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West Michigan
(2021)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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In many ways, West Michigan contains a somewhat predictable arc-siblings who have difficulty connecting find solace on the road-but does a good job of enhancing those elements via the charm of the central characters and their developing bond.
Posted Apr 20, 2021
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Deliver Us
(2016)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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It is an affecting documentary, a window into a fringe element of faith that has often possessed horror film lovers, but holds within it a deep-seated system of beliefs and rituals that are still part of the world today.
Posted Apr 30, 2020
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The Bellmen
(2020)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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The Bellmen aspires to cult heights in the same vein as Super Troopers, but it may not go down as a cult film simply because it's far too nice. And that, to be honest, is what's most enjoyable about it.
Posted Apr 28, 2020
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Silent Panic
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Silent Panic is a middling thriller, with a solid concept and mostly solid performances. Director Kyle Schadt finds some excellent points of tension to keep the viewer engaged, but the film becomes less believable as it goes on.
Posted Apr 20, 2020
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Union
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Writer/director Whitney Hamilton's film Union is an ambitious, intriguing work that attempts to navigate some difficult waters, made more difficult by a limited budget.
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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Night Sweats
(2019)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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It's seldom that contemporary film is actually offensive in its gender politics, but this goes beyond casual, thoughtless sexism and enters the realm of explicit, self-satisfied, and unreflective misogyny.
Posted Mar 12, 2020
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Sunday Girl
(2019)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Somehow the film works, due largely to the gradual revelations about Natasha's character, her desires, and her attempts to do the right thing.
Posted Nov 10, 2019
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Chimes at Midnight
(1965)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Chimes at Midnight is a unique achievement that few filmmakers have ever equaled.
Posted Nov 02, 2019
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Jojo Rabbit
(2019)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Jojo Rabbit proves to be perhaps one of the most essential political films of the past five years, cutting through a complexity of issues with humor and pathos
Posted Oct 22, 2019
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The Riot Act
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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While far from perfect, it deserves some attention at least for Sweetser and writer/director Devon Parks, who does much with little and constructs an interesting, sometimes assured narrative.
Posted Sep 24, 2019
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Ophelia
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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By refuting her victimization by the world she cannot control, Ophelia actually abandons the depth of its lead's psychology and tragedy, and removes itself from even an attempt to comment on patriarchy.
Posted Jun 27, 2019
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Holy Lands
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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When Holy Lands succeeds, it's a moving, humorous film; when it fails, it's difficult to follow or to invest in. The result is a curious, imbalanced narrative that would have been better for one or two fewer plot strands.
Posted Jun 18, 2019
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Ghost Light
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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The film does pay off its premise, and the final act is a fantastically entertaining, horror-laden farce that brings all the elements of the narrative together.
Posted Jun 14, 2019
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Bull
(2019)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Bull...deftly handles the numbness of poverty without making it either overly sentimental or overly violent.
Posted May 20, 2019
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Tater Tot & Patton
(2017)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Tater Tot & Patton is a good example of what can be achieved with a small cast and a director with a clear, cogent eye for both character and mis-en-scene.
Posted Apr 18, 2019
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For Now
(2017)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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There's something surprising that For Now, beyond its cinematic competency, is hardly revolutionary yet is refreshing and enjoyable nonetheless.
Posted Mar 15, 2019
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America Adrift
(2016)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Ultimately, this is a film that has its heart in the right place, that wants to discuss the depths of the opioid crisis...But its superficiality stops it from finding a strong center of pathos, and a final act shift becomes unintentionally comical.
Posted Mar 08, 2019
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Hummus! The Movie
(2015)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Despite its occasional lack of focus, Hummus! The Movie is an entertaining, diverting documentary.
Posted Feb 11, 2019
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A Boy Called Sailboat
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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It's a special kind of film that can rely on children to drive its story and maintain its charm, but A Boy Called Sailboat pulls it off, evading some of the pitfalls of the quirky indie comedy to deliver something truly wonderful.
Posted Feb 01, 2019
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Stay Human
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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It's refreshing and moving to see a film, however subjective, that asks us unironically to be good to one another, to maintain our humanity by seeing others as humans, too.
Posted Jan 23, 2019
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Nigerian Prince
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Nigerian Prince pulls you in, charms you, and tells you a complex and powerful story without losing itself. The film draws no clear moral conclusions, no clear solution as to what, or who, is right or wrong.
Posted Oct 18, 2018
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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The searching for identity in a world that contains only narrow definitions of it expands the story, giving it heart and understanding and even sympathy for the adults imposing their warped fears on teenagers who actually do know better.
Posted Oct 16, 2018
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Professor Marston & the Wonder Women
(2017)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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It successfully gives the lie to any dude-bro masturbatory fantasies that claim that Wonder Woman is, by design, a thing to be objectified, ogled, and fetishized. There is so much more to her, and so much more to those behind her creation.
Posted Oct 16, 2018
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Mapplethorpe
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Mapplethorpe is as much a contradiction as the man himself, a film that wants to investigate both art and artist, and yet can't quite come to terms with either.
Posted Oct 11, 2018
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Phenomena
(1985)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Phenomena is something like an amusement park ride that sails along pleasantly but uninterestingly, and then drops you fifty feet down. You know it's coming, but it's still quite a stomach-churning experience.
Posted Oct 11, 2018
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The Firemen's Ball
(1967)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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The film is shot through with the darkest of Czech humor-everyone, from the committee to the people to the landscape itself is the butt of a joke, representative of petty rivalries, drunken idiocy, and smug leadership that cannot lead.
Posted Oct 11, 2018
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The House of the Devil
(2009)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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there are times when 80s nostalgia produces something really unique, as is the case with Ti West's The House of the Devil, a deliberate throwback to the decade that immerses its viewer in the chills and thrills of slow-burn violence.
Posted Oct 11, 2018
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Hell House LLC
(2015)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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While not all of its scares work perfectly, it's a damn fine piece of found footage horror. It also has a creepy clown that puts Pennywise to shame.
Posted Oct 11, 2018
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Rift
(2017)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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As an exploration of a dead relationship, it fails to summon emotional resonance. As a horror film, it is not scary. As both, it's simply incoherent.
Posted Oct 10, 2018
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Wonderstruck
(2017)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Ridden with clichés and overly predictable plot turns, it seems to believe that whimsy can replace emotion and that style can paper over a paucity of script that has all the sentimental honesty of a Hallmark card.
Posted Oct 10, 2018
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Lady Bird
(2017)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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At another time, on a second or third or fourth watch, I'm sure I will be able to find something to criticize about Lady Bird. But right now, having ruminated on this film for a full day, there is little to nitpick.
Posted Oct 10, 2018
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The Killing of a Sacred Deer
(2017)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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I'm almost inclined to write off The Killing of a Sacred Deer as a failed attempt to reconstitute the meaning of tragedy, a very ambitious but ultimately incoherent work of art.
Posted Oct 10, 2018
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BlacKkKlansman
(2018)
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Lauren Humphries-Brooks
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Lee employs all of his considerable skill and filmmaking prowess, developing a narrative that is at once blunt and nuanced, horrifying and funny in the most unexpected ways.
Posted Oct 10, 2018
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