SXSW Review: ‘It’s What’s Inside’

By Abe Friedtanzer

Games like Mafia or One Night Ultimate Werewolf are fun because they give people the chance to take on roles and to use critical thinking skills to deduce who’s lying and who’s telling the truth. But they also have the potential to create very awkward moments by bringing out real emotions betrayed under the guise of playing a part, and to create divisions in friendships based on harsh truths accidentally revealed. Sundance hit It’s What’s Inside, which was acquired by Netflix ahead of its SXSW premiere, dials that up a few levels in the best possible way…

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SXSW Review: ‘We Strangers’

By Abe Friedtanzer

It’s rarely comfortable to hear the kinds of things that people say to those they hire to work in their homes. Most grin and bear it, letting a reductive comment or offensive statement go for the sake of keeping a paycheck and not starting something. The protagonist of We Strangers does something different, utilizing the gullibility of one woman whose house she cleans to make some extra money and realizing that it will only make her more valuable. It’s only a half-calculated gamble, which defines most of what this vexing main character does…

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SXSW Review: ‘7 Keys’

Abe Friedtanzer

Do you still have the keys to the places you used to live? They might be good for sentimental value, or, if you’re feeling like some casual criminal activity, worth trying to see if the landlord or new owner didn’t actually change the locks. That concept is part of the premise for 7 Keys, an intoxicating, whirlwind thriller about two people who meet and go on a “property porn tour” of London while getting to know each other in a very intimate way. It’s wild and intense and overall quite a unique experience…

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A Memorial for "In Memorium"

One last piece on an individual moment from Oscar night?

by Baby Clyde

They couldn’t have started off the In Memoriam segment of the 96th Annual Academy Awards, in a more sober fashion. Recently assassinated Russian opposition leader and subject of last year's Best Documentary winner Alexei Navalny appears on screen, speaking directly to the audience. It’s a bold, surprising opener, somewhat at odds with the slick, professional and ever so slightly dull show that made up the rest of the runtime. This grim reminder of a world outside the Hollywood bubble gives absolutely no indication of the calamitous 4 minutes we're about to endure...

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SXSW Review: "Audrey"

By Abe Friedtanzer

Siblings have surely wished for a brief frustrated moment when they were young that they were only children, and parents might have also momentarily considered whether their lives would be easier if they hadn’t had a child. But those thoughts shouldn’t linger much, and if they do, it’s probably not a good thing to say out loud. Audrey tells an entertaining story of three people who find that things are a lot breezier when one member of their family is in a coma and no longer actively complicating their lives…

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