We’ve covered SXSW for more than a decade, and although we’ll miss going to Austin to cover in person this year, we’ve been sent screening links for films and TV to screen and review to give you a heads up for what will be coming for you to see in theaters and streaming soon. Adding capsule reviews as we screen more so you’ll know what to watch for.
I Love Boosters – Opening Night! Writer/Director Boots Riley assembles an all star cast in a romp about a crew of professional shoplifters who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven. Why? It’s like community service! Starring Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Lakeith Stanfield, Poppy Liu, Elza Gonzalez, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle and Demi Moore.
The Ascent – Audience Award Winner in the Documentary Feature Competition. Mandy Horvath has a tattoo on her chest reading, “Tell me that I can’t and I’ll show you that I can.” That’s exactly what this woman does in her climb to the top of Kilamanjaro, without legs! Smart Mandy is a feisty young woman with a caustic, amusing sense of humor. From a small town in Kansas, she got in trouble with alcohol, drugs, and got into a fight in a bar, with her date Dan and friend Valerie. Possibly drugged, she doesn’t know how she ended up lying across railroad tracks when a train ran her over, cutting off her legs. This film is well-structured with a compelling story about Mandy’s strength and determination to climb to the top of Africa, using only her hands! Directors Edward Drake, Scott Veltri, and Francis Cronin intersperse Mandy’s tough childhood, her party years, actual footage waking up in the hospital and trying to find out what happened that night. It includes her rigorous training to climb, and refusal to give up, despite horrible hand injuries in cold and rocky conditions. Magnificent photography of every part of the climb with Mandy’s expressions are captured by Laffrey Wittrod. You can feel what she’s feeling and her appreciation for Expedition Commander, Carel Verhoef, and Physiotherapist, Sally Grierson who claimed she was stronger than any of us. Plus for the porters who helped every step of the way, especially Commander Julius John White (“Whitey”) who were not only her friends but her protectors.
Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real Life Superhero – Bayan Jonah directs this bizarre story starring Phoenix Jones, Rainn Wilson, John Ronson and Ghost. In 2010, masked vigilante, Phoenix Jones , (Ben Fodor) suited up in a very cool Black and Gold super suit and started roaming the streets of Seattle to intervene whenever he saw a disturbance, protesters being mistreated, and crimes, armed with pepper spray, a taser, and a team of costumed crime fighters. He was a product of a family that left him at an orphanage that became a foster child who never felt comfortable with himself or his family. When protests started in Seattle, he took it upon himself to fight crime and make a name for himself, until he got in trouble himself. Director Bayan Jonah uses many interviews with Ben and his friends and family, including his son, plus archive footage of Ben’s activity in the streets to paint a picture of a smart, dedicated do-gooder wannabe, who, sometimes, couldn’t not get out of his own way. Ten years later, as protesters seize six blocks of Seattle and declare a no cop zone, Phoenix reemerges. Is he really a hero, or a weirdo hiding behind a mask?
My NDA – Directors Juliane Dressner and Miriam Shor (Actress in TV’s Pluribus) do a deep dive into examining the unfair restrictions of non-disclosure agreements used to keep workers from reporting racism, sex crimes and political cover-ups. Three people bound by these agreements, which aren’t agreeable at all, create personal risk for each one of them. One is a woman who was raped by a co-worker who put drugs in her drink which he had apparently done to others before. A very smart Black woman who was outraged by not being paid equal to a man in the same job and decided to fight it. And another was the victim of a political cover-up. This film exposes how a simple intellectual agreement can be used to weaponize silence, manipulation and control creating emotional trauma and lack of work they can’t even discuss with their therapists.
Stages – Director Ryan Booth (has worked with Elton John, Chris Stapleton, Billie Eilish and more) in a film here about singer/songwriter Ben Garza (David Ramirez) on a comeback but as a solo. He decides to let his former tour manager Rita (Jolene) get him an opening act for his first-ever solo tour following the break-up of his band. He has a lot on his plate juggling his family life, fighting to stay relevant, without being upstaged by his spotlight-stealing opener who is also a songwriter, Jessie Ramos (Leslie Grace). Can they develop a good working relationship writing new songs together as they perform in musical capitals across the country? Ramirez and Grace are talented with mellow voices that blend well. Can they keep working together? Loved the scenes where he gets inspired by visiting a former bandmate who is teaching kids how to use tech to make music.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles – David E. Kelley’s got a new series starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman, and Nick Offerman, directed by Dearbhla Walsh and Kate Herron. Fanning plays a college student who wants to be a great writer. Her professor encourages here talent on paper, but also in bed and she becomes pregnant, deciding , like her mother, to keep the baby. Her ex-Hooters waitress mother (Pfeiffer) goes nuts at first, but understands the situation and does all she can to help and support her daughter. Fanning and Pfeiffer have great chemistry. And her Dad, ex-wrestler father (Offerman) is quite the character as they face all the obstacles on the way. Comedy and heartfelt moments. are carefully written and well- acted. Streaming in April on Apple TV.
