Liam Trump

It’s mostly light-hearted, and sadly the tone can sometimes conflict with the deeper themes the film is trying to get across. But still, this animated movie makes up for any shortcomings with its overall style and atmosphere.

We Need to Do Something simply doesn’t have the character-centered backbone to create an engaging 96-minute long story. It’s painfully obvious that atmosphere and style were the priority even though the premise made it so that the characters took the spotlight.

While the documentary doesn’t have headlines or columns, it does have gorgeous establishing shots, great music, and fantastic narration, all of which blend together, allowing Beth Levison and Jerry Risius to tell the true tale of Storm Lake, Iowa.

While the presentation is somewhat basic, Mosely: It’s Complicated is still interesting, if just because its subject was so much larger than life. So, if you don’t mind a talking heads-style doc, then this will be right up your alley.

While Altman and Liu may have failed to create a fully developed storyline in All These Sons, the filmmakers enlighten the audience to the plights of young men who have been affected by the gun violence that has been ingrained into the overall image of Chicago.

Still Life in Lodz is at its best when the rich history of Lodz takes center stage. There are some downright beautiful establishing shots that get bogged down by aggressively overbearing music choices and repetitive information. The amount of archive footage and animation does nothing but pad out the already minimal runtime. This type of story doesn’t need these gimmicks and grandiose moments since they clash horribly with the previously set up atmosphere.