About the author
Joe Friar is a member of the BFCA - Broadcast Film Critics Association (Los Angeles) and the HFCS - Houston Film Critics Society. His reviews can be heard on Hit Radio 104.7 KVIC and read in The Victoria Advocate newspaper. He is a fan of Foreign Films, Independent Cinema, and Horror movies and he enjoys letting readers and listeners know about small films that might slip through the cracks unnoticed.
Hannah Pearl Utt makes her directorial debut with the funny “Before You Know It” in which she plays a restrained stage manager named Rachel who operates a small New York City theater just below the apartment she lives in with eccentric sister Jackie (Jen Tullock) and her coming of age daught… Read more
The nominations for the Fourth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards were unveiled today by The Critics Choice Association (CCA). The awards will be handed out at a gala event, hosted by “Property Brothers’” Jonathan Scott, on Sunday, November 10 at BRIC in Brooklyn, New York. Read more
“Pain and Glory” is the 21st full-length feature by Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar. It is third part of a trilogy that began with 1987’s “Law of Desire” followed by 2004’s “Bad Education.” In each film, the central character is a filmmaker who is toying with the idea of a new project as desi… Read more
Unpredictable and prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike returns with a story of two outlaws on the run from the Yakuza, Chinese gangster, and corrupt police officials in an entertaining amalgamate of violence, comedy and action. Read more
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month and the perfect time to unveil Bill Haney’s new documentary about Texas immunologist and Nobel laureate James P. Allison, the executive director of Immunotherapy Platform at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Read more
Oscar-winner Renée Zellweger is breathtaking as iconic Hollywood movie star Judy Garland in Rupert Goold’s biopic “Judy,” based on Peter Quilter’s play “End of the Rainbow.” Read more
A young couple (Bill Skarsgård and Maika Monroe) on the lam after robbing a gas station get more than they bargained for after their car runs out of gas and they find themselves hiding out in the home of eccentric husband and wife George (Jeffrey Donovan) and Gloria (Kyra Sedgwick) who are h… Read more
Beneath a blanket of snow in an isolated section of the Catskill Mountains, secrets refuse to remain buried in the supernatural horror thriller “The Deeper You Dig” from filmmaking family Toby Poser, John Adams and Zelda Adams. Read more
Based on the 2015 article by Jessica Pressler (played here by Julia Stiles) which appeared in New York magazine, “Hustlers” recounts the brazen story of a group of strippers led by the assertive Ramona (Jennifer Lopez in her best performance since 1998’s “Out of Sight”), a veteran pole-danci… Read more
200 years after 18-year old Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” comes the latest interpretation by independent horror virtuoso Larry Fessenden. Read more
“Satanic Panic” sounds like something uttered by Dr. Frank-N-Furter, but you won’t find any sweet transvestites in the sophomore film from director Chelsea Stardust — just a bunch of feminist Satanists (catchy!) looking for a virgin to sacrifice. Read more
The Losers Club is reunited to once again take on Pennywise the evil clown in Andy Muschietti’s conclusion to 2017’s “It,” which passed “The Exorcist” and “The Sixth Sense” to become the highest-grossing horror film of all time. Read more
Even though Jillian Bell has been on the radar for five years with funny roles in “22 Jump Street,” “Office Christmas Party,” and recently, “Sword of Trust,” the former SNL writer delivers a breakthrough performance as a 20-something party girl who decides to clean up her life and train for … Read more
Based on the 2006 Oscar-nominated film by Danish director Susanne Bier, “After the Wedding” gets the Hollywood treatment thanks to director Bart Freundlich (“Wolves”) and his wife Julianne Moore. In the original film, Mads Mikkelsen played a Danish man living in India running an orphanage wh… Read more
Just when you think Mads Brugger’s documentary about the mysterious death of Secretary-General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold unveils its smoking gun, the cold case takes the viewer down a more sinister path, exposing either one of the greatest crimes of the 20th century or a foolhar… Read more
How would you like to watch “Tombstone” with Doc “I'm your Huckleberry” Holliday himself, Val Kilmer? Or maybe you’d like to chill out with Iceman at a special screening of “Top Gun.” The actor will be in Austin at the end of the month to attend both screenings presented by Alamo Drafthouse,… Read more
