Drive-Away Dolls | Review by: Benjamin Garrett

Well, I guess we know who the goofy Coen brother is. Drive-Away Dolls throws the vibe back to the directing duo’s classics, like Raising Arizona and Fargo. However, Ethan’s first solo effort is all slapstick and no nuance, missing the balance necessary to reach that Coen brothers classic status.

Clocking in at a breezy 84 minutes, there’s a lot of ground covered (literally and narratively) in such a short amount of time. This lesbian road trip crime caper fires out plot points and dialogue in rapid succession, without skipping a beat. It’s relatively well paced and straight to the point, but it also doesn’t give the narrative time to unfold in a natural way. I appreciate a lean movie as much as the next person, but this one basically rushes itself through its own story. The film is finished with plenty of wacky transitions and trippy psychedelics in an attempt to replicate a particular style, but these choices are more gimmicky than they are effective.

I’m a huge fan of Margaret Qualley, and once again she knocks her performance out of the park. Her character’s twangy southern accent and unfiltered, foul mouthed energy was the highlight of the movie for me. In fact, she’s so good that she overshadows everyone else. Geraldine Viswanathan gives a solid performance, but she isn’t able to match Qualley’s energy in their scenes together - which account for about 80% of the runtime. I know her character is supposed to be the shy, reserved one, but the stark personality difference made it difficult to buy into their friendship. Colman Domingo is great in his small supporting role, but I wish he had more to do, given how talented he is. There are also a number of fun cameos I enjoyed, including the king of pop up appearances himself - Matt Damon.

Drive-Away Dolls reaches for that old-school Coen Brothers style, but ends up feeling more like a pale imitation of several of the duo’s better films. It’s funny, breezy and entertaining, but fails to leave a lasting impression beyond Margaret Qualley’s killer performance.

2.5/5

Review by: Benjamin Garrett

Boss Level Film Review

Boss Level is a new addition to the time loop genre, with a twist. Ex-special forces officer, Roy Pulver, played by Frank Grillo, relives the same day until he dies. Every day he is hunted by assassins and when killed, he wakes up back in his bed where he started, only to have to try and survive all over again. Roy has no idea why he is stuck in this infinite time loop but he must do what he can to survive, and the longer he survives, the more he uncovers about his particular situation. Unlike most action films that take time to build up, this film gets right into it and offers tons of non-stop combat sequences that would satisfy any lover of action films. Its erratic flow makes for some fun action scenes which come out of nowhere since Roy can expect the assassins to attack at any moment. If you play video games often and have ever been stuck on a level for hours or even days, you know the feeling of having to repeat the same thing over and over again u...

Better Man | Review by: Benjamin Garrett

What at first feels like a CGI gimmick allows Better Man to climb and swing it’s way beyond standard biopic conventions. This larger than life musical is worth a watch even if, like me, you needed to ask “Who the hell is Robbie Williams?”. A pop icon in the UK who didn’t quite make a household name for himself in North America, Robbie Williams bares his life (the good the bad and the drug fueled ugly) in this dazzling account of his rise to fame. Musician biopics often focus too heavily on the creation of the artist’s work, and not enough on the actual artist. Better Man gives audiences a sobering portrait of the man behind the monkey, with his songs placed in pivotal life and career moments to move the narrative forward. This works especially well if you aren’t entirely familiar with Williams’ work, because you won’t find yourself waiting to hear specific needle drops. Instead they flow organically into the story, with gorgeously choreographed musical numbers. And bo...

Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day | Review by: Stefano Bove

Four close friends and renowned filmmakers in 1959’s Yugoslavia are out to make a feature film of the war. They have a unique perspective and are able to discuss the war as decorated war veterans. Lovro, Nenad, Stevan and Ivan use film to express themselves and criticize society but that doesn’t sit well with the Yugoslavian Communist Party. As The Party steps in to control the film for propagandistic reasons, the four filmmakers fear it may be to gain insight on their sexual orientation. Emir Hadžihafizbegović is entrusted by the head of the Communist Party to oversee the films production but is also told by the party to sabotage the film by any means necessary. Emir as well as our four filmmakers are all exceptional in this film. The dynamic between these five actors is a wave of emotions as Emir hides his true intentions and the filmmakers hide their sexual orientation from the world. The film is in a gorgeous black and white and boasts absolutely stunning cinematography from ...

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