Female Film Critics 24/375
Film Fest 919, with headquarters in Chapel Hill, NC, celebrated its 5th year with another high-caliber program of films. Beginning October 19, and running through October 23, it brought many of this year’s Oscar hopeful films to the festival. Most know a film festival is only as good as the programmers, and in this case, two seasoned film industry women founders are at the helm— Randi Emerman and Carol Marshall.
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If you viewed Kenneth Branagh’s 2017 film, Murder on the Orient Express, you’ll have a good idea of the premise of Death on the Nile. The mystery thriller is based on the 1937 Agatha Christie novel, with Branagh returning as director and star. Branagh is on a roll with his ever-popular film Belfast and his follow-up film Death on the Nile, does not disappoint.
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The insightful film Fruits of Labor focuses on California Central Coast’s rich soil, the beautiful nature of the area, and the laborers who work the fields. Ashley, an energetic, vibrant teen, works in those fields to help provide for the family. Filmmaker Emily Cohen Ibanez met her when she was 15 years old—two years later, she filmed her senior year of High School, documenting her struggles of balancing school and her farm work.
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For 20 years, Mary Mazzio has been creating films that spotlight the underprivileged. A Most Beautiful Thing, a documentary film, centers on America’s first all-black High School rowing team of the gang-infested Manley High School, in Chicago, IL in the late 90s. Mazzio, an Olympic rowing athlete, has found her niche.
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April Wright’s Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story covers a topic that needs both awareness and recognition. Based on Mollie Gregory’s eponymous nonfiction book, the documentary is a historical look at female stuntwomen, with a modern take on today’s filmmaking environment, in which stunt coordinators rehearse multiple viewpoints of a stunt, mapping out all of the moves before the camera begins to roll.
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Director, Bryce Dallas Howard set out to create a tribute film to her father, Ron Howard, but through the process, produced a movie to which we can all relate. Dads features Hollywood celebrity dads telling funny and serious anecdotes about their kids with sure-fire delivery that brightens your spirits. Here’s what principal dad Ron Howard has to say about his daughter’s directorial debut.
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Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always gives us a wake-up call regarding teen girls in this country and how they are required to navigate our nation’s system regarding abortion. The powerful, enlightening Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always, should be seen by all teens and adults as a lesson in what happens to teen girls without a safety net.
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Unfortunately, this movie is a prime example of the half-baked idea that Stephen Gaghan, a director known for filmswith intense violence, can cross over into classic children’s literature genre. The beloved “Dr. Dolittle,” books originating in 1920 by Hugh Lofting, were written and intended for children ages nine and ten. There are two reasons why I can’t recommend this film: the fear-provoking violence of animals fighting one another, and an actual ‘dark tonal’ problem with the character of Dr. Dolittle.
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Tracy Letts, currently starring in two highly acclaimed award-contending films — James Mangold’s Ford vs Fararri and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, chats about his Chicago theater roots, his writing process, his admiration of Greta Gerwig and why everyone should see Ford v Ferrari on the big screen.
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Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers? Yep, it works—it works so well you’ll start shaking your head in utter wonderment as Tom Hanks has channeled Fred Rogers—his mannerisms, his quiet demeanor, his uncanny listening abilities, his deep curiosity into people’s lives, and his perceptive insight into a person’s soul.
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