Cinema

Going bonkers in the Bay: Boden and Fleck Tell ‘Freaky Tales’

June 2nd, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

The writing/directing partnership of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck has to be one of the most curious cases of crazy connect-the-dots career moves in recent cinema. From short documentaries and safe-sex content for the Centers for Disease Control to television work, Boden and Fleck broke through in 2006 with the fantastic feature “Half Nelson,” adapted from their own Sundance prize-winner “Gowanus, Brooklyn.” “Half Nelson,” a captivating…

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Stories of quiet survival: Sudasassi Furniss directs ‘Memories of a Burning Body’

May 28th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Filmmaker Antonella Sudasassi Furniss constructs an engaging sophomore feature with “Memories of a Burning Body,” selected by Costa Rica to be entered for consideration as a possible Oscar nominee for Best International Feature Film. While the movie would not go on to make the final roster of Academy Award hopefuls, its spot as an art house attention-getter was already secure. “Memories” won the audience award for best feature in the…

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​Blichfeldt turns fairytale to nightmare in ‘The Ugly Stepsister’

May 19th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

In a Sundance profile for feature debut “The Ugly Stepsister,” which opened the festival’s 2025 Midnight section, filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt described growing up “in a tiny village above the Arctic Circle on the rough coast of northern Norway” where her parents initially chose books over movies. By her early teens, however, repeat viewings of “Amelie” and the galvanizing impact of “Dogville” inspired the future storyteller.…

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​Documentary considers branches of Coulson’s fascinating career

May 12th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Of the many photographs that help tell the story “I Know Catherine, the Log Lady,” the one of David Lynch dressed as FBI Regional Bureau Chief (and later Deputy Director) Gordon Cole saying something amusing to a laughing, slightly out of focus Catherine E. Coulson is my favorite. Director Richard Green, Coulson’s friend of decades, has access to many images and uses dozens — from childhood portraits to surprisingly saucy candids — that add…

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​Before the four, another Marvel: Schreier provides “Thunderbolts*” with lots of flash

May 5th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Anchored by the dependable Florence Pugh, “Thunderbolts*” easily tops “Captain America: Brave New World” to make it the most satisfying MCU movie of 2025 — so far. The asterisk alludes to an alternative title that appears onscreen as one of several end-credits revelations, but an equally welcome surprise is the realization that Kevin Feige could revitalize widespread interest in Marvel on the big screen as we look ahead to renditions of the…

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​Duke meets a true original in ‘Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story’

April 28th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Toronto-based filmmaker Alison Duke shines a light on a pioneering Jamaican recording artist and her most famous and durable song in the documentary feature “Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story.” Duke’s movie, which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, is a must-see for music fans, but the big personality of its principal subject is appealing enough to attract any curious viewer who might cross paths with the colorful and engrossing tale.…

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Every saint has a past and Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ has a future

April 21st, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Ryan Coogler goes big and bold with “Sinners,” a sweaty, bloody vampire movie set in 1932. The filmmaker stuffs this universe with enough ideas to serve a limited-series season of episodic television, but the feature format ultimately suits something that brings together Coogler’s large canvas experiences at the helm of massive Marvel hits and the more intimate contours of debut “Fruitvale Station.” Close collaborator Michael B. Jordan has…

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Morris mulls Manson in Netflix documentary

April 14th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Given the volume of existing media material on the topic, longtime admirers of legendary documentarian Errol Morris might wonder why he would elect to become the umpteenth person to cover the horrific crimes of the Manson Family. Whether or not the fee paid to Morris by Netflix factored into the decision I cannot say, but “Chaos: The Manson Murders,” while typical in many ways of the established Morris style, never rises to the top-tier level of…

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​Ferreira and Leguizamo make great friends in ‘Bob Trevino Likes It’

April 7th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Tracie Laymon draws from her own unbelievable-but-true life experience to shape feature directorial debut “Bob Trevino Likes It,” a well-meaning if slight comedy-drama featuring Barbie Ferreira as a young woman whose fractured relationship with her father leads to an unexpected bond with a stranger she befriends through social media. Unfolding as a slow but steady story of two friends who depend on each other to light twin pathways toward…

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​Holder debuts ‘Love, Brooklyn’

March 31st, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Making her feature directorial debut, Rachael Abigail Holder guides “Love, Brooklyn” to a satisfying conclusion, even if some viewers might have hoped for a different outcome for the central trio. A carefully observed romance that attempts to frame its title borough with the same kind of affection that Woody Allen applied to mythologize his favorite parts of NYC in 1979, the movie places a charismatic Andre Holland at the center of a love…

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