Currently Browsing: Roza Melkumyan
When a warehouse employee makes a wish that her street smarts were valued as much as book smarts, she doesn’t expect her wish to come true. Suddenly gifted with a new identity complete with fake Harvard degree and impressive resume, she is given a second chance at a stellar career. Director Peter Segal and writers […]
Boxing gives an incarcerated man the chance at freedom. He chooses love instead. Based on a true story, Heart, Baby depicts life in the Central Tennessee State Penitentiary in the 80s, where men and transgender women of all backgrounds and beliefs struggle to coexist within an unjust prison system and its highly homophobic atmosphere. Writer […]
Dedicated to discussing crime and gun violence in Baltimore, Charm City tackles the issue from various sides. Director Marilyn Ness includes the voices of police officers, politicians, and the residents themselves as she explores the causes, effects, and potential solutions to a problem that, at times, seems unsolvable. Honest, informative, and thought-provoking, this documentary does […]
At a home for orphans in Swaziland, five children become storytellers as they use their own experiences to tell the tale of one girl’s incredible journey. Directors Aaron and Amanda Kopp take the documentary genre and turn it on its head as they utilize fiction as a means for both exploring reality and teaching these […]
When 16-year-old “Starr Carter” (Amandla Stenberg) witnesses the unjust, fatal shooting of her friend at the hands of a police officer, her life is changed forever. Already caught between the worlds of her mostly black neighborhood and her mostly white prep school, Starr must overcome the pressures around her to find her own voice. Based […]
A group of adoptive brothers and partners in crime plan one last heist to steal vital medication for children in Africa. However, a most unexpected betrayal will change their lives forever. Director and writer Kar Lok Chin along with writers Susan Chan, Chi-Yin Cheung, Kin Lok-Kwok, Erica Li, and Heiward Mak deliver an action-packed viewing […]
A modern retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic, Little Women follows the lives of the March sisters as they overcome hardships and follow their dreams. With good intentions, director and writer Clare Niederpruem and writer Kristi Shimek deliver a Hallmark card of a film dripping in sentimentality and lacking authenticity. (RMM: 2.5/5) Review by […]
In just one day, a dead body is found, a man loses his job, an affair ends, a crime is committed, and hearts are broken. In her directorial debut, director Judy Greer attempts to weave together the vignettes of many characters but fails to create a cohesive, compelling, or funny narrative. The star-studded cast is […]
Feeling suffocated by the conventionality of his job and his family life, a man retires and leaves his wife in an attempt to feel alive again. However, after befriending the troubled teenage son of his wife’s best friend, he finds that everything he does is met with the disapproval of his community. Based on the […]
Artist Yayoi Kusama has spent a lifetime creating original work that pushes the boundaries of contemporary art. In both the U.S. and Japan, she has fought for her place in a conservative artistic community that has refused to acknowledge her brilliance. In her documentary, director and writer Heather Lenz – along with writer Keita Ideno […]
An elite CIA task force is entrusted with the delivery of a high-priority asset to an extraction point 22 miles from home base while being chased by terrorists. Writers Lea Carpenter and Graham Roland and director Peter Berg add another unoriginal, action-packed spy movie into the collection. (RMM: 2/5) Review by FF2 Associate Roza M. […]
A young, reckless couple makes a home out of an abandoned house by the sea as they await their first child. Valérie Massadian’s Milla languidly follows its characters through their everyday tasks, offering an unassuming yet honest portrait of life and loss. (RMM: 4/5) Review by FF2 Associate Roza M. Melkumyan Inside the backseat of […]
In a richly rendered medieval fantasy world, the members of an ancient clan live for centuries weaving the cloth of life. When this village is destroyed, a young girl ventures into the world with a baby boy in her arms, ready to face the hardships her new life will bring. Mari Okada shines in her […]
