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 lead film critic at hammertonail.com, an online magazine devoted to independent cinema; a regular film critic here at filmfestivaltoday.com; 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.
Fast Color (Julia Hart, 2019) 3 out of 4 stars. Though it suffers from some confused world-building, Julia Hart’s Fast Color remains, throughout, an engaging meditation on identity and empowerment. The film follows a trio of women – three generations of a single … Continue reading →
Posted in Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Specialty Releases
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Tagged chrisreedfilm, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, David Strathairn, drought, Fast Color, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Julia Hart, Lorraine Toussaint, post-apocalyptic, Saniyya Sidney, sci-fi, science fiction
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Teen Spirit (Max Minghella, 2018) 2 out of 4 stars. Actor Max Minghella’s directorial debut, Teen Spirit, deserves high marks for style, with its vibrant visuals and evocative editing. Unfortunately, the story the film tells is not up to the … Continue reading →
Penguins (Alastair Fothergill/Jeff Wilson, 2019) 1 out of 4 stars. Disneynature, a production arm within the larger Disney Studios, produces nature documentaries with an eye – according to its mission statement – to bringing the “world’s top nature filmmakers together to … Continue reading →
Posted in Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews
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Tagged Adélie penguins, Alastair Fothergill, Antarctica, chrisreedfilm, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, disney, Disneynature, documentary, Jeff Wilson, nature, Penguins
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Little (Tina Gordon Chism, 2019) 2 out of 4 stars. Would that Little made a bigger splash. Instead, it sets its sights so low that when the comedy succeeds, it is almost in spite of the premise, rather than because of … Continue reading →
Posted in Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews
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Tagged Big, chrisreedfilm, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Issa Rae, Little, Marsai Martin, Penny Marshall, Regina Hall, Shazam!, Tina Gordon, Tina Gordon Chism
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Stockholm (Robert Budreau, 2018) 2½ out of 4 stars. Based on the failed real-life 1973 bank robbery that led to the coining of the term “stockholm syndrome,” writer/director Robert Budreau’s Stockholm explores the strange psychological phenomenon of captives bonding with their captors. … Continue reading →
Posted in Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Featured Specialty, Film Reviews
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Tagged bank, bank heist, chrisreedfilm, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Ethan Hawke, heist, Kreditbanken, Mark Strong, noomi rapace, Robert Budreau, Stockholm, Stockholm Syndrome
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Working Woman (“Isha Ovedet”) (Michal Aviad, 2018) 3 out of 4 stars. Israeli director Michal Aviad’s Working Woman explores the trials and tribulations of a married mother of three as she re-enters the workforce, hoping to earn much-needed money following her … Continue reading →
Posted in Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Featured Specialty, Film Reviews
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Tagged chrisreedfilm, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Isha Ovedet, Israel, Liron Ben-Shlush, Menashe Noy, Michal Aviad, Oshri Cohen, sexual harassment, Working Woman
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The 2019 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (its 22nd iteration) ran from April 4-7, in Durham, North Carolina. Sadly, I could not be there in person, but I was able to watch a number of a films remotely, and I here … Continue reading →
Posted in Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Featured, Festivals, FFT Festival Coverage, Film Reviews
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Tagged Alex Rivera, Ask Dr. Ruth, Bettina Perut, chrisreedfilm, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Cristina Ibarra, documentaries, documentary, dogs, Dr. Ruth, Durham, film festival, film festivals, Full Frame, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Iván Osnovikoff, Jacqueline Zünd, Los Reyes, Miles Davis, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, North Carolina, One Child Nation, Ruth Westheimer, Ryan White, Stanley Nelson, The Infiltrators, Where We Belong
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Pet Sematary (Kevin Kölsch/Dennis Widmyer, 2019) 1½ out of 4 stars. I have neither read Stephen King’s 1983 novel Pet Sematary, nor seen, in full, its first, 1989 movie adaptation. Since the latter is currently available to watch for free … Continue reading →
Posted in Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews
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Tagged Amy Seimetz, cemetery, chrisreedfilm, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Dennis Widmyer, Hugo Lavoie, Indian burial ground, Jason Clarke, Jeté Laurence, John Lithgow, Kevin Kölsch, Lucas Lavoie, Pet Sematary, Stephen King
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Shazam! (David F. Sandberg, 2019) 2½ out of 4 stars. A very silly combination of the 1988 movie Big and the broad strokes of the modern superhero mythos, Shazam! barely holds up to even the most basic narrative scrutiny, yet manages … Continue reading →
Posted in Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews
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Tagged Asher Angel, Big, Captain Marvel, chrisreedfilm, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, David F. Sandberg, DC, Djimon Hounsou, Jack Dylan Grazer, Mark Strong, Marvel, Shazam!, Zachary Levi
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The Public (Emilio Estevez, 2018) 3 out of 4 stars. Given Emilio Estevez’s role in the 1985 touchstone film The Breakfast Club, it is perhaps appropriate that he sets The Public in a library. In that earlier movie, if you recall, … Continue reading →
Posted in Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Featured Specialty, Film Reviews
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Tagged Alec Baldwin, chrisreedfilm, Christian Slater, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, civil disobedience, democracy, Emilio Estevez, Gabrielle Union, Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, libraries, library, Michael Kenneth Williams, public libraries, Taylor Schilling, The Breakfast Club, The Public
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