NYFF 52- Review: ‘The Look of Silence’ is loud in its message.

nyff New York Film Festival 2014

In the 2013 New Directors/New Films fest, we were privileged enough to see Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing. The film chronicled the leaders of a government led military killing brigade whose goal was to irradiate “communists” (mostly farmers, artists, and freethinkers) in Indonesia in 1965-66. We met the men who slaughtered hundreds of people under the regime of pure ignorance and evil. At this year’s NYFF 52, we are introduced to Oppenheimer’s follow up doc, The Look of Silence. Read More →

NYFF 52- Liz’s Review: ‘Shorts Program 2’ is full of delight, fright, and insight

nyff New York Film Festival 2014

While I was not afforded to time to attend last week’s first round of Shorts, today I had the pleasure of seeing The NYFF52 Shorts Program 2, a collection of really well done films. Engrossing, never dull, and surely surprising. Shorts are always a bit of a challenge to chat about. They are, after all, not long in length, so I’ve decided to give you a quick and yes, short, description below the teasers and photos…

Chlorine

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Liz’s ‘Life Itself’ Review: Two Thumbs Way Up

Life Itself

As someone who has been on a whirlwind adventure in writing exclusively about film for the past year, it was sincerely my pleasure and honor to see Life Itself this afternoon. Director Steve James brings a touching documentary to the audiences who grew up watching Robert Ebert tell them which movies were worth spending their time and hard earned money on. We are privy to passages directly from Ebert’s memoir of the same name, intimate interviews both on camera and via private emails between Steve and Roger, as well as sit down, one on ones with some of the people closest to this critical giant, including his wife, Chaz, director, Martin Scorsese, and Marlene Iglitzen, wife of his industry other half, Gene Siskel. Read More →