One of rock ’n’ roll’s most iconic figures, David Crosby, is the subject of the new Cameron Crowe produced documentary “Remember My Name.” His glory days may be behind him, but the singer-songwriter who made history with The Byrds; Crosby, Stills & Nash; and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Yo… Read more
An accurate slice of adolescent life is portrayed in Hari Sama’s coming of age drama that takes place in the new wave post-modern scene of 1986 Mexico. Xabiani Ponce De León and José Antonio Toledano deliver first-rate performances as 17-year old best friends who discover sex, drugs, and lib… Read more
If you only see one movie about a lobotomist this summer, make it Rick Alverson’s “The Mountain.” Read more
The evil that men do in Australian writer-director Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale” is far more frightening than any monster from her 2014 horror debut “The Babadook.” Read more
What started as a 2013 stage play by J.C. Lee has become a thought-provoking psychodrama by director and co-writer Julius Onah (“The Cloverfield Paradox”). Read more
Beautifully shot by cinematographers Samir Ljuma and Fejmi Daut, “Honeyland” follows the life of Hatidze, a beekeeper in her early 50s who lives with her ailing mother Nazife in the mountains of Macedonia. The land is barren, there is no electricity, yet the two women have managed to survive… Read more
Megan Rapinoe became a household name this year and along with her teammates, an inspiration to young women as the USWNT won another World Cup. Read more
Quentin Tarantino’s ninth feature serves as the filmmaker’s ode to the glory days of Hollywood. A fable existing in an alternate universe during the late ’60s as an aging Western star (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double (Brad Pitt) take life one day at a time. Read more
The timing couldn’t be better. On the weekend that “Avengers: Endgame” finally passed “Avatar” to become the highest-grossing film of all-time, Marvel President Kevin Feige took the stage in Hall H at the San Diego Comic-Con to layout Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After 23 fil… Read more
If you translated the Zulu opening of the iconic song “Circle of Life” the line “Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba, Sithi uhm ingonyama” just means “There comes a lion, Oh yes, it's a lion.” Yeah. Read more
Resembling an obscure 80s horror film that could have been discovered in a vault or better yet a crypt, “Luz” marks the debut of German filmmaker Tilman Singer. Screened last year at Fantastic Fest and rolling into theaters this Friday, the 70-minute tale of possession is heavy on atmosphere… Read more
Writer-director Lulu Wang’s semi-autobiographical “The Farewell” is, according to the writer-director, “Based on an Actual Lie.” Read more
When Wes Craven’s “Scream” opened in 1996, its success took the studio and theaters by surprise. In fact, the local Cinemark opted to put it in their dollar cinema on opening day. “Crawl” may be headed for a similar success once word of mouth spreads even though Paramount chose not to screen… Read more
What better way to celebrate The Cure’s recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame than with a special screening of the band’s 2018 concert at London’s Hyde Park? Directed by longtime collaborator Tim Pope and shot in stunning 4K with a special 5.1 surround sound mix, the 29-song s… Read more
It sounds like a Nicholas Sparks novel: Two star-crossed lovers in their mid-20s meet on a beautiful Greek island. She becomes the muse that jump-starts his singing career. They grow apart and eventually go their separate ways but remain on each other’s mind for the rest of their lives. At t… Read more
Last year Alfonso Cuarón’ gave us a glimpse of Mexico City’s past with “Roma” centered around a live-in maid named Cleo. This year Lila Avilés brings us into the present with a story about a single mom named Eve (Gabriela Cartol), who works as a chambermaid at Mexico City’s luxurious Hotel P… Read more
Ari Aster burst onto the scene last year with “Hereditary” a cryptic supernatural thriller reminiscent of horror films from the late 60s-early 70s known for building tension and delivering shocks. Read more
There is a scene in “Annabelle Comes Home” where a haunted typewriter in The Warren’s Occult Museum begins to type “Miss Me?” after everyone’s favorite demonically possessed doll Annabelle is unleashed from her protective glass box. Read more
Jessie Buckley is a revelation as an aspiring country singer living in Glasgow who dreams of making it to Nashville. The Irish-born actress, who delivered a knockout performance in last year’s “Beast,” is also a classically trained musician and runner up on the BBC talent show “I’d Do Anything.” Read more
Academy Award-winning director Denys Arcand (“The Barbarian Invasions”) once again explores society’s downfall in a tale about greed, corruption, and extravagance. Read more
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