Sundance Film Festival 2023

It’s that time of year again! Even though the Sundance Film Festival is finally taking place in person again, I am thankful that they’ve kept an online component. Sure, a lot of the films in the Premieres category weren’t available for online viewers, but I still managed to stuff my schedule with nine options for one weekend. I even found something worthwhile to get an Explorer pass this year! Take a look at all the treasures from the festival I got to enjoy (mostly).

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New Movie Weekend

Before you all get your panties in a bunch, I will be seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home in the next couple of days. It just didn’t make the cut this weekend. But, the films that did make the cut were all pretty dang good, and two of them were supporting independent film!

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Weekend Movie Review: An Indie Triumph and Big Name Flop

Maybe seeing two movies back to back swayed my opinion here, but one movie I saw this weekend was definitely a winner, while the other just sort of left me feeling nothing. I don’t know that I had high hopes for either, but I was certainly looking forward to seeing both. I don’t feel that time was wasted, but maybe could have been spent watching a different film.

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New Movie Review: Aquaman, Second Act, 1985, and Mary, Queen of Scots

With it being the holiday season that means more quality time with movies! And this past weekend I managed to squeeze in a decent amount to review for you all. First on the docket was “Aquaman.” I have seen all of the superhero movies that have come out over the years, Marvel and DC alike, so I have a lot to compare to. In my opinion, none of them are bad movies, but some are mediocre, and this was mediocre. And I was really optimistic that it wouldn’t be! That cast! But even Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, and even Jason Mamoa’s sass could make this better. It ended pretty well, but the CGI was questionable at best and that soundtrack was atrocious. At one point I swear all that was playing was a tuba. And not only was it bad that Weezer covered Africa (nothing but love for Toto), but they had some sped up remix by a woman playing at one point and it was the worst. Overall, it seemed like director James Wan wanted to pay homage to a lot of really great films, but he just couldn’t make a good cohesive one.

I went with a friend to go see “Second Act” in a full theater, which I really think made a difference. It was J-Lo going back to her “rom-com” roots, so there was laughter, and tear-jerker moments, and romance (I guess), but nothing cut real deep, which I suppose is the point of a movie like this. Although, if you’re going to heavily advertise that Milo Ventimiglia is in this, than put him in for more than 10 minutes! Overall it was a feel-good film that I enjoyed, but mainly because I knew what I was in for.

Early in the morning I went to see “Mary, Queen of Scots”, and for as terrible as “Outlaw” was (sorry, Chris Pine), I was actually surprised I enjoyed this film! History is so boring for me, but man did Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie sell it. So did the supporting men in this ensamble: Joe Alwyn, Jack Lowden, David Tennant, and an almost unrecognizable Guy Pierce! There was something so enthralling about the Scottish accent, and Margot’s prosthetics were so well done they made her ugly which I thought was almost impossible. Everything was beautifully shot, so no one should be surprised to see this grab a few award show nominations.

Finally, I watched the independent film “1985” starring “Gotham’s” Cory Michael Smith as Adrian in the lead role. The ensemble cast was rounded out nicely with turns from Virginia Madsen (“American Gothic,” “Sideways”) and Michael Chiklis (“The Shield”) as Adrian’s parents, and Jamie Chung (“The Hangover”) and his old high school girlfriend. What was unique about this film is that it was shot on black and white super 16mm film, which is refreshing from time to time, but especially with the film’s specific subject matter. Adrian, who lives in New York, goes home to Texas after the death of his long-term partner to tell his parents he too is dying of AIDS. Although he never never declares this outright to his parents, they make it clear that they will love him and be there for him no matter what. I thought this was a very beautiful film, and sure, maybe I shed a few tears. Well done!