J Johnson

2 months ago | filmobsessive.com | J Johnson

German director-writer Christina Friedrich’s film The Night Is Dark and Colder Than the Day—set to premiere next week at the 2025 International Film Festival Rotterdam—practically defies description. In it, a group of 33 young children express, in cinema verité style, their deepest and most profound fears and anxieties; from there, the film becomes a journey, in a folkloric sense, through the woods and into the very dreamscapes of these children, where their fears are literalized and confronted.

2 months ago | filmobsessive.com | J Johnson

The soon-to-debut-at-Slamdance short film “Talk,” written and directed by Jessica Perlman, is aimed at disrupting the experience of hearing-abled viewers. In it, a Deaf man enlists a translator to assist him in negotiating repairs for his broken HVAC system. But in part as a consequence of the language barrier between him and the repairman, tensions rise. The real breakdown, it seems is not the appliance—but instead the translation.

Jan 21, 2025 | filmobsessive.com | J Johnson

Fans of Quentin Tarantino have reason to rejoice as the new year rings in newly available 4K UHD remasters of his classics Jackie Brown and Kill Bill Volume 1 and Kill Bill Volume 2 from Lionsgate. So too does a re-print release of his debut feature Reservoir Dogs, with all four films getting the SteelBook® collectible treatment. Whether one opts for the luxe packaging or the basic jewel case, the 4K remasters here make these middle-period Tarantino films well worth another look.

Jan 16, 2025 | filmobsessive.com | J Johnson

Even in the wild, daring, and often dazzling 1990s cinema—a decade known for experimentation and innovation on the indie scene—they didn’t make ’em quite like Girls Town. In some ways, the Sundance award-winning, Jim McKay-directed drama is perfectly representative of the era and the movement, given its young cast, contemporary storyline, hip-hop and indie soundtrack, and lo-fi vibe.

Jan 11, 2025 | filmobsessive.com | J Johnson

First-time feature filmmaker Bruno Anković has made waves already with his feature film Celebration. It premiered last summer at the 2024 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and then won four major awards—Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Male Lead, and Best Cinematography—at the 2024 Pula Summer Film Festival. More recently, it showed as part of the American Film Institute’s 37th European Union Film Showcase in Washington, DC.