"My Blind Brother" Review (***½)

Jenny Slate, Adam Scott and Nick Kroll in "My Blind Brother."

Adam Scott, Nick Kroll and Jenny Slate star in this brutally honest comedy about disability. "My Blind Brother" dives head first into the subject and puts a fresh spin on the ‘slacker comedy.'

Adam Scott plays Robbie. He’s a star athlete and a local icon whose blindness only pushes him to do better. His brother Bill, on the other hand, is not quite as motivated. We get everything we need to know from our two leads in the opening scene, where we see Robbie—rocking sun glasses and a tracksuit—running along side his sweat-drenched little brother, Bill. The two are strapped together as Bill guides Robbie to the finish line. The surrounding crowd goes wild as they celebrate Robbie and completely ignore Bill as he collapses in an effort to catch his breath.

Macon Film Festival: 2016 Award Winners

Seckeita Lewis' "Jerico" was crowned the Audience Award-winning Narrative
Feature at the 2016 Macon Film Festival.

The 2016 Macon Film Festival was a roaring success on all fronts. Kicking off with a Sundance Institute Short Film Master Class and a 30th anniversary screening of "Pretty in Pink" with special guest Andrew McCarthy, the 11th edition of the festival continued the trends of growth in attendance and maturity in programming.

The Jury and Audience Award winners have been released, with no film taking more than one prize. "Jasmine" won the Narrative Feature jury award, while Linda J. Brown's "You See Me" took home the Documentary jury prize. Georgia-lensed documentary "Hotel Clermont" was the audience's choice in the nonfiction lineup. "Jerico" won the Karen Black Audience Choice Award for Narrative Feature.

Check out the full list of winners after the jump.

"Manifest Destiny: The Lewis and Clark Musical Adventure" Review - Macon Film Festival (****)

Jeremy Hoffman and Kevin Abrams star in "Manifest Destiny:
The Lewis and Clark Musical Adventure."

Comedic gold shines from sea to shining sea in "Manifest Destiny: The Lewis and Clark Musical Adventure," and the mouthful title is worth the talk.

Opening on a classic leather-bound book entitled “Manifest Destiny,” you start to get a sense that the story will be wildly spun as the first song begins. President Thomas Jefferson starts off by appointing Meriwether Lewis (played by Kevin Abrams) and William Clark (played by Jeremy Hoffman) to explore and map the west. This talented duo set off to blaze the trail and set the pace for their masterfully created tale. Hoffman wrote most of the music and performed his fair share, as well.

Georgia Filmmakers Spotlight an Iconic Location and a Quirky Phenomenon in Documentaries "Hotel Clermont" (****) & "Eat White Dirt" (****½)

Tammy Wright, the primary subject of "Eat White Dirt."

One of the greatest appeals of a film festival is its ability to introduce audiences to stories from around the globe. And while I enjoy seeing the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong's nighttime streets and the breathtaking high-altitude views of the Himalayas on the big screen, there's something remarkably special about seeing a film that highlights the stories right in my backyard.

Two Georgia-lensed documentary shorts have been making waves among the southern film festival circuit: "Hotel Clermont" by Heather Hutson and "Eat White Dirt" by Adam Forrester. Both screened earlier this year at the Atlanta Film Festival and both came away with notable awards—"Hotel Clermont" won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Short and "Eat White Dirt" won the Seed&Spark Jury Award. Although I missed their screenings in Atlanta back in April, I made sure to catch them this weekend during the Macon Film Festival's "Southern Stories" shorts block, and I'm so glad I did.

"Jasmine" Review - Macon Film Festival (***)

Jason Tobin stars in "Jasmine."

First-time director Dax Phelan crafts a tense but often meandering mystery in "Jasmine." Phelan is more than capable of setting the tone for the increasingly unsettling thriller but the story lacks complexity.

Jason Tobin plays Leonard To, a grieving widower whose wife was murdered the previous year. Leonard is in pain. Walking the streets of Hong Kong at night, he is very much alone and very much in his own head. With blurred lights in the distance and bustling streets, the city is a character of its own. Hong Kong—and Phelan’s ability to capture it—lends a lot to the film. Tobin is fantastic as the miserable, confused and angry Leonard. His wife’s murder is still unsolved and while the police seem to have given up, the lack of closure haunts him.

Macon Film Festival: Recapping the Sundance Institute Master Class

The Macon Film Festival welcomed us with open arms and kicked off the weekend with a Sundance Institute Short Film Master Class with Mike Plante and James Ponsoldt.

Plante, Sundance Short Films Senior Programmer, wove his tale to an eager crowd. Beginning his festival journey in 1993, he is no stranger to the inner workings of getting films into festivals, and he started with rule number one—'Don’t be a dick.' Simple enough, just treat every single person you meet along the way well. The positivity will read through the work and more people will sign on to help you make a great film.

"Legs: A Big Issue in a Small Town" Review - Macon Film Festival (**)

The titular, controversial sculpture of Sag Harbor, New York.

