Sundance Review: “Middletown” Celebrates Student Journalism

by Abe Friedtanzer

Married filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine are no strangers to the Sundance Film Festival, premiering both Boys State and Girls State in Park City. They also made the documentary The Mission, about missionary John Allen Chau, who is the subject of a narrative film, Last Days, screening this year at Sundance. Moss and McBaine return to a field they know well - education - with a look back at a group of trailblazing student journalists and environmental advocates prepared to take on government systems and the mafia before they even graduated high school...

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Sundance Review: "Sunfish (and Other Stories on Green Lake)" is an Anthology Whose Parts Don’t Quite Make a Whole

by Abe Friedtanzer

Anthologies can be very appealing, probing a number of shorter tales within the span of a feature film. There are no set rules for how they have to connect or whether they really need to, but one particular place is a frequent commonality. Sometimes, however, the uniting force just isn’t all that compelling on its own, and the stories told around it don’t do much to help. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Sundance entry Sunfish (and Other Stories on Green Lake), but none of its four separate segments make much of an impression…

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Sundance Review: "Brides" is a Compelling Chronicle of Friendship with Terrific Leads

by Abe Friedtanzer

There are many stories of people running away from war zones, struggling to adjust to their new surroundings and longing for memories of home. But that’s not the sentiment everyone has, and it can be precisely the opposite for those who have never felt like they belong. Brides spotlights two best friends so disillusioned and unhappy with their lives in the United Kingdom that they decide to run away together to move to Syria and find a community that can truly appreciate them...

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Sundance Review: ‘Didn’t Die’ is a Subdued Take on the Zombie Genre

by Abe Friedtanzer

There’s no shortage of zombie films and TV shows out there, and, as a result, there are almost innumerable variations on the premise of the undead. The Sundance entry Didn’t Die is best summarized by its podcast host protagonist’s declaration: “Nobody told me the apocalypse was going to be so boring.” Still, this film finds a good deal of content to mine from that premise...

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Indie Spirit Revue: "Good One"

by Nick Taylor

Good One is maybe my favorite film of the seven "Firsts" nominated at the Indie Spirits. India Donaldson's story of high school senior Sam (Lily Collias) going on an annual weekend camping trip in the Catskills with her dad, Chris (James LeGros), and his friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) could not be simpler to summarize. Yet, the wrinkles and intrigue she's put into this premise - both men are in their 50's, Chris is on his second marriage with a new baby at home while Matt is currently working through divorce proceedings - are thoughtfully integrated. We briefly meet friends and family of the soon-to-be-departed, and off we go…

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