‘Moonlight’ Review: Good, But Not Quite Great
The following review will be about “La La Land.”
Wait — I actually meant “Moonlight.” Sorry, I had to do it to you!
In any case, it is not easy to forget the “Best Picture” blunder of the 2016 Oscars, and it was here that I first heard about “Moonlight.” Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, this A24 film remained on my watchlist for the longest time before I finally sat down recently to watch it.
‘My First Summer’ Review: Colorful and Messy and Free
“My First Summer” is diametrically opposed to my last article on “Brokeback Mountain” in terms of visibility: Neither I nor anyone I know had heard of it. But boy am I glad Letterboxd led me to this gem.
Written and directed by Melbourne-based Katie Found, “My First Summer” is her debut feature film. It is set in rural Australia, where Grace (Maiah Stewardson) stumbles upon a remote house and finds within it a spooked Claudia (Markella Kavenagh). The viewer comes to learn that 16-year-old Claudia’s mother, a novelist, had isolated her daughter from the world — independently raising and teaching her off the grid — due to her belief that the world was full of nothing but evil. This had culminated in a planned murder-suicide in which she and Claudia were to drown themselves in a nearby reservoir. The precise details about the occurrence remain murky, but it appears that Claudia did not follow her mother into the water. Grace finds her the next day terrified, distrusting, alone.
And though this thematic background is decidedly dark, what unfolds is actually quite a sweet, tender story.
“Brokeback Mountain” Review: If You Enjoy Films About Queer Misery, This Movie Is For You
If you ask someone to name a queer film, chances are they will say “Brokeback Mountain.”
Released in 2005, this Neo-Western romantic drama begins in the 1960s in the mountains of Wyoming. Jake Gyllenhaal is Jack Twist and Heath Ledger is Ennis Del Mar, a couple of sheepherders whose work on Brokeback Mountain leads to a beautiful and heart-wrenching romance that develops between them — or so I was led to believe.
After hearing only fantastic things every time the movie came up in conversation, I finally decided to sit down and educate myself.