Coast to Coast (2004)

Netflix's new thriller Apex, starring Charlize Theron, puts a twist on survival horror. Despite its setting in the beautiful- yet-dangerous Australian wilderness, Apex is not a movie about man vs. nature. Instead, it’s woman vs. man. While checking out the title card and its unpretentious Netflix release might lead viewers to believe Apex is just another celebrity project churned out of the streaming machine, Apex - whether by luck or by intention - is a consistently harrowing film about the reality of being a woman in a public space. 

Eventually, “Hobbs and Shaw” introduces us to a Samoan community. Clearly, Johnson’s Samoan roots are on display. Quite frankly, I found this section of the film very intriguing. The “Fast and Furious” franchise has a solid track record in the diversity department

There were too many irrelevant parts that could have been shortened, and too many characters that didn't advance the plot. Either way, some things didn't add up. This was just another played out plot with little, if any, originality in it. By the end of the film, I wasn't happy that she finally got her freedom, I was happy that it was finally over.

The French-born director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s strategic choice to entrust the interpretation of a conventional, feminine character to a non-binary actor pays off: Corrin’s Lady Chatterley is awkward, edgy, and uninhibited at the same time. 

This year, in light of the pandemic and the inability to gather with our loved ones, a few of our staff members reviewed their favorite holiday films with the hope of recreating some of the sentimentality that reminds us of home.

A haunting look at grief, survival, and a mother’s quiet collapse in a world that never gave her room to fall.