The Obsessive Viewer
Film and TV Reviews and Podcasts
In this episode, Ben and I share our thoughts on some of the films playing at this year’s Heartland Film Festival both virtually and in-person in Indianapolis October 6th-16th. For more information on Heartland Film Festival, visit HeartlandFilm.org.
In this episode, Ben and I review Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel and Fran Kranz’s directorial debut, Mass. We also discuss Halloween Kills, this year’s Heartland Film Festival and more.
One of the best movies of the year, which never forgets to put the characters’ difficult emotions first.
The rare independent animated film that wears its influences on its sleeves.
A beautiful film that avoids easy narrative answers in exchange for emotional honesty about the creative process.
An interview with writer/director Anna Baumgarten on her debut feature.
Recorded October 15, 2020: In this episode, Tiny and I review some of the stuff we watched at the 29th Annual Heartland Film Festival! We covered the documentaries 76 Days, In Case of Emergency, Belly of the Beast, and When My Time Comes. We also touch on The Comey Rule, All In: The Fight for Democracy, and more.
Recorded October 15, 2020: In this episode, Tiny and I review some of the stuff we watched at the 29th Annual Heartland Film Festival! We covered the documentaries 76 Days, In Case of Emergency, Belly of the Beast, and When My Time Comes. We also touch on The Comey Rule, All In: The Fight for Democracy, and more.
Molto Bella takes a tried-and-true premise – a forlorn poet travels abroad where he meets the girl of his dreams, who’s also running from something – and doesn’t really do anything unique with it. The cinematography and the use of locations are great (but when you’re shooting in the Italian countryside, how can it not be?). The chemistry between Paul T.O. Petersen and Andrea von Kampen – as Hal the poet and Josie the folk singer, respectively – is palpable, even when their acting styles feel a little stiff.
It’s hard to imagine modern daily conversations without the ever-present emoji. What emerged after the technological takeover of smartphones as a way to express a wide variety of emotions in a simplistic manner quickly spread outside our phones and became inescapable. Socks, pillows, Happy Meal toys, and bumper stickers are only a sliver of the countless products available that have cashed in on the emoji craze in recent years, with no end in sight. Emojis have largely been viewed as a force for good in the world (we can now order pizza with one simple pizza emoji sent via text message). The “face with tears of joy” emoji was named as Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year in 2015. They’ve even withstood the release of The Emoji Movie in 2017.
What 76 Days achieves through its fly on the wall documenting is to put human faces on the superheroic actions of healthcare workers. It does so with dignity and grace as we watch medical staff in a Wuhan hospital try to stem the flood of horror at their doorstep and the emotional toll it takes on them.
Set among the turbulence of armed conflict in late 1980s Peru, the film is harrowing in the way it compartmentalizes its drama into the character of Georgina and establishes the horrific journey she has ahead of her. Lonely journalist Pedro also has his own painful arc to contend with as he works to uncover what happened to Georgina’s child. The two characters’ arc intertwine and land a little differently, but the message and tragedy of Song Without a Name plays on.
The Outside Story takes a promising conceit – an introverted man must venture out of his comfort zone after locking himself out of his apartment – and stretches it just slightly past the point of wearing out its welcome.
All for My Mother, Małgorzata Imielska’s debut feature out of Poland, is largely comprised of hardships and trauma that befall the lead character Olka. Through her experience in a reformatory with other troubled teens who wish her harm, to a temporary stay with a couple who aren’t as warm and welcoming as they seem, Olka has one simple goal in mind: to reunite with her mother. That’s all she consciously desires, yet it’s not what she truly needs or yearns for beneath the surface. What Olka truly craves is acceptance and a sense of belonging. She is desperate for the stability of family and the journey she finds herself on makes for a heartbreaking and emotional ride. It’s a ride that includes frequent stops as the path she follows becomes more bleak and dour the further she goes.
The power of In Case of Emergency is in the way it documents its subjects in the relative normal era before COVID and then shows us the toll of the global pandemic on their resolve. It acts as a reminder that heroes are constantly working on the frontline of society’s harshest realities and that they deserve to be recognized even when we aren’t facing unprecedented times.
The Obsessive Viewer 