Film Review

SXSW REVIEW: AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR

SXSW REVIEW: AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR

Carroll Pickett was a minister in Huntsville, TX–a place best known for its many prisons and high number of executions–when two of his parishioners were taken hostage in an infamous prison riot in 1974. He was called in to try to broker peace, but his friends were eventually killed, and Pickett vowed to never return […]

BLEEDING RUST: “GLORY AT SEA!” IN NEW ORLEANS

BLEEDING RUST: “GLORY AT SEA!” IN NEW ORLEANS

“Glory at Sea!” plays at SXSW in the Shorts 3 program on March 9, 11th and 14th, at the Alamo Lamar Cinemas. In the guidelines to the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund–the grants that Rooftop offers to filmmakers whose work has screened with us–we say “We are more likely to fund films that make the most of […]

ROOFTOP FILMS PARK CITY WRAP-UP

ROOFTOP FILMS PARK CITY WRAP-UP

For some people, it takes a few days to acclimate to the cold and the altitude of Park City. For me, it takes a few days to acclimate to “normal” life after Sundance and Slamdance. I wake up panicked that I’ve slept through some 8:30am screening. I walk down a busy street confused as to […]

Sundance Review – JAMES MARSH’S “MAN ON WIRE”

Sundance Review – JAMES MARSH’S “MAN ON WIRE”

In 1974, Philippe Petit committed one of the world’s greatest “art crimes”: walking across a tightrope strung between the then unfinished World Trade Center towers. It’s a gorgeously ephemeral stunt. Walking some 1,200 feet above the street, Petit was barely visible, and might not have been noticed if not for his own assistants looking up […]

Sundance Review – ANNA BODEN & RYAN FLECK’S “SUGAR”

Sundance Review – ANNA BODEN & RYAN FLECK’S “SUGAR”

I think that Dan’s going to write a post as well, but “Sugar” is such a rich film there’s plenty to write about, and I’m eager to share my delight with this film. What I love about Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck‘s films is that they find ways to externalize internal struggles. Unlike most films, […]

Sundance Review – CARL DEAL & TIA LESSIN’S “TROUBLE THE WATER”

Sundance Review – CARL DEAL & TIA LESSIN’S “TROUBLE THE WATER”

There is no film I’m more pleased and proud to see here at Sundance than “Trouble the Water,” directed by Rooftop’s neighbors and friends Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. Dan and I first saw a rough cut of this film about a year ago and the material was so powerful and the story so compelling […]

Sundance Review – STACY PERALTA’S “MADE IN AMERICA”

Sundance Review – STACY PERALTA’S “MADE IN AMERICA”

“Made in America” is a radical film about the history of African-Americans in the infamous neighborhood of South Central, Los Angeles. The film outlines the early migrations of former slaves to Los Angeles, and discusses the post-WWII boom of skilled industrial careers which brought large numbers of blacks to LA for the first time. But […]

Sundance Review – CHRIS WAITT’S “A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES”

Sundance Review – CHRIS WAITT’S “A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES”

Rooftop showed Chris Waitt‘s humorous narrative short “Dupe” a couple years ago, so I was very eager to check out his debut feature. The slick short starred Chris as an extremely lazy hipster who orders off the internet a cloning machine (that looks like an crappy old photocopier) so he can send his dupes off […]

Sundance Review – DUPLASS BROTHERS’ “BAGHEAD”

Sundance Review – DUPLASS BROTHERS’ “BAGHEAD”

Jay and Mark Duplass’ “Baghead” is a miraculous film that succeeds in two genres for one simple reason: the characters are amazing. Four struggling actors–two guys and two girls–head off to a cabin in the woods to write a screenplay in the hopes that it will launch their careers. But flirtations, lust, jealousy, competitiveness and […]

Sundance Review – KATRINA BROWNE’S “TRACES OF THE TRADE”

Sundance Review – KATRINA BROWNE’S “TRACES OF THE TRADE”

Katrina Browne can trace her family’s history back to the early American colonial days . . . back when they ran one of the largest slave trade operations in the world. What do you do with knowledge like that? It’s been at least 140 years since anyone in your family owned or traded other human […]

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