Bruiser (2021) – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
When your father is the epitome of masculinity, what does it say about you if you aren’t a spitting image of that?
Indie
Films that either received a limited release or are released digitally, but not as part of a major streaming distributor.
Judas And The Black Messiah (2021) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Like nearly every well-crafted film about Black oppression in America, Judas and the Messiah will enrage you, tire you out, and make you hope J. Edgar Hoover and his enablers, rot in hell.
BJ’s Mobile Gift Shop (2021) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
The 16 minutes of Jason Park’s BJ’s Mobile Gift Shop will leave you demanding a full-length feature film, featuring Johnnyboy Tellem before 2021 is over.
Ava From My Class (2021) – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
Ava From My Class pushes you to wonder where the line between admiration and a crush is for its young lead.
First Date (2021) – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
If you thought McG’s The Babysitter series was over the top and crazy, Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp respond with “Challenge accepted” with First Date.
Mayday (2021) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Mayday touches on the personal war one has within themselves and every single voice or person we see as holding us back – including our own.
Marvelous and the Black Hole – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Marvelous and the Black Hole, while it can come off as an angsty teenage film, it doesn’t push its lead to move on or get over it but harness that anger into something good.
Passing (2021) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
While the sometimes volatile intimacy between Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson makes Passing interesting, you may not feel it confronts the subject matter as you want.
R#J – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
We’ve all seen some version of Romeo and Juliet, but none of them compare to Carey Williams’ R#J.
Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street is filled with nostalgia and fleshes out your childhood memories with what it took to make you smile and learn.
How It Ends (2021) – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
How It Ends combines a drama about reconciliation before the end of the world and all the eccentric people you’d expect to see getting high before everyone dies.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It somehow feels like a thorough exploration of a nearly 70-year career, yet because it is Rita Moreno, you still want more!
The Criminals – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
Many young adults worldwide take advantage of privacy, which isn’t legally available to our two leads. But will they risk getting arrested to get it?
Doublespeak – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
In Doublespeak, you are sorely reminded how Human Resources is more focused on protecting the company’s assets than your dignity or sense of safety.
You Wouldn’t Understand – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
Living up to its title a bit, You Wouldn’t Understand presents a story that leaves you wanting to rewatch for you swear you might have missed something.
No Strings – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
Perhaps saving the best for last, No Strings delivers a sense of longing that reminds you how much we’re willing to compromise or settle for the sake of company.
If Only You Were Mine – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
The seduction of someone older and more mature meets realizing their maturity doesn’t mean they are ready for you.
Stanley – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Stanley buries the lead with sex and ends before you feel it gets to the good part.
The Den – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
A man with a secret finds himself in the company of the other person who knows what he lusts for.
White Lie – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
In White Lie, you watch as a con artist desperately tries to maintain their story of having cancer, seemingly by any means necessary.
Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
Dr. Bird’s Advice For Sad Poets is draining, beautiful, yet a reminder that there is no instant cure or end to the struggle of making progress. Sometimes just an occasional reprieve.
Gossamer Folds (2020) – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
Despite its subject matter, there is something surprisingly tame about “Gossamer Folds,” which shows how tolerance and acceptance develops over hate.
Ellie and Abbie (And Ellie’s Dead Aunt) (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Despite a few painfully awkward moments, “Ellie and Abbie (And Ellie’s Dead Aunt” does ultimately give you what you need from it.
Tahara (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
In what may feel like a prequel to “Shiva Baby,” Rachel Sennott is joined by Madeline Grey DeFreece for another awkward funeral situation.
Dating Amber (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
“Dating Amber,” set in 1995, reminds you how much has changed in 25 years as we follow two Irish teens dealing with being ostracized for their sexuality.
Shiva Baby – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Dancing on the tightrope between cringe and funny, “Shiva Baby” presents Rachel Sennott as someone on the cusp of mainstream fame.
Fish Head (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
In this quiet drama, a young girl, on the brink of puberty, wonders what the end result might be.
Were You Gay In High School (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
“Were You Gay In High School” has the quality and appeal of something you’d think was released on Wong Fu’s YouTube channel due to its comedy and heart.
Egghead & Twinkie (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Coming out isn’t always a delicate procedure, as shown in “Egghead & Twinkie.”
And Then She Kissed Me (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
Set to the song “And Then She Kissed Me” by St. Vincent, the short, sharing the song’s name, is a sweet and quick romance made to make you swoon.
Cut Throat City (2020) – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
“Cut Throat City” has noted performances from T.I. and Terrance Howard but, as for the rest of the movie…
A Long Time Coming (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
“A Long Time Coming” explores the complexities of Asian Americans and an older generation’s perspective on the Black Lives Matter protests.
DTF (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
I want you to imagine a documentary in which the subject goes out of their way to go against everything agreed upon and is hellbent on chaos. That’s DTF.
All Roads To Pearla (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
All Roads to Pearla has all the ingredients necessary to have some element of shock to it, but they just don’t come together as you need them to.
The Argument (2020) – Review/Summary (with Spoilers)
The Argument tries to have it both ways. It wants you to watch it devolve into utter madness yet maintain just enough control to make you laugh as you cringe.
The Burnt Orange Heresy (2019) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
While the banter and romance between the leads will surely draw you in, the conversations about art, and the male lead’s ego, do leave you on a sour note.
The Spring We Never Had (2020) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
The Spring We Never Had is classic Wong Fu which gets you so emotionally invested that when things don’t head towards the ideal, you will yell at your screen.
Skin: A History of Nudity In The Movies – Review/ Summary
While Skin: A History of Nudity In The Movies is informative, it’s utter lack of perspective for people of color, beyond Pam Grier, is a HUGE oversight.
Spree – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)
You’ll either weirdly find Spree funny, disgusting, or something which might make you paranoid about ever using a ridesharing app ever again.
