A 14-minute film short made with extra tender loving care, as if every scene was meticulously planned, down to the last nuance, down to the last surprise. The filmmakers, drawing on a well of creativity, infused imaginative scenarios of the everyday angst of lovee-dovee neurotic couples with a verisimilitude that syncs well with an other worldly cosmic finish. It’s that good. – By Gregg W. Morris
It was five-minutes, 38-seconds into this marvel of a film – melancholic yet tempered with cosmic bliss – when I experienced the first swell of an unexpected rapture, brought on by scenes of the spoken-word-like-rapping of Zowie pitching to publishers of adult books about a children’s book she wants published. Her main character may be the only character, and she is a girl whose superpowers are diminishing, and who frequently falls on the floor or to the ground like a klutz at certain moments in the time-space continuum. Audiences need to be ready to deal with otherworldly themes in this film. – By Gregg W. Morris
A female techie, Nigerian, living the life of a recluse in a remote German forest, on an evening jog inadvertently crosses paths with an android, also female, prostate and comatose on the ground – and decides to carry it home. Stunning cinematography … but there’s one hitch: The storyline is so ephemerally gauzy and byzantine, it’s as if the the filmmakers decided that the out-of-this-world cinematography was more than enough for their film – and left it to audiences to figure out a plot for themselves.
Review by Gregg W. Morris.
After screening a record 75 films over 16 days in person and virtually, the 20th Edition closed out an epic run Sunday, August 22, with back-to-back screenings of three thrilling titles: Evan Jackson Leong’s Chinatown-set crime thriller Snakehead; Yoon Jae-Keun’s head-spinning Spiritwalker, winner of the NYAFF 2021 Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema; and the NYAFF Closing Film, Kim Ji-hoon’s blockbuster disaster comedy Sinkhole. – By Gregg W. Morris
Has a satisfying finish like a fine wine, it’s aftertaste will be inspiring audiences to revisit it on their home screens and other streaming devices again and again and again.
By Gregg W. Morris
The Film Lab’s 17th annual 72 Hour Shootout filmmaking competition premiered its winning films at the Asian American International Film Festival, celebrating and empowering voices and stories too often marginalized by mainstream media. For the first time in its history, the premiere was dedicated to an individual: Actor, Writer Howard Fong. By Gregg W. Morris
Thirty features including new films from Pedro Almodóvar, Jane Campion, Jonas Carpignano, Joel Coen, Julia Ducournau, Bruno Dumont, Michelangelo Frammartino, Rebecca Hall, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Mia Hansen-Løve, Todd Haynes, Joanna Hogg, Hong Sangsoo, Tatiana Huezo, Radu Jude, Alexandre Koberidze, Kira Kovalenko, Nadav Lapid, Pietro Marcello, Avi Mograbi, Radu Muntean, Francesco Munzi, Gaspar Noé, Panah Panahi, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Alice Rohrwacher, Céline Sciamma, Joachim Trier, Anisia Uzeyman, Paul Verhoeven, Apichatpong Weerasethaukul, Saul Williams, and Ramon and Silvan Zürcher.
By Gregg W. Morris, WORD Editor, Publisher
THE MEANING OF HITLER’s bravura cinematography and deft use of visuals – such as animation, graphics, vintage news reels, Hollywood and foreign movie footage, social media visuals – as well as interviews with historians and writers speaking with a believe-it-or-not-if-you-dare tempo about a truth, a whole truth and nothing but that truth – resulted in a sweeping panoramic documentary with prophetic and apocalyptic tones about the Who, What, Where, When, Why & How of the never-ending macabre fascination with Hitler.
By Gregg W. Morris
Director Craig Center’s bravura time-looping 6:45 made me recall my first time-looping film experience, or at least a version there of, when I saw the kinetically charged super rock opera JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1973) about 60 times over a period of 5 weeks in Lisbon, Portugal. I kid you not.
Q&A by Gregg W. Morris
