2021 Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Minorities Report

01 Oct

The Power of the Dog Review | NYFF 2021

Hector Gonzalez0 CommentsNYFF 2021, ReviewsBenedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kristen Dunst, The Power of the Dog

Jane Campion is back with The Power of the Dog, a hard-hearted yet beautiful study of toxic masculinity that carefully crafts every facet and has Benedict Cumberbatch’s finest performance to date. Most of Campion’s work can be intricate or detail-oriented, but it’s primarily unique and tantalizing in its favor. It is all about the atmosphere she concocts with her direction, and every little trifle that factors its way onto the screen has its purpose. Of course, not every film she does is excellent nor perfect, but the element of meticulousness is always present. Now, the New Zealand auteur makes her…

30 Sep

The Velvet Underground Review | NYFF 2021

Hector Gonzalez0 CommentsNYFF 2021, ReviewsNYFF, NYFF21, The Velvet Underground

With snappy editing and great insight on its background, Todd Haynes makes you listen carefully and appreciate The Velvet Underground’s style, techniques, and artistry more-- engaging you with the film whether you are a fan of the band or not. To give a brief introduction on who The Velvet Underground are, we need to start in 1964. They were formed by bandmates Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Angus MacLise (who was replaced a year later by Moe Tucker). Their central genre is rock, but they blended and mashed many other ones in their music instrumentations and concoctions; avant-garde,…

29 Sep

BERGMAN ISLAND Review | NYFF 2021

Hector Gonzalez0 CommentsNYFF 2021, ReviewsBergman Island, Film Festivals, NYFF, NYFF21

Bergman Island is Mia Hansen-Løve’s best and most intimate film; it takes a meta-textual route to deliver a brilliantly written and structured testimony of the cursed writer’s block as well as slowly gnawing dysfunctional relationships. An American couple, Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth), go on a trip to the famous Fårö island, which inspired Ingmar Bergman to write and direct many of his famous works. They are there for the summer to write the scripts for their subsequent films in the act of pilgrimage, seclusion, and the search for creativity. As they advance with their screenplays, fiction and…

26 Sep

Futura Review | NYFF 2021

Hector Gonzalez0 CommentsNYFF 2021, ReviewsDocumentary, Film Review, Futura

Futura is a documentary that touches on the fears, dreams, anxieties, and future of the Italian youth; however, it feels like it didn’t branch out enough to get different answers to the proposed questions. A cooperative venture by three of Italy’s most promising directors -- Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi, and Alice Rohrwacher -- as they go city to city asking the youth of Italy questions about life. How are things currently going with your life? How do you feel about Italy’s current situation and its system? What do you expect to be doing in three to four years? Why do…

11 Sep

Dear Evan Hansen Review | Powerful & Touching

Raul Navedo0 CommentsReviews, TIFF 2021Amandla Stenberg, Amy Adams, Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Stephen Chbosky, Steven Levenson

Dear Evan Hansen is a musical that, despite some of its shortcomings, manages to enthrall & inspire. Effective in every way, the narrative finds a way through the cracks infecting all who stick through and allow it to grab hold. A beautiful tribute to the anonymous ones. Ben Platt in Dear Evan Hansen Evan is a high school senior with severe social anxiety who receives an assignment from his therapist to write motivational letter to himself to improve his disposition in life as well as increase his self-worth. Connor, a fellow student, takes his own life after stealing one of…

05 Jul

The Lost Leonardo Review | Tribeca 2021

Raul Navedo0 CommentsReviews, Tribeca 2021Documentary, Film Review, Leonardo da Vinci, The Lost Leonardo, Tribeca

The Lost Leonardo is quite a surprising gem. A documentary, yes, but a mystery that keeps you engaged and unsure until the very end. This is more than an art documentary, it’s a study of value and, more specifically, of the very real and monetary value that belief has the power to impart on anything. The Lost Leonardo This narrative revolves around the mystery that surrounds the Salvator Mundi, the first Leonardo da Vinci painting to be discovered in over a century. How it was found, how it perplexed, amazed, & frustrated the art community worldwide, and how it has…

05 Apr

Mau Review | SXSW2021

Raul Navedo0 CommentsReviews, SXSW2021Documentary, Mau, SXSW2021

Mau is an inspiring look at one of the most influential and forward thinking designers you’ve, likely, never heard of. An unsung hero in many circles that challenges the status quo and pushes for a better way of life for us individually as well as for the world as a whole. Meet Bruce Mau. He is the mind behind the branding of dozens of the worlds leading companies as well as a movement that he hopes will reshape how we treat our world as well as ourselves. A graphic designer, a trend setter, and an innovator. Few times in my…

01 Apr

WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn Review | SXSW2021

Raul Navedo0 CommentsReviews, SXSW2021Documentary, SXSW, WeWork, WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn

WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn is a fascinating and frustrating exploration of greed, arrogance, and abuse of power. The story of WeWork is the story of Adam Neumann. A fast talking, passionate con artist that managed to build one of the biggest corporate flameouts and venture capitalist investments in recent year, and managed to crash it all in the blink of an eye. Adam had more than charisma. He had a disarming hippie-messianic approach that came across as loving and optimistic and disguised his delusions of grandeur as a desire for community. For those…

30 Mar

Language Lessons Review | SXSW2021

Raul Navedo0 CommentsReviews, SXSW2021Film Review, Language Lessons, Mark Duplass, Natalie Morales, SXSW2021

Clever and emotional, Language Lessons finds a way to make the video-chat-narrative work with a thoughtful, funny, and relatable story that feels natural rather than forced. Never did I feel like I was watching a gimmick but instead like I was watching something private and special. Language Lessons Cariño, a teacher living in Costa Rica, is hired to give Adam, a well to-do man in California, a refresher on Spanish, a language he spoke as a child but has since fallen out of practice with it. Over the course of their sessions these two strangers will go through some of…

30 Jan

Ma Belle, My Beauty Review | Sundance 2021

Raul Navedo0 CommentsEnglish Reviews, Reviews, Sundance 2021Film Festivals, Film Review, LGBTQ+, Ma Belle My Beauty, Sundance 2021, Sundance Film Festival

Ma Belle, My Beauty is a raw moving picture that delves into a relationship molded by years of complicated love and into how it can be shattered in an instant by selfishness and abandonment. A quiet patient story that explores so much more than emotion and touches on a side of togetherness few have experienced but most understand. The feeling of loving someone with everything you have but knowing they can’t help but bring pain and never seem to take it with them when they leave. Idella Johnson and Hannah Pepper appear in Ma Belle, My Beauty by Marion Hill,…