REVIEW: Greener Grass [2019]

We’re supposed to tell people. Two of the most recognizable inhabitants of any plastic suburban nightmare you’ll come across are the “people-pleasers” and the “coveters.” The former will do whatever is necessary to ensure everyone is happy because they want to be appreciated as the type of person that can help make such happiness occur. The latter craves that happiness as though it’s a drug, gravitating towards possessing each subsequent example they see since their wanting can’t cease when every newly acquired type of happiness wasn’t born from them. Both…

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BIFF18 REVIEW: Thunder Road [2018]

Should we call the manufacturer? It’s unsurprising to learn the opening one-shot of Jim Cummings‘ SXSW-winning film Thunder Road is itself a revision of the writer/director/star’s Sundance-winning short of the same name. The sequence therefore plays like a mini-movie with its escalation of emotion, honest humor in tragedy, and subtle exposition readying us for the aftermath to come. Officer Jim Arnaud (Cummings) is a man struggling with the anguish and regret he feels as the reality of his mother’s death hits him like a ton of bricks—his macho, decorated hero…

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REVIEW: Over Coffee [2010]

“Prove it. I need a dozen manila folders. Now! Go!” Borrowing from many office-based romantic comedies that came before it, Sean Meehan‘s short Over Coffee adds a bit of fun, quick paced action to the mix. Andrew (Erik Potempa) has been pining over Carla (Jocelyn DeBoer) for a while now, refusing to do more than awkwardly stand by her desk until the opportunity to prove his affection presents itself. Confronted with the choice to either go back to work and let her reap the consequences of her forgetful mind or…

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BNFF10 REVIEW: Stuck Like Chuck [2010]

“I guess I like threesomes” With the inundation of paint-by-number romantic comedies these days, sometimes checking out an ultra low-budget Indie can be a breath of fresh air—even if said movie knows it. Jerry Cavallaro’s Stuck Like Chuck is a tale of collegiate love and missed signals that can be related to by anyone who’s ever grown up on the fringes of high school popularity. But the story of Charlie’s lust for his film class compatriot Juliet is only the vehicle for the writer/director to poke fun at Hollywood and…

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