In this documentary, director Lorna Tucker preserves the integrity of Vivienne Westwood both the person and the brand by telling the story that Westwood herself wants told, keeping the focus on the designer’s artistic and political visions as well as her fierce energy. (RMM: 4.5/5)
A documentary directed by Kate Novack, The Gospel According to André details André’s story while exploring his social impact as well as capturing his signature flamboyance. (RMM: 4/5)
Co-written by Reiko Yoshida and Masaaki Yuasa and directed by the latter, Lu Over the Wall (Yoake tsugeru Rû no utain Japanese) is infused with vivid imagination but falls flat on its character development and plot. (RMM: 3/5)
An exhausted mother of three hires a “night nanny” to take care of her newborn daughter. The two women forge a close relationship while reflecting on their lives and exploring their notions of youth and motherhood. Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody – the director and screenwriter duo responsible for 2007’s Juno – deliver a film […]
When a teenage girl in Iran is caught going against her mother’s orders, familial tensions rise and school life is disrupted. Long-standing suspicions intensify, breeding distrust and humiliation, and making the lives of these characters a living hell. Writer and director Sadaf Foroughi delivers a film that is both beautifully shot and scathingly critical of […]
A man’s life is sent into turmoil when his wife comes back after 20 years of absence. Ismael’s Ghosts (in French, Les fantômes d’Ismaël) is a total mess, both in plot and in style. Director Arnaud Desplechin, along with co-writers Léa Mysius and Julie Peyr, indulges in ill-used melodrama and a spliced-together, muddy narrative. (RMM: […]
When an inmate in a New York state prison is granted a compassionate leave to visit her dying mother, a young corrections officer who is looking to prove herself must do whatever it takes to escort her prisoner downstate and then bring her back on time. With Furlough, director Laurie Collyer and screenwriter Barry Strugatz deliver […]
In Tehran Taboo, four young people struggle as they feel the weight of Iran’s restrictive Islamic society in matters of sex, money, and lifestyle. Director Ali Soozandeh and writer Grit Kienzlen deliver stark yet beautiful images while revealing and criticizing taboos that govern the Iranian people. (RMM: 4.5/5)
In The Female Brain, a recently-divorced neurologist explores the inner workings of the male and female brain in regard to romance. Director and star Whitney Cummings succeeds in producing a film that is witty, sincere, and relevant. (RMM: 4/5)
Inspired by Andrea Bocelli, The Music of Silence follows a blind man with a gift for singing. Director Michael Radford and writer Anna Pavignano meander through the less than substantive plot with beautifully recorded operatic numbers that are meant to channel Bocelli’s voice but add little to the film. (RMM: 2/5)
When Billy Bloom moves in with his estranged father, he has no idea just how tough winning over this new crowd will be in FREAK SHOW. (RMM: 2.5/5)
The Greatest Showman loosely follows the real-life story of “P. T. Barnum” (Hugh Jackman) and his rise from poverty to success. Director Michael Gracey and writer Jenny Bicks spin the life and achievements of P. T. Barnum into an over-produced, family-oriented spectacle that entertains but fails to impress. (RMM 2.5/5)
Arthur Miller has given America, and the world, an impressive canon of work. However, Rebecca Miller’s documentary, Arthur Miller: Writer, is more than just a chronicle of the life and times of her father and the late playwright: it captures both the brilliance and the ordinariness that does away with the icon and leaves the man. (RMM: 4.5/5)
An aspiring rapper enrolls in a poetry class thinking it will be easy, but her professor challenges her to write with meaning. Director RZA and writer Nicole Jefferson Asher deliver a film that fails to reach its full potential, and leaves the audience wanting something more hard-hitting. (RMM: 3/5)
New director Victoria Negri writes and stars in her first feature-length film Gold Star, which captures the raw emotion and scathing honesty of the not-so-pretty hidden sides of ourselves. (RMM: 4/5)
Nine decades of performance makes Rose Marie’s the longest active career in the entertainment industry. Written by Christina Tucker and Jason Wise, Wait for Your Laugh details her remarkable life in the spotlight. (RMM: 3.5/5)
In her film The Divine Order (in German, Die göttliche Ordnung), writer and director Petra Volpe presents an account of women’s real-life fight against injustice. (RMM: 4/5)
