LFA 173: Fernando vs. Bekoev (2023)

How powerful can a story be when it is stripped to the bare essentials of just a room, a handful of people and raw human voice?

When the retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale and a holiday spirit come together, viewers learn about class issues as well as perseverance despite setbacks.

"Well, the film industry is completely sexist and completely class-biased." A closer look at Lynne Ramsay's impressive body of work.

Step deep into the 21st century and discover the complexities of artificial combat soldiers.

With mismatched eyes, a willingness to experiment with hair color and style, and a rail thin frame, Bowie always drew attention. But he shunned gendered attractiveness, creating his own space somewhere in between. This hallucinatory and often nonlinear 2022 documentary is a perfect salute to David Bowie’s life and career. Rather than interviewing those that knew Bowie, the standard convention for biographical portraits, director Brett Morgen mostly lets the artist’s images, performances, videos, and words speak to capture the essence of the artist. Bowie was more than just a pop star. He painted, sculpted, acted in films, and was a thoughtful and articulate person who gave sincere answers to even the most shallow interview questions.

In all actuality, “Just Mercy” should be labeled a “wall punching narrative.” Constantly, the flick throws high forms of adversity our way, amping up our most inner levels of discomfort. Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton wonderfully paces the film in such a way that replicates the slow-burn nature of justice.