Weak scenario and messy direction
It’s not easy to understand why Metascore, Rotten Tomatoes, and Slant rate this movie and Something New similarly!!!
Cast: Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrara, Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively, Blythe Danner
Directed by Sanaa Hamri
Written by Elizabeth Chandler
Music by Rachel Portman
Cinematography by Jim Denault
Film Editing by Melissa Kent
“The boy is just white, he’s not a martian!”
Romantic comedy built around the racial divide: a black woman does not accept her feelings towards a white man / great performance by Sanaa Lathan / nice choregraphy
The rom-com part of the movie is handled in the first half hour, which allows Sanaa Hamri an hour time to dig deeper and create tensions by showing subtly how prejudices, family values, differences in humor, etc. interfere in this mixed-race relationship.
“”Something New” delivers all the usual pleasures of a love story, and something more.” [Roger Ebert]
Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker, Mike Epps, Donald Faison, Alfre Woodard, Blair Underwood, Golden Brooks, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Taraji P. Henson, Earl Billings
Directed by Sanaa Hamri
Written by Kriss Turner
Music by Lisa Coleman, Wendy Melvoin
Cinematography by Shane Hurlbut
Film Editing by Melissa Kent
Ambitious but never really takes off
Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Charles Dance, Antje Traue
Director: Shamim Sarif
Writer: Shamim Sarif
Music by Rachel Portman
Cinematography by David Johnson
Film Editing by Masahiro Hirakubo
A woman who has been gang-raped when she was young comes to term with her past when she hears what really happened from the one who was her boyfriend at the time. A hard film to watch!
Just like in her preceding movie, music is used to help defining the personage and carrying the emotional content.
Cast: Kim Dickens, Gabriel Mann, Aria Alpert Adjani
Director: Allison Anders
Writers: Allison Anders, Kurt Voss
Music by Sonic Youth
Cinematography by Terry Stacey
Film Editing by Chris Figler
Excellent original music, great personages
Cast: Illeana Douglas, John Turturro, Eric Stoltz, Matt Dillon, Patsy Kensit
Written and Directed by Allison Anders
Music by Larry Klein
Cinematography by Jean-Yves Escoffier
Film Editing by James Y. Kwei, Harvey Rosenstock, Thelma Schoonmaker
Cast: Angel Aviles, Seidy Lopez, Jacob Vargas
Written and Directed by Allison Anders
Music by John Taylor
Cinematography by Rodrigo García
Film Editing by Richard Chew, Tracy Granger, Kathryn Himoff
Surprising, great personages
Cast: Brooke Adams, Ione Skye, Fairuza Balk
Director: Allison Anders
Writers: Richard Peck (novel), Allison Anders (screenplay)
Music by J. Mascis
Cinematography by Dean Lent
Film Editing by Tracy Granger
A somewhat stereotyped nun story with vocational doubts and hierarchical abuse, enriched with an intricate historical perspective
Cast: Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, Julianne Nicholson, Dianna Agron, Morgan Saylor, Liana Liberato, Denis O’Hare
Director: Maggie Betts
Writer: Maggie Betts
Cinematographer: Kat Westergaard
Editor: Susan E. Morse
Composer: Christopher Stark
A girl grieves for her best friend
Cast: Maxine Peake, Maisie Williams, Florence Pugh
Director: Carol Morley
Writer: Carol Morley
Music by Tracey Thorn
Cinematography by Agnès Godard
Film Editing by Chris Wyatt
This comedy would have been acceptable if played by teenagers, but is absolutely ludicrous in an (young) adult context. Kat Coiro proved she can do much better with her preceding “And While We Were Here”!
Cast: Justin Long, Keir O’Donnell, Evan Rachel Wood
Director: Kat Coiro
Writers: Christian Long , Justin Long
Music by Mateo Messina
Cinematography by Doug Chamberlain
Film Editing by Adam Catino, Matt Landon