to multiple Nobel … Read More Radioactive: Experimentation in biopic film
Palm Springs: Hot film at the right time
by Matt Ward
It’s often said that a movie can feel of the moment, that it came out at exactly the right place and time for audiences to identify with and feel heard. “Palm Springs,” a small romantic comedy that debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival when things were normal, has a very “of the moment” vibe that no one – not even first-time director Max … Read More Palm Springs: Hot film at the right time
Cinematic Considerations 