By William Engel Told with great simplicity and power, “Bridget and Iain” is a heart wrenching story of a mother and son who have a wedge driven between them by the latter’s drug addiction. The film begins with the mother, Bridget, visiting her son, Iain, in rehab. The two of them have a tense conversation…
By William Engel The PBS broadcast of “The Chinese Exclusion Act”, was a daring, sobering documentary about the titular law that prevented Chinese-Americans from being recognized as citizens for more than half a century. Through multiple accounts and both primary and secondary sources, the film provides an in-depth look at the history of the Chinese…
By William Engel “Regionrat”, based on the Richard Laskowski novel of the same name, follows Ray (Connor Williams), a broke and lonely young man who spends six months trying to make it in Seattle before deciding to move back to his hometown to finish high school. He runs into trouble before long, however, when the…
By William Engel It is a world that proves to be more intricate, more fascinating and even more disturbing than it appears on the surface. The film focuses on Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer, one of the most accomplished and notorious trolls in the history of the net. The prodigious provocateur has, to date, publicly revealed…
By William Engel After years of building up a reputation as one of the industry’s top special effects gurus, Hiroshi Katagiri made his feature length directorial debut with the premiere of c. I’m happy to report that it succeeds not only as a horror film, but as a harrowing drama that casts a damning light…
by William Engel Who’s “Jenna?” is very Funny, daring, and surprisingly intense. The film follows Jonathan Burke (Bill Sorvino), a financial advisor who starts dating a lawyer named Jenna Casey (Tracey Birdsall) after meeting her at a bar. His best friend, Andy Roma (Joseph D’onofrio) notes that she bears a striking resemblance to a…
by William Engel If there’s any doubt in your mind that synchronized swimming is a legitimate sport, that doubt will be extinguished upon viewing “Perfect”, a spellbinding documentary about one of the athletic world’s most under-appreciated pursuits. “Perfect” gives us an inside look at the Canadian synchronized swimming team as they prepare for the…
By William Engel “Fear, Love and Agoraphobia” is a sobering, poignant story of two people struggling to break free from their respective prisons – one confined by mental illness, the other by grief. The film follows two different people, whose lives converge about one-third through. The first, a man named Chet (Dustin Coffey), suffers…
By William Engel “Russian Doll” follows Viola Ames (Melanie Brockmann Gaffney), a veteran police detective who’s assigned to investigate the disappearance of a woman who stumbled upon a murder plot behind the scenes of an upcoming play called The Russian Doll. As opening night draws closer and closer, Viola and her partner, EJ (Sarah Hollis)…
By William Engel The film follows Jimmy Percer (Kogon), an aging tap dancer who seeks to enter an international dancing competition. On one hand, he has plenty of people in his corner, including his wife, Tess (Beverly Mitchell), his boss, Mr. Dalyrmple (Jim O’Heir), and his niece, Kit (Hayley Shukiar). On the other hand, a…
