domestic drama Archives | The Movie Blog

“Ariel: Back to Buenos Aries” (2023): What is Family?

John Smistad — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00:45 +0000

“Ariel: Back to Buenos Aries” is a captivating story of a brother and sister returning to their birthplace, Argentina, for the first time as adults. Soon immersed in the glimmering tango clubs of Buenos Aires, they come to uncover long-kept family secrets and the heart-wrenching reasons behind their parent’s emigration, leading to a life-altering journey ...

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“Whitetail” (2021): Like father, like son?

John Smistad — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 01:08:57 +0000

Evil has infected a vast and forested remote Texas ranch. Into this crucible enter a father, son and uncle. What follows is terrifying. Thus is the sinister and multi-layered parable presented us in the new domestic crime thriller “Whitetail”. I spoke with writer/director Derek Presley. Having grown up in, and lived and traveled throughout, Texas, it ...

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“The Short History of the Long Road” (2020): When the Highway is your Home

John Smistad — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 22:48:49 +0000

All of us have wanderlust. Whether realized via a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive, a spontaneous road trip, an exotic resort vacation or a lifestyle, we as humans are innately driven to get up, get out and migrate about at various points in our lives. The new drama “The Short History of the Long Road” is ...

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Would that “South Mountain” Filmmaker Hilary Brougher Make this More of a Habit

John Smistad — Fri, 15 May 2020 02:29:34 +0000

Talia Balsam startles as Lila, an eccentric and enigmatic woman struggling to cope with her fragile mentality and fracturing family in the new domestic drama “South Mountain”. Hilary Brougher’s main gig is professor of graduate film at Columbia University. Her side hustle, writing and directing independent movies, has, over nearly a quarter century, produced three ...

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“Standing Up, Falling Down”: Too little, too late for Billy Crystal

John Smistad — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 03:33:11 +0000

The new domestic drama “Standing Up, Falling Down” features the great Billy Crystal in perhaps his most affecting acting performance. Though tough to sympathize with him based upon past conduct with his family, Crystal’s deeply flawed character Marty is nonetheless a likable and charming chap. Still, his consistent revelations of sorrow and regret, coupled with ...

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“Wade in the Water”: So you think YOUR relationship is weird?

John Smistad — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 22:25:41 +0000

Video Review The new dark semi-comic domestic drama “Wade in the Water” practically defies description. Trailer: Sure, our man never gives his name. He works from home. His neighbours are all idiots. He doesn’t really “do” friends. But all that changes when a mis-delivered package arrives in his post office box bearing a horrifying ...

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There’s “Something” there with this Odd Story

John Smistad — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 17:15:12 +0000

“Something” is a low budget, minimalist domestic mystery drama with hints of the supernatural. Or is it otherworldly? This is the question looming throughout this strange and unnerving chronicle of two regular people thrust into circumstances they appear helpless to comprehend nor conquer. A young L.A. suburbanite couple (we never learn their names) with a ...

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“Puzzle”: Fitting Together the Pieces of a Life in Transition

John Smistad — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 23:20:43 +0000

Review: Trailer: PUZZLE is a closely observed portrait of Agnes, who has reached her early 40s without ever venturing far from home, family or the tight-knit immigrant community in which she was raised by her widowed father. That begins to change in a quietly dramatic fashion when Agnes receives a jigsaw puzzle as a birthday gift and experiences ...

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“Submission” Review: Whose conning who?

John Smistad — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 19:00:50 +0000

https://youtu.be/kL1ftT3ANYM The games are dirty and the stakes are high in the new drama “Submission“. Stanley Tucci (sporting a toupee that doesn’t look half-bad) is as solid as ever as Ted Swenson, a dispirited college English lit professor in desperate search of a follow-up to a successful debut novel. Addison Timlin is Angela Argo, an ...

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“Abundant Acreage Available”: A Fertile Harvest of First-Rate Acting

John Smistad — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 21:30:09 +0000

“Abundant Acreage Available” is the kind of movie that is content to take its own sweet time telling its story. There is no particular interest in rushing fast forward from scene to scene at light speed. Or investing any real sense of urgency at all, actually. This is filmmaking done at an expressly intentional pace ...

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“A Country Called Home”: Filmmaker Anna Axster weaves a leisurely story with lasting power.

John Smistad — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 21:00:35 +0000

https://youtu.be/LlT9CWKAUCI THE GENERAL IDEA At first the slice of life indie drama “A Country Called Home” seems to be trying too hard to be indelible. But I found as I let this small town tale of self-discovery and lives recalibrated gently play itself out I came to understand what Director and Co-Writer Anna Axster is ...

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“Krisha”: Crushingly depressing chronicle of a family fractured.

John Smistad — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 15:00:54 +0000

When Krisha shows up at her sister’s Texas home on Thanksgiving morning, her close and extended family greet her with a mixture of warmth and wariness. Almost immediately, a palpable unease permeates the air, one which only grows in force as Krisha gets to work cooking the turkey and trying to make up for lost time by ...

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