‘Ultrasound’: A Low-Budget Christopher Nolan Is A Mesmerizing Head-Trip [Tribeca Review]

Last seen in Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending action thriller “Tenet”, John David Washington is back in a new Netflix feature that promises to be every bit as intense.

The challenges of bipartisanship are easy to spot. It’s casting a die for cooperation, a hope that with your differing neighbor you can find not just common cause but common decency.

When attempting a biopic about a rock ‘n roll icon, there’s an inherent conflict of style and substance. Biopics are traditionally dramatic, yet glossy affairs that bring an air of prestige to every story, whether it’s the tale of a stuttering king, a cagey criminal, or the man who made McDonald’s an international chain.

Much can be said about Megan Mylan’s latest documentary “Simple As Water.” Yet, as its title insinuates, the film succeeds in its calculated minimalism. Cataloging the plight of four Syrian families in the aftermath of war, Mylan’s heartfelt exploration of human strife infuses informative insight with harrowing revelations.

Acclaimed photojournalist Gordon Parks was something of a renaissance man. A photographer, writer, composer, film director, and activist—he imbued the American Black experience with a sense of gravitas, esteem, and pathos through his Black gaze.

Easing back into moviemaking after the months-long covid shutdown seems like a mighty stressful proposition, and from the looks of the cast and crew credits for “No Sudden Move,” Steven Soderbergh decided to alleviate that stress by surrounding himself with people he knew.

What would it be like to see your childhood friends rise to fame, scratch at fortune, then die tragically young, only to become googled curiosities and cautionary tales? This was the journey of Hamilton Chango Harris, who appeared alongside his real-life skater pals in Larry Clark’s 1995 hit, “Kids.” Now, Harris aims to rewrite the narrative of the late Justin Pierce and Harold Hunter with “The Kids,” a documentary that reveals disturbing behind-the-scenes secrets and their aftermath.

Based, in part, on Father James Martin’s bestselling book “Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity,” Evan Mascagni and Shannon Post’s compassionate documentary “Building a Bridge” use Martin as an entry point into a larger discourse surrounding the relationship between the Catholic Church and the LGBTQ+ community.

Reclaiming Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson’s voice and personal narrative, “Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road,” is an insightful but breezy introduction to the musical mastermind. Touching on everything from his early career to Beach Boys success and his drug use and mental illness, Brent Wilson and Jason Fine’s film may not reveal much about Wilson that isn’t covered in a Wikipedia article but still allows the musician to reclaim his own narrative.

Nick Schager Film CriticThere’s a limit to how long a movie can mess with viewers’ minds, and “Ultrasound” eventually crosses that threshold. A thriller whose discomforting early going provides few clues to the head-spinning madness lying in wait, director Rob Schroeder’s feature debut channels a host of acclaimed masters (David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Christopher Nolan) while attempting to craft a uniquely beguiling dreamscape in which nothing is as it appears.

Using Leonard Bernstein’s own voice, collected from his myriad interviews throughout his life, as well as personal letters, many of which were published in the 2013 book “The Leonard Bernstein Letters,” Douglas Tirola’s “Bernstein’s Wall” works as both a broad overview of the famous conductor’s life, as well as a deep dive into his political activism.

Reflective and stoic, sometimes to a fault, Levan Koguashvili’s film “Brighton 4th” explores the hyper-masculine world of Georgian wrestlers and gamblers in Brooklyn.

With its signature liveliness, unapologetic attitude, and visual splendor, New York City has so long been a set of romantic comedies that this location has become a cliché. So, how does Jonah Feingold, the writer/director of “Dating & New York,” aim to make his mark on this sparkling skyline? By creating a postmodern rom-com that blatantly snatches from iconic influences to deliver an irreverent commentary on the genre and modern romance.

Coming off their acclaimed documentary “Minding the Gap,” Joshua Altman and Bing Liu co-direct the searing, bracingly honest “All These Sons.” Continue reading ‘All These Sons’: A Fitting Follow-up to Bing Liu’s ‘Minding the Gap’ [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.

A man dressed as a Viking goes into a convenience store to trade furs for groceries; a trio of smugglers is on the verge of an escape across the border when a moose totals their car; a cop calls for a tracker dog, only to be told that it, “isn’t working today.” When asked what the hound could be doing, the other cop responds honestly, “No idea.

Nick Schager Film CriticThere’s a limit to how long a movie can mess with viewers’ minds, and “Ultrasound” eventually crosses that threshold. A thriller whose discomforting early going provides few clues to the head-spinning madness lying in wait, director Rob Schroeder’s feature debut channels a host of acclaimed masters (David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Christopher Nolan) while attempting to craft a uniquely beguiling dreamscape in which nothing is as it appears.

Using the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop for a quarantine-style romantic comedy, Roshan Sethi’s directorial debut, “7 Days,” which pushes two ideologically opposed young Indian-American characters together during shelter-in-place, is a compact, empathetic wonder that only occasionally dips into overtly broad comedy.

Indie anxiety auteur Jim Cummings’ work is always trembling nervously with the hum or uneasy apprehension. His brilliant debut, “Thunder Road” throbbed with the cringe-y tension of a grieving divorcee policeman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and his follow-up, “The Wolf of Snow Hollow” layered murder mystery genre elements and the idea of the “toxic male beast within” on top of his signature jittery agitation.

Vanessa Kirby is fascinating to watch and follow in writer/director Adam Leon’s “Italian Studies,” a purposefully hazy but compelling survey of New York City and its young minds. The Academy Award nominee of “Pieces of a Woman” uses her celebrity presence among regular New Yorkers for something of a low-key “Under the Skin” as she wades through this crowded society with a blank slate perspective forcing us to see it all with the same new lens.

Narrative-averse portmanteau films are a tough nut to crack, yet not impossible.