Author Archives: chrisreedfilm

About chrisreedfilm

Christopher Llewellyn Reed is a film critic, filmmaker, and educator. A member of the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, he is Associate Editor and film critic at filmfestivaltoday.com; lead film critic at hammertonail.com, an online magazine devoted to independent cinema; the host of Dragon Digital Media’s award-winning "Reel Talk with Christopher Llewellyn Reed"; a film commentator for the "Roughly Speaking” podcast with Dan Rodricks at "The Baltimore Sun"; and the author of "Film Editing: Theory and Practice." In addition, he is one of three co-creators, along with Summre Garber of Slamdance and Bart Weiss of Dallas VideoFest, of "The Fog of Truth" (fogoftruth.com) – available on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher – a podcast devoted to documentary cinema.

Film Review: “The Lighthouse” Shines Brightly into a Narrative Void

Posted on October 18, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, 2019) 2 out of 4 stars. Gorgeously photographed on Kodak’s high-contrast Double-X black-and-white 35mm film stock, and presented in an almost exactly square aspect ratio (1.19 to 1), The Lighthouse is not only beautiful to behold (in … Continue reading →

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Film Review: “#FemalePleasure” Conquers Male Supremacy

Posted on October 13, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

#FemalePleasure (Barbara Miller, 2019) 3½ out of 4 stars. From director Barbara Miller (Forbidden Voices) comes a documentary profile of five women in five different countries who each, in her own way, confronts the patriarchal demands, of her respective culture, … Continue reading →

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Film Review: “Pain and Glory” Offers Neither, But Still Diverts

Posted on October 10, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

Pain and Glory (“Dolor y gloria”) (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019) 2½ out of 4 stars. Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film offers neither excessive pain nor great glory, so megalomaniacal masochists, beware. It is a very personal film, however, so there are plenty … Continue reading →

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Film Review: “Lucy in the Sky” Is a Narrative Black Hole

Posted on October 10, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

Lucy in the Sky (Noah Hawley, 2019) ½ out of 4 stars. Lucy is inspired, Lucy is inspiring. She’s also driven, stunned, passionate, angry, giddy, confused, focused, manic, crazy, smart, successful, failing, at-a-loss spiraling-out-of-control allovertheplace goingamileaminuteand quicklylosingthethreadof thingsandunabletodifferentiate betweenwhatisrealandwhatisnot. She’s … Continue reading →

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Film Review: In “Dolemite Is My Name,” Eddie Murphy’s Got Game

Posted on October 10, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

Dolemite Is My Name (Craig Brewer, 2019) 3 out of 4 stars. Though Eddie Murphy has never stopped working since his explosion onto the media scene in the early 1980s, thanks to first Saturday Night Live and then hits like … Continue reading →

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Film Review: Intriguing “Monos” Makes Monsters Out of Children

Posted on October 9, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

Monos (Alejandro Landes, 2019) 2½ out of 4 stars. Blindfolded children stand in a circle of large stones, framed by towering mountains, clouds swirling around. Is this a sinister ritual? No, it’s but a game; we soon see them kicking … Continue reading →

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Film Review: Magical “Tigers Are Not Afraid” Explores Horrors of Mexican Drug Wars

Posted on October 8, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

Tigers Are Not Afraid (“Vuelven”) (Issa López, 2017) 3½ out of 4 stars. A horror film set amidst the real-life tragedies of Mexico’s horrific drug wars, Issa López’s Tigers Are Not Afraid (“Vuelven,” or “They Come Back” in the original … Continue reading →

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Film Review: “The Garden Left Behind” Urges Us Urgently Forward

Posted on October 8, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

The Garden Left Behind (Flavio Alves, 2019) 3 out of 4 stars. Winner of the Audience Award in the “Visions” category at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival, The Garden Left Behind, from director Flavio Alves (making his feature debut), tells … Continue reading →

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Film Review: This “Joker” Is All Hole and No Ace

Posted on October 3, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019) 1 out of 4 stars. A relentlessly bleak tale of despair and anger, director Todd Phillips’s Joker features a blistering collection of mannerisms masquerading as emotional truths in lead actor Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, and not much else. … Continue reading →

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Film Review: Zellweger Brilliantly Incarnates “Judy” in All Her Miserable Glory

Posted on September 26, 2019
Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Associate Editor

Judy (Rupert Goold, 2019) 3 out of 4 stars. Judy Garland (born Frances Gumm in 1922) led a not-so-long and very troubled life, during which time she wowed audiences with her incomparable singing, dancing and presence before becoming, in the … Continue reading →

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