Dir - Mattie Do
Overall: GOOD
The sophomore effort from Laotian/American filmmaker Mattie Do, Dearest Sister is a tragic, family drama that weaves its supernatural components more as a mere plot device than as a means of exploring its class-based themes. This is not a bad thing though if for any other reason than because the material does not call for hack-laden genre tropes so there are no jump scares, generic horror music to dictate the audience's feelings, or situations where otherworldly activity transpires that either nobody mentions to anyone or is dismissed as "all in one's mind". Instead, the nature of Vilouna Phetmany's protagonist who is suddenly stricken with gradual blindness as well as the ability to see the dead and receive lottery winning premonitions from them is never explained as it is not important. What is important is how the characters face their hardships in such a situation, namely Amphaiphun Phommapunya's peasant girl giving in to the temptation of basking in a more privileged, (be it temporarily so), lifestyle. This also has some more personal aspects for Do and her screenwriter/collaborator husband Christopher Larsen in the interracial marriage dynamics present in the story, which are treated as complex and respectfully as everything else herein.
Dir - Emiliano Rocha Minter
Overall: GOOD
A modern day midnight movie that spits bloody/pornographic/incestuous rage in the face of coherence, the full-length We Are the Flesh, (Tenemos la carne), from Mexican filmmaker Emiliano Rocha Minter is a nasty, boundary obliterating nightmare that will equally delight and frustrate only the most forgiving of art house enthusiasts. Essentially, if Gaspar Noé and Alejandro Jodorowsky masturbated over each other's bad acid trips, this would probably be close to the result, which is a warped aesthetic that Minter is no doubt going for. On paper, it merely focuses on three people in a single location, but what transpires goes off the rails at such a steady incline that the results are anything but minimalist. Whether or not the film actually features real intercourse and bodily releases or merely simulated ones is hardly of importance since the visceral results are not for the faint of heart either way. Though it is certainly disturbed and uncomfortable in the type of manner that a young, hungry, and up and coming artist like Minter seems gleefully determined for it to be, this is hardly just a barrage of grotesque, incoherent images. Well, maybe it is, but it is also cinematically bold in a way that one cannot take their eyes off of; vividly beautiful and horrific all at once like a naked, grimy, ambient, fevered nightmare of cannibalistic madness and sex. If it says anything at all, it does so in an impenetrably pretentious manner yet it would veer towards the forgettable if it was done any other way.
Dir - Jeff Frumess
Overall: MEH
Shot for a measly $2,553 over the course of fifteen months with a one-to-two person crew, Romeo's Distress has a modern day, SOV charm to it that is commendable, yet as one could imagine, it also does not wield the most professional of results. Writer/director/everything guy Jeff Frumess goes for a Clerks meets Eraserhead vibe, titling the film off of a Christian Death song and featuring a couple of original ditties from collaborator/musician Nick Bohun, all of which give it the proper DIY, punk rock vibe. While the story focuses on an eccentric, stereotypically dorky loner with a profound crush on a girl that we only see in his masturbation sessions or colored day dreams, (the rest of the movie is in black and white), the mystery proves to be rather straightforward in its resolve, despite one or two unexplained details along the way. It still achieves its indented midnight movie weirdness, but the home movie production aspects unfortunately undermine it. Unnatural performances, YouTube quality visuals, and monotonous pacing make it difficult to take seriously, plus the tone is clashing with awkard attempts at dark/quirky humor, mild perversity and violence, and inconsistent music that leans heavier on the side of melancholic. Frumess certainly proves to have the inspiration at least for something grander, but it would require a significantly higher budget, a well-trained crew, and better actors to pull it off.
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