Valerie Kalfrin

Florida, Tampa

Writer, Editor and Script Consultant at Freelance

Film/culture/screenwriting. Words @AWFJ @ebertvoices @HeatVision @theirleague @scriptmag. Tell better stories. Tell stories better. valeriek109 (at) https://t.co/yk87j88z6i

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Articles

HOLLAND - Review by Valerie Kalfrin

2 weeks ago | awfj.org | Valerie Kalfrin

0 Flares 0 Flares × Nicole Kidman has, of late, become known for playing women whose meticulous life hides secrets, from 2024’s Babygirl to the TV series The Perfect Couple and Nine Perfect Strangers. The Amazon Prime film Holland again explores what’s below the surface but in a way that’s more half-baked than satisfying.
Lessons from the Film: Unpacking 'Black Bag'

3 weeks ago | scriptmag.com | Valerie Kalfrin

The new spy drama Black Bag uses as its title a term for things no one can discuss—a tricky business for married British intelligence agents when one of them makes a shortlist of possible traitors. Happily, we’re under no such restrictions. Directed by Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic), Black Bag is a sexy cerebral thriller, with fewer action hijinks than 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith but plenty of subtext, tension, and wit. Think 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with more flirting.
Caring for 'Audrey’s Children': Julia Fisher Farbman and Ami Canaan Mann Shape a Medical Biopic

4 weeks ago | scriptmag.com | Valerie Kalfrin

When crafting a biopic, knowing someone closely has its plusses and drawbacks. Take Dr. Audrey Evans, the subject of the new feature film Audrey’s Children. Based on an iconoclast of the 1960s, Audrey’s Children stars Natalie Dormer (White Lies) as Evans, a progressive pediatric oncologist who developed a groundbreaking system to better identify and treat neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that develops in immature nerve tissue.
THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE - Review by Valerie Kalfrin

4 weeks ago | awfj.org | Valerie Kalfrin

0 Flares 0 Flares × With all the real-life lunacy in the world on any given day, it’s a balm for the soul to see a film about impending doom where a manic but well-meaning duck and two ham-fisted sweethearts can save us. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is an absolute treat, full of eye-popping colors and laugh-out-loud moments.
What’s the Best Way to Sell Your Retirement Community Home?

1 month ago | homelight.com | Valerie Kalfrin

A retirement community, which provides amenities such as on-site storage facilities, walking paths, golf courses, swimming pools, and clubhouses with activities, is not the same type of housing as a residential care home or assisted living. Many people move into a “55+ community” or “active adult community” intending to stay, but life makes other plans.
40 ACRES (SXSW 2025) - Review by Valerie Kalfrin

1 month ago | awfj.org | Valerie Kalfrin

0 Flares 0 Flares × Danielle Deadwyler brings her fiery intensity to 40 Acres, a postapocalyptic tale about a blended family’s survival after a devastating famine. Farmland has become a valuable resource roughly a decade after a fungal pandemic ripped society apart. Hailey Freeman (Deadwyler, The Piano Lesson), her husband, Galen (Michael Greyeyes, 1923), and their four children live on a farm that Hailey’s ancestors built after settling in rural Canada following the Civil War.
MARLEE MATLIN: NOT ALONE ANYMORE (SXSW 2025) - Review by Valerie Kalfrin

1 month ago | awfj.org | Valerie Kalfrin

0 Flares 0 Flares × In American Sign Language, the words “first,” “only,” and “alone” are similar, save for subtle turns in the wrist or the hand. In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first deaf performer to win an Oscar, earning the Best Actress award for Children of a Lesser God. For more than three decades, she was the only deaf actor to win an Oscar—and in navigating Hollywood, she often felt alone.
FOR WORSE (SXSW 2025) - Review by Valerie Kalfrin

1 month ago | awfj.org | Valerie Kalfrin

0 Flares 0 Flares × Longtime performer Amy Landecker pulls off a hat trick with For Worse, a snappy romantic comedy about a divorced woman finding her feet in the Los Angeles dating scene. Landecker (The Handmaid’s Tale, Transparent) makes her feature writing and directing debut with For Worse, which premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival.
ONE MORE SHOT (SXSW 2025) - Review by Valerie Kalfrin

1 month ago | awfj.org | Valerie Kalfrin

0 Flares 0 Flares × Onscreen time travelers have revved up a DeLorean, squeezed into a phone booth, and even plunged into a hot tub. But as the sprightly Australian comedy One More Shot shows, sometimes just a magical bottle of tequila will do. It’s 1999, and even with the new millennium buzz, thirtysomething Minnie (Emily Browning, Class of ‘07) doesn’t have her act together.
GLORIOUS SUMMER (SXSW 2025) - Review by Valerie Kalfrin

1 month ago | awfj.org | Valerie Kalfrin

0 Flares 0 Flares × An endless summer might sound divine, but in the speculative drama Glorious Summer, it’s a recipe for ennui. The feature debut of directors Helena Ganjalyan and Bartosz Szpak, Glorious Summer centers on three women living in a huge if sparse Renaissance manor. There are a few mattresses with white linens on the floor, room enough for eight, and little else beyond a bench or a mirror and piles of broken stone.