By Zach Dennis, Lydia Creech, Ash Baker, and Reid Ramsey.
Note: These films are not ranked by quality, but rather in chronological order.
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2019 Chattanooga Film Festival
Festival Coverage by Zach Dennis and Reid Ramsey
For four days in April, the 6th annual Chattanooga Film Festival screened 39 feature films (and dozens of shorts) spanning indie horror, documentaries, and cult classics from around the world. Nestled on the Tennessee River, and sporting appearances by Crispin Glover and Joe Bob Briggs, Zach and Reid were able to catch 10 of the features during their time at the fest.
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Homecoming (2019) by Beyoncé Knowles
Review by Courtney Anderson
The biggest celebrity in the world is a Black woman who is willing to push herself way past any limitations — her own and the ones the world tends to thrust upon us--to manifest her vision. And it’s amazing to watch her do it.
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Hugh Jackman and Zach Galifianakis star in Laika studios’ fifth feature, Missing Link
Missing Link (2019) by Chris Butler
Review by Lydia Creech
Cinematary favorite Laika’s fifth feature Missing Link is a globe-spanning adventure aimed at a slightly younger crowd than their previous films.
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Peterloo (2019) by Mike Leigh
Review by Etan Weisfogel
It remains to be seen whether the film is simply an outlier or rather the first sign of what might be termed “late-period Leigh.” Peterloo has all the markings of an archetypal late-period work, namely a purified, ascetic style that feels like the product of someone who no longer feels a need to prove himself.
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Four different kitties play Church, the feline lead of Pet Sematary
Pet Sematary (2019) by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer
Review by Diana Rogers
This movie is your very own monkey's paw, giving you everything you thought you wanted, but in the most unsatisfying way imaginable. Was this movie made by aliens? Robots? People who've never seen a moving picture and have no concept of what actually makes them work? It's not scary, and it's not emotionally engaging. It feels perfunctory, anemic and soulless. "They don't come back the same," you say? No, they certainly do not.
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Virginia Gardner stars in director A.T. White’s debut feature, Starfish
Starfish (2019) by A.T. White
Review by Alison Swafford
Starfish is not really a horror film. It’s something else – and that something is kind of beautiful.
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The Beach Bum (2019) by Harmony Korine
Review by Nadine Smith
The first thing we see Moondog do is save a stray cat. Opening with that old screenwriting adage— if you want us to like your character, write a scene in which they save a cat — might make you think we’re supposed to be endeared to the titular sea-side ass of Harmony Korine’s latest film. But Moondog isn’t like the rest of us Earthlings; he transcended everyone else’s opinion of him long ago.
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Dragged Across Concrete (2019) by S. Craig Zahler
Review by Nathan Smith
For better or worse, Dragged Across Concrete is neither the totally hateful and bigoted movie you’ve been warned about nor the formalist masterpiece you’ve been promised.
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Us (2019) by Jordan Peele
Review by Courtney Anderson
I imagine that Jordan Peele’s brain is kind of a chaotic place, with millions of ideas, societal critiques, and rational thoughts flying around at rapid speed. I also imagine that every nightmare, moment of fear or spike of anxiety Peele’s ever had is running around freely, too.
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Cinematary Canon #9: 80 Minutes or Less
By Zach Dennis, Michael O'Malley, Diana Rogers, Lydia Creech, Andrew Swafford, and Reid Ramsey.
Note: These films are not ranked by quality, but rather in chronological order.
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Fargo (1996) by Joel and Ethan Coen
Retro Review by Reid Ramsey
Last week, charges were brought against Felicity Huffman as part of an investigation of a widespread college admissions scandal. There’s one strange caveat in all of it, though: the document fails to mention Huffman’s husband, William H. Macy, and only ever refers to him as “spouse.” While it can be dubious to compare real-life crimes to fictional ones, this whole situation did have me asking one question: If given the opportunity, how might Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) have committed this crime?
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Captain Marvel (2019) by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Review by Courtney Anderson
This movie really just needed tighter writing. It doesn’t have any super glaring issues, and it’s certainly not the first Marvel movie to have problems with exposition and character development – nor is it the worst of the offenders.
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Rory Culkin stars as black metal founder Euronymous in director Jonas Åkerlund’s Lords of Chaos
Lords of Chaos (2019) by Jonas Åkerlund
A conversation between Alison Swafford and Mike Thorn
It seems like most people who have reviewed the film have some sort of passionate stance about black metal, which, in almost every case, has elicited anger.
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Jessica Rothe stars in director Christopher Landon’s Happy Death Day 2U
Happy Death Day 2U (2019) by Christopher Landon
Review by Logan Kenny
Happy Death Day 2U possibly has the most beautiful view form of resurrection in recent memory. Instead of making it about a desperation to cheat your reality and write your loss out of this history, it’s about cherishing the time you have left – the chance to properly say goodbye.
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Alita: Battle Angel (2019) by Robert Rodriguez
Review by Nadine Smith
Though it’s a few degrees below the Wachowskis, Alita is the kind of genuinely cinematic, good-natured blockbuster filmmaking that’s all too scarce in Disney’s gated community.
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Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami – the stars, writers, and directors of The Breaker Upperers
The Breaker Upperers (2019) by Madeleine Sami & Jackie van Beek
Review by Jessica Carr
When I saw The Breaker Upperers, I was immediately caught up in the chemistry of writer-director-star duo Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami.
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Cinematary Canon #8: Wardrobe Goals
By Zach Dennis, Courtney Anderson, Michael O'Malley, Jessica Carr, Diana Rogers, Ash Baker, Lydia Creech, Alison Swafford, and Paige Taylor.
Note: These films are not ranked by quality, but rather in chronological order.
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Clint Eastwood, star and director of The Mule
The Mule (2018) by Clint Eastwood
Review by Logan Kenny
Regardless of whether it is or not – I certainly hope it isn’t – this feels like the last film of Eastwood’s career. It feels like a goodbye. The film doesn’t attempt to justify him for his selfishness, nor redeem him for his failures and criminal decisions over the runtime, but rather it shows the beauty of someone trying to be better before it’s too late.
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Abbie Cornish stars as Fannie Brawne in director Jane Campion’s film Bright Star
Bright Star (2009) by Jane Campion
Retro Review by Diana Rogers
The genius of this movie is that it takes a premise that's been done time and time again – by daytime drama and YA novels alike – and transforms it into something that is both accessible and transcendent. It's a viewing experience worth luxuriating in.
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