Naveen Richard: Don't Make That Face 

A story of a magical dragon brings great representation for Chinese culture.

Christopher Nolan transforms Homer's ancient epic into one of the most breathtaking cinematic spectacles of his career. While its nonlinear storytelling and exposition occasionally hold it back, The Odyssey is a visually stunning, emotionally resonant blockbuster that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Highlighting the many ways in which AFF 2023 illustrated that the queer experience is not a monolithic one.

I write for a diversity-focused film review blog, so I’ll be honest: I really wanted to like Pretty Lethal. Starring Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow, Avantika, and Millicent Simmonds, Amazon Prime’s new thriller seemed like it would be a girl power movie about dancers with a horror action twist. Sort of a Suspiria for teens. But with shallow and unlikeable characters, a confusing plot, an overreliance on violence, and cringey dialogue, any fun the movie started out with was quickly lost. What was left was a faint echo of greater horror movies about dancers made before. 

Our protagonists perform as the opposite gender while still preserving the parts of their personalities that makes themselves who they are.

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.