Matt Shiverdecker, Author at MendoWerks

The Life and Tragic Death of Adrienne Shelly Examined in New HBO Documentary (Review)

1Dec

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

The Life and Tragic Death of Adrienne Shelly Examined in New HBO Documentary (Review)

There was a moment in the early 90s when it looked like actress Adrienne Shelly would become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. She burst onto the scene with extraordinary leading roles in two independent films by Hal Hartley. 1989's "The Unbelievable Truth" and 1990's "Trust" were wildly unique and quirky comedies that became minor hits on the arthouse circuit and ended up finding larger audiences thanks to home video. As an actor, she was struggling by the late 90s to be cast in the kinds of movies she was really passionate, so she started to make her own. A 1997 feature called "Sudden Manhattan" is nearly impossible to track down these days, but she made a much bigger splash with what turned out to be her final film. Shelly wrote and directed the 2007 feature "Waitre...

The Life and Career of Julia Child is Chronicled in Tasty New Documentary (Review)

26Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

The Life and Career of Julia Child is Chronicled in Tasty New Documentary (Review)

It's surprising that it has taken so long for a documentary about legendary chef Julia Child to surface. I live in a household where the 2009 film "Julie & Julia" is pure and frequent comfort viewing, so checking this out was a requirement. Filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen earned an Oscar nomination for their film "RBG" and their latest look at a pioneering woman was snapped up quickly by CNN Films and Sony Pictures Classics. Unlike it's subject, this film certainly doesn't break any new ground, but it's a loving and enthusiastic chronicle of a woman who changed the conversation around home cooking in America for decades. Her husband Paul worked for the State Department and was assigned to live in Paris. After having a meal at La Couronne, Child's life was forever chan...

Jane Campion Triumphantly Returns With ‘The Power of the Dog’

19Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

Jane Campion Triumphantly Returns With ‘The Power of the Dog’

It's been twelve long years since Jane Campion's last feature film, the sumptuously romantic period drama "Bright Star." She's certainly made up for lost time with her latest, a powerhouse adaptation of Thomas Savage's 1967 novel. In Montana during the mid-1920s, Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his brother George (Jesse Plemons) are running their family ranch. Phil has a mean streak and establishes his dominance by frequently mocking George's weight and generally being a rotten human being. When George takes a liking to a young widow named Rose (Kirsten Dunst, hopefully headed towards a much-deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination) and quickly marries her, it sets off something in Phil that only exacerbates his already unpleasant demeanor. He exhibits this in many ways,...

16Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Events, Film

12th Annual DOC NYC Festival Happening Now in Hybrid Format

Now in its 12th year, DOC NYC kicked off over the weekend and is taking place now in a hybrid format. This means that if you're in New York City, there are still screenings happening with hundreds of special guests for Q&As and interviews. The good news is that wherever you are in the United States, you can can actually buy tickets for individual screenings and grab yourself a pass that will allow you to watch some of the best documentaries of the year from the comfort and safety of home. According to their website, for the last nine years, the festival has screened the film that went on to win the Best Documentary award at the Oscars. 24 of the last 25 Oscar nominees were also on recent lineups. If you're a fan of documentary films from around the globe, this is the place to ...

Jessica Chastain Dazzles in Otherwise Average “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Review)

12Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

Jessica Chastain Dazzles in Otherwise Average “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Review)

For nearly two decades, Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband Jim were televangelists, preaching to the faithful on TV screens all around the world. Director Michael Showalter ("The Big Sick") and screenwriter Abe Sylvia have taken the documentary of the same name that was released in 2000 (streaming now on WOW Presents Plus) and used it as a springboard for this biopic on the controversial couple. The end result is overlong and a little tedious if you've seen the documentary before, but it's worth watching simply because of how marvelous that Jessica Chastain is portraying Tammy Faye. She is simply unrecognizable under all that makeup and the outrageously fake eyelashes, often clinging to a can of Diet Coke and becoming one with the character. Chandler Head portrays Tammy Faye as...

“Passing” Elegantly Examines Friendship and Race in 1920’s New York (Review)

9Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

“Passing” Elegantly Examines Friendship and Race in 1920’s New York (Review)

Shortly after premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the directorial debut of actor Rebecca Hall ("The Night House") was acquired for release by Netflix in a worldwide deal. Based on the groundbreaking 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, "Passing" tells the story of two childhood friends who run into each other as adults, intersecting with each other again at very different places in their lives. https://youtu.be/mPlr-E_xKlU Tessa Thompson stars as Irene, a woman living in Harlem with her husband Brian (André Holland) and their two children. With Brian working as a doctor, they live comfortably enough for Irene to spend her time charitably. While stopping for a drink on a blisteringly hot summer day, she runs into Clare (Ruth Negga) in a hotel bar. The...

‘The Beta Test’ is a Razor Sharp Satire With No Strings Attached (Review)

5Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

‘The Beta Test’ is a Razor Sharp Satire With No Strings Attached (Review)

In the opening scene of "The Beta Test," viewers witness the graphic murder of a young woman in a domestic violence incident. It sets a very dark tone for the film and foreshadows some elements of the storyline but shifts directions relatively quickly after the opening credits. We're introduced to Jordan (Jim Cummings, "Thunder Road," "The Wolf of Snow Hollow"), an anxious Hollywood agent battling a stressful job, a painful ulcer, and a fiancée named Caroline (Virginia Newcomb) who he is just weeks away from marrying. A routine visit to the mailbox kicks Jordan's storyline into full gear. He gets a letter in a purple envelope, addressed to him with golden calligraphy and featuring no return address. Inside is an invitation to come to a local hotel room for an anonymous and "no stri...

3Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

‘Finch’: A Man, His Dog & His Robots

Tom Hanks is no stranger to being the only human character on screen in a film. All through his latest effort, "Finch," I couldn't help but think of him passing his days on the beach and having conversations with a volleyball in "Cast Away." He gets a little more to work with in this post-apocalyptic tale of a robotic engineer named Finch who just may be one of the last people alive on Earth. Or at least in the United States. We don't get a lot of details, but it appears as though the ozone layer of the planet has deteriorated to the point that being exposed to the sun can kill you. With temperatures at deadly levels and radiation in the air, he has survived in an underground bunker. It's just Finch, his loyal dog Goodyear and a small scavenging robot assistant that he takes on...

“Censor” is One of the Year’s Best Horror Films (Review)

29Oct

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

“Censor” is One of the Year’s Best Horror Films (Review)

The increased availability and lowered prices to purchase VCRs fueled the home entertainment industry in the 1980s. People all over the world were able to easily watch movies from the comfort of home and boy, did they ever. It wasn't just the major Hollywood studios who benefited from the video store craze. Many independent film producers and distributors were able to exploit their catalogs and initially release them on formats like VHS, Beta, and laserdisc. Once the floodgates of videotape rentals opened, viewers couldn't get enough of horror films. The genre, often ignored or disrespected by the major studios, had great success and some releases, especially straight-to-video titles, pushed the boundaries of gore and violence. Some films were so controversial that they became ...

An Icon Goes From Explorer to Environmentalist in “Becoming Cousteau” (Review)

22Oct

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

An Icon Goes From Explorer to Environmentalist in “Becoming Cousteau” (Review)

There was a time in the not-so-distant past where it seemed like the entire world was transfixed by French explorer and captain, Jacques Cousteau. Sailing on his ship Calypso, Cousteau and his team became famous with a network series called "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" that ran for a decade (and was followed by a public television series for many years after as well). Director Liz Garbus ("What Happened, Miss Simone?") takes us back to his earliest days that turned him into the tireless environmentalist that he became. After running out of funds for his research vessel, he took money from oil companies to dive for them. I was blown away to learn that his team discovered all of the oil underwater off the coast of Abu Dhabi while working for BP in the early 1950s and...