Against the field of all narrative films at this year’s recently concluded SXSW, Netflix’s small but worthwhile First Match emerged as the winner of the Audience Award competition. That seems appropriate since this engaging film about a largely abandoned young African American girl who joins the boys wrestling team at her Brooklyn high school is about someone who triumphs against all odds. But as I say in my video review above, it doesn’t follow the typical pattern of most underdog Hollywood sports movies, and we are the better for it.
At its heart it really is a father-daughter story, but also not typical in that family genre. Based on writer-director Olivia Newman’s 2011 short film, the first-time feature helmer has expanded it and gone much deeper into the world of her lead character Monique (Elvire Emanuelle). When we first meet her she is being tossed out once...
At its heart it really is a father-daughter story, but also not typical in that family genre. Based on writer-director Olivia Newman’s 2011 short film, the first-time feature helmer has expanded it and gone much deeper into the world of her lead character Monique (Elvire Emanuelle). When we first meet her she is being tossed out once...
- 4/2/2018
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
If coming-of-age stories feel so familiar, it’s largely because we all have one of our own. That’s not to absolve the genre of its many clichés (most of which are considerably older than the characters who tend to embody them), but rather to emphasize their inevitability. Everyone grows up, everyone discovers themselves, and everyone feels like they’re pioneering uncharted territory when they do it. By nature, these are movies that prioritize the journey over the destination — it doesn’t matter if you can tell where they’re going so long as you can believe how they get there.
You believe everything about Monique (a brilliant Elvire Emanuelle). Where she’s going, where she’s been, how she plans to navigate between the two. And while it can be somewhat frustrating that such a vibrant and singularly well-realized heroine should have to grapple with some of the tired...
You believe everything about Monique (a brilliant Elvire Emanuelle). Where she’s going, where she’s been, how she plans to navigate between the two. And while it can be somewhat frustrating that such a vibrant and singularly well-realized heroine should have to grapple with some of the tired...
- 3/13/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
"This is her fight." Netflix has debuted the official trailer for an indie drama titled First Match, which is premiering at the SXSW Film Festival this month. This is the feature directorial debut of Olivia Newman, adapting her own 2010 short film after going through the Sundance Director's Lab. First Match stars Elvire Emanuelle as a determined teenage girl from Brooklyn who decides to join an all boys' wrestling team at her high school, causing more trouble than she may be prepared to handle. Also starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, & Jared Kemp. This looks great! Really, really great. The footage looks emotional yet raw and real, powerful yet still heartwarming, I'm looking forward to this. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Olivia Newman's First Match, direct from YouTube: Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl named Monique (Elvire Emanuelle) from Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood decides...
- 3/9/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
With Sundance 2018 wrapped up, the next major American festival is South by Southwest Film Festival and today they’ve announced their lineup. Opening with John Krasinski’s horror film A Quiet Place, it also includes some of our most-anticipated films of the year: Jody Hill’s Observe & Report follow-up The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter (which Netflix has announced they’ll release), Andrew Bujalski’s Support the Girls, and Julia Hart’s Miss Stevens follow-up, the sci-fi film Fast Color (pictured above) starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Check out the lineup below for the festival that takes place March 9-18 in Austin. It also includes many Sundance 2018 titles, and you can see our reviews of those here.
Narrative Feature Competition
Ten world premieres; ten unique ways to celebrate the art of storytelling. Selected from 1,408 narrative feature submissions in 2018.
Family
Director/Screenwriter: Laura Steinel
When an emotionally stunted 30 year-old woman is tasked...
Check out the lineup below for the festival that takes place March 9-18 in Austin. It also includes many Sundance 2018 titles, and you can see our reviews of those here.
Narrative Feature Competition
Ten world premieres; ten unique ways to celebrate the art of storytelling. Selected from 1,408 narrative feature submissions in 2018.
Family
Director/Screenwriter: Laura Steinel
When an emotionally stunted 30 year-old woman is tasked...
- 2/1/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The SXSW Conference and Festivals has announced its features lineup and opening night film, plus a selection of episodic titles for the 25th edition of the Film Festival, running this March in Austin, Texas. This year’s festival will open with John Krasinski’s Paramount-produced “A Quiet Place,” playing as part of the festival’s Headliners section. Elsewhere, the film lineup is stacked with a number of offerings from female filmmakers, including its Narrative Feature Competition, which includes eight films (out of ten) directed or co-directed by women, from Megan Griffiths’ “Sadie” to Stacy Cochran’s “Write When You Get Work.”
Other sections of the festival also include a heavily female bent, including three films in the Headliners section (which currently includes five titles), and the Narrative Spotlight section, which includes new films from Lynn Shelton, Miranda Bailey, Julia Hart, and Suzi Yoonessi. Those titles are joined by a slew of other SXSW regulars,...
Other sections of the festival also include a heavily female bent, including three films in the Headliners section (which currently includes five titles), and the Narrative Spotlight section, which includes new films from Lynn Shelton, Miranda Bailey, Julia Hart, and Suzi Yoonessi. Those titles are joined by a slew of other SXSW regulars,...
- 1/31/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
James Hunt Oct 14, 2016
Are there more people rooting for Luke Cage than he thinks? Here are our viewing notes on episode 12, Soliloquy Of Chaos...
This review contains spoilers.
See related Doctor Strange: what to expect from the movie Black Panther: Forest Whitaker has joined the cast Captain Marvel to be origin story, Black Panther won’t be
1.12 Soliloquy Of Chaos
Eeesh. I’ve got no idea what happened in this episode, but all the subtext and subtlety that the show’s been dancing around got absolutely dropped here in favour of actual celebrity rapper Method Man essentially staring down the camera and delivering the show’s message. I think it’s sometimes okay to tell rather than show, but this was a bit much.
In fairness, the themes of the show are used to good effect here and it harks back to those excellently-written opening episodes in ways...
Are there more people rooting for Luke Cage than he thinks? Here are our viewing notes on episode 12, Soliloquy Of Chaos...
This review contains spoilers.
See related Doctor Strange: what to expect from the movie Black Panther: Forest Whitaker has joined the cast Captain Marvel to be origin story, Black Panther won’t be
1.12 Soliloquy Of Chaos
Eeesh. I’ve got no idea what happened in this episode, but all the subtext and subtlety that the show’s been dancing around got absolutely dropped here in favour of actual celebrity rapper Method Man essentially staring down the camera and delivering the show’s message. I think it’s sometimes okay to tell rather than show, but this was a bit much.
In fairness, the themes of the show are used to good effect here and it harks back to those excellently-written opening episodes in ways...
- 10/14/2016
- Den of Geek
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