“With a gorgeous vintage sheen across its 4:3 aspect ratio, Sakurai’s short establishes a magical realist land that magnifies the burgeoning diversity of America today – along with all the confusion, preposterousness and sudden violence that comes with it.”
NoBudge Breakdown is a weekly round-up of featured films at NoBudge. For this installment, Vague Visages’ Q.V. Hough examined two weeks of short films (before NB’s summer break) and picked a few that stood out the most.
“Frank Henenlotter and his films have the demeanor of a naughty uncle making wild, dirty jokes while telling a campfire ghost story. He wants you to take the material seriously, but he’s mostly concerned with you having a great time.”
“Out of a fractured, tentative world, Kazik Radwanski created a strong and whole short film.”
“It’s done critically, sympathetically and with a demand from the viewer to take responsibility for their role in the story, too.”
“Rohmer cares more about posing questions than providing the comfort of a conclusion.”
“Martin Scorsese’s ‘Life Lessons’ benefits more from analysis as a self-standing artistic expression than as a counterpoint to the other installments of ‘New York Stories.'”
“How are we doing here, folks? Does any of this make a lick of sense?”
“This is L-I-V-I-N in the moment at its best.”
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
“Charlie Manton (The Imitation Game) shows incredible promise as a filmmaker with Beneath Water, as the visual techniques and character staging project someone in command of their own personal style.”
“Through a series of seemingly sensual vignettes, the director hides the passion that her protagonist so desperately wants, and its this absence of feeling that unveils a misguided and disillusioned woman.”
“Bencherif exudes that rare type of charisma one can’t teach.”
“Asunción Balaguer carries ‘Luisa Is Not Home’ with her gentle performance…”
“The crystal-clear visuals of ‘Sea Child’ transcend into a an aquatic journey of surrealism…”