Buzz Blog

Freaky Tales **1/2 [Premieres]
Sometimes it takes a movie like this one to help you realize how miraculous it is that Quentin Tarantino’s “love letters” to the genres he adores don't seem oppressive more often. This quartet of narratives is loosely connected by their setting in Oakland, Calif. circa May 1987, following: punk kids deciding to stand up to bullying skinheads; a pair of aspiring hip-hop artists (Normani and Dominique Thorne) getting a potentially big break; a hired thug (Pedro Pascal) facing a life crossroads; and then-NBA star Sleepy Floyd (Jay Ellis) turning into a vengeance-seeking ninja. To their credit, writer/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck seem utterly unconcerned about how bizarre their movie gets, with a focus on a mysterious semi-supernatural force, plenty of ultra-violence and one particularly satisfying cameo as a video-store clerk. All the retro-ness does start to feel a little forced, though, between the “cigarette burns” to make it seem like you’re watching film and the VHS fuzz, as though the only way to be fully about the era when it’s set is to mimic its aesthetics. And while Freaky Tales makes no bones about being fundamentally about underdogs getting satisfying victories over Nazis, sexist rappers or racist cops, it all starts to feel more than a little pandering as the applause breaks hit every 20 minutes or so, and a wee bit like an attempt to filter the filmmakers' affection for this time and place through Pulp Fiction, Grindhouse *and* Kill Bill. Even love letters generally know when to stop laying it on so thick that it feels smothering.

Girls State ***1/2 [Premieres]
Filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss open their companion piece to 2020’s Boys State with what initially feels like a cheeky admonishment not to compare the two subjects—until it eventually becomes clear that the differences between them is a huge part of what the film is addressing. As was the case in Boys State, the subject is a week-long camp for high-school students focused on politics and governance—this one in Missouri—with a focus on seven of the 500-plus participants. But as it happens, the 2022 Missouri Girls State is taking place concurrently and on the same college campus as the 2022 Missouri Boys State, which inspires some of the young women to start questioning the differences between the two programs. It also happens to be taking place just days before the Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and the specter of that impending seismic shift permeates nearly every conversation as the participants share their own beliefs, run campaigns and decide mock court cases. The primary subjects are all engaging and interesting, each in her own way, but McBaine and Moss understandably come to focus on Emily Worthmore, a conservative-leaning student with a passion both for politics and for journalism. Her evolution is subtle but compelling, while the film is able to touch on issues not just related to political divisions and how they can be overcome, but how much Boys State feels like a role-playing game for high-achieving résumé-packers, while Girls State presents its participants with real-world lessons in how for them, getting actively involved in the political process could be a matter of life and death.

How to Have Sex ***1/2 [Spotlight]
There’s certainly a coming-of-age component to Molly Manning Walker’s thoughtful drama, but not entirely in the provocative way suggested by the title. It follows teenage British friends Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), Skye (Lara Peake) and Em (Enva Lewis), who take a summer holiday to Greece with a plan for plenty of drinking, dancing and maybe sex—the latter of which would be a particularly big deal for the inexperienced Tara. The trio eventually connect with fellow Brits staying in the same hotel, and their interactions present plenty of opportunities for various hookup combinations, while painting a vivid portrait of a youth rites-of-passage in what seems to be the European counterpart of Daytona Beach spring break. But while How to Have Sex certainly addresses Tara’s uncertainties about what she wants sexually, and with whom, Manning Walker finds even more complex material in the whole question of friendships at a certain age: what creates them, and makes them stick, especially as the young women seem to be on diverging academic paths. McKenna-Bruce’s turns in a terrific performance as Tara navigates the wild party life around her, hoping to figure out what it is that she wants, and not just what she’s supposed to want because the people around her seem to want it for her.

Never Look Away **1/2 [World Documentary]
There’s no way around it but to say it: It feels weird that a documentary about a ferociously committed professional woman, who risked her life for her work, spends so much time talking to guys she used to sleep with. Actor-turned-filmmaker Lucy Lawless profiles her fellow New Zealand native Margaret Moth, a combat videographer for CNN who brought to the world images of war zones throughout the 1990s and early 2000s—Kuwait, the Republic of Georgia, Sarajevo, Rwanda and more—even after surviving a sniper attack that severely disfigured her face. Lawless effectively captures the personality that drove her need to capture images of injustice, including a recognition of how she was shaped by an abusive childhood. And Lawless does bring some creative visuals to the table, including miniature models and what feels like a modern dance piece evoking Moth’s jagged state of mind. But while colleagues like Christiane Amanpour and Stefano Kotsonis do get a chance to celebrate her work, it feels like the inclusion of the aforementioned ex-lovers doesn’t always illuminate the human side in the way they might be meant to; one guy in particular, Jeff Russi, seems determined to make every interview moment all about him. While there’s insight here, there’s also a reminder that just because someone is willing to talk about your subject, it doesn’t mean you have to let them.