Backstage Pass

The Sundance Film Festival, located in Park City, Utah, is the largest independent film festival in the United States. Having covered it remotely for the last three years, I was anxious to attend in person. The festival started on January 19 and concluded on January 29. I arrived the day…

The best thing a film can try to do is shift through the impression that everything is a foregone conclusion, thus leaving viewers without any possibilities. “A Man Called Otto” starring Tom Hanks as Otto does just that, a depressed, suicidal elderly man who wants to end his life and…

Oscar nominated screenwriter Sarah Polley serves as screenplay writer and director of a horrific story based on true events in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Polley adapted the film set in 2010 from the best-selling novel “Women Talking” by Miriam Toews. The actual shocking events involved 151 women and girls…

  “Avatar: The Way of Water” opens this weekend! Do you remember viewing “Avatar” in December of 2009? I sure do; in fact, I saw it three times at the IMAX theater. My reaction was similar to seeing “Star Wars” for the first time. Here’s my “Avatar” film review posted…

\ Without a doubt, Season 3 of “Emily in Paris” is the best yet! I’ve championed the series from the beginning, as all the characters are cast perfectly in their roles—however, they all, including Emily (Lily Collins), needed depth and an interesting storyline. Season 3 focuses on Paris’s main attraction,…

“Devotion” is a biographical war film that takes place in 1950 and is based on the 2015 best-selling book “Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism Friendship, and Sacrifice” by Adam Makos. The story centers on two US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Jonathan Majors portrays Jesse Brown, and…

Yes, Daniel Craig is back as the world’s greatest detective Benoit Blanc in the second hysterically comical mystery. The new “Knives Out” adventure showcases the fearless detective at a lavish private estate on a Greek island, but how and why he comes to be there is only the first of…

By far, the anticipation of Steven Spielberg’s film “The Fabelmans” to premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was sky high! It’s not off to say Steven Spielberg sincerely phones home — as “The Fabelmans,” his artificially titled family substituting for “The Spielbergs,” is a memoir centering on his early…

Daniel Radcliffe is “Weird” Al Yankovic in this highly exaggerated story of his early childhood and rises to fame as a parody singer and accomplished accordion player. The film opened in Toronto to packed crowds, of which I arrived 45 minutes early for my film critic screening and was turned…

Film Fest 919, Celebrates 5 Years  * The following article has additions that do not appear in the Alliance of Women Film Journalist article that was posted October 31, 2022, the additions are from Sarah’s personal experience as a film critic, board member and participant in the festival along with festival…