Four years before Angelina Jolie stunned the world on the 2012 Oscar Red Carpet with her bold, leggy pose, there was another pair of legs that caused quite a flurry of reactions and opinions. In 2008, eccentric art gallerists Janet Lehr and Ruth Vered erected a 16 foot tall, fiberglass sculpture of a pair of stocking-clad legs outside their home in the small, conservative town of Sag Harbor. Cue the controversy.

"Remittance" Review - Macon Film Festival (***)

Angela Barotia stars in "Remittance."

In her time as a domestic worker in Singapore, Marie Delacruz jumps through hoops to please her host family. Risking her position as a maid, she finds alternate ways of making money, such as doubling as a 'bar girl.' She soon discovers that the money she sends home has been spent by her husband’s frivolous hand.

14 Films to See at the 2016 Macon Film Festival

Middle Georgia's main film event returns for its 11th edition on July 21-24. While the festival focuses on music and Southern documentary, there's something for everyone.

A 30th anniversary presentation of John Hughes' classic "Pretty in Pink" with star Andrew McCarthy is a good hook. So is a Sundance Master Class with Georgia-born director James Ponsoldt. So are special screenings of Ponsoldt's critically-acclaimed hits "The Spectacular Now" and "The End of the Tour." But the 11th annual Macon Film Festival has a whole lot more to offer!

A couple of years deep into Macon's focused effort to spotlight music-themed films and Southern non-fiction, the festival is bursting with promising offerings in both categories. Pepper in loads of Georgia-lensed shorts, some festival circuit hits, diverse international offerings and quality workshops—you have yourself a dynamite 4-day event.

We've highlighted 14 films from this year's Macon Film Festival that you must check out!

Macon Film Festival and Sundance Institute Join Forces for Short Film Master Class with James Ponsoldt & Mike Plante

The 11th annual Macon Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, July 21st and runs through Sunday, July 24th. Through a partnership with Sundance Institute, Middle Georgia's largest film organization is kickstarting this year's festivities with a high profile Master Class from acclaimed, Georgia-born filmmaker James Ponsoldt and long-time Sundance Short Film Programmer Mike Plante.

"Frame by Frame" Review (*****)

Farzana Wahidy in the documentary "Frame by Frame."

“Frame by Frame” is an elegant and symphonic documentary tribute to the empathy and integrity of the photojournalist, and it might be the most impactful documentary of my generation.

In a country once ruled by a regime that criminalized photography for half a decade, directors Alexandria Bombach and Mo Scarpelli weave together the ground-breaking work of four photojournalists capturing the aftermath of a post-Taliban Afghanistan.

"Wildlike" Review (***)

Ella Purnell and Bruce Greenwood star in "Wildlike."

Frank Hall Green’s quiet, low-budget drama, "Wildlike," is a modest story of an unlikely kinship between a young and volatile Mackenzie (Ella Purnell) and an experienced and haggard Rene (Bruce Greenwood). Mackenzie, still reeling from the loss of her father, is forced to stay with her uncle, played by the doe-eyed Brian Geraghty, at his home in Alaska. We quickly learn he’s a creep and he’s abusive, and that’s all we know and really all we need to know. She leaves, and rightfully so, and that propels the rest of the film into action.

14 Films to See at the 2015 Sidewalk Film Festival

This will be my third year attending Sidewalk Film Festival and there is just something about this three-day extravaganza in Birmingham, Alabama that gets me more excited than just about anything else that happens all year.

It's not just the fact that there are so many good films to see that you will inevitably kick yourself for missing one simply because you chose another (a great problem to have). It's not just the fact that they close down 3rd Avenue and have a street party all weekend long with food and games and vendors. It's not just that the Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival is one block away, adding even more electricity to the city. It's not just the amazing staff of Sidewalk—all of whom I admire so deeply. It's not even just the cake bites from Urban Standard.

It's all of this and more—an x-factor, if you will—that this incredible film festival possesses. A charm all it's own, amazing theaters, wonderful film programming, great parties, delectable food. I'm gushing, I know, but I simply can't help it. Sidewalk is The Perfect Storm.

At the heart of it, though, is truly the love of film. It reflects in their program every year and this year is certainly no exception! I have compiled a list of 14 can't-miss films for you to check out this year, and then added 8 more that you might have already seen on the Georgia film festival circuit, but certainly warrant a revisit.

10th Annual Macon Film Festival Kicks Off with "Mavis!" (****)

Mavis Staples stars as Mavis Staples in her documentary called "Mavis!" (Staples).

“I’ll stop singing when I have nothing left to say… and that ain’t gonna happen.” That’s our introduction to Mavis Staples in the Jessica Edwards' documentary “Mavis!” Mavis is a wildly compelling and gregarious 76-year-old with a voice that booms like thunder. The exclamation point that end caps the title of the film is so perfectly befitting—it’s a wonder she doesn’t simply spell her name that way; the title is screaming at you with a smile and a buoyancy that floats you through the film. Mavis is without a doubt, the living, breathing, heart-pumping definition of an exclamation point, radiating a charisma and earnestness so vivid and loud that it nearly knocks you out of your chair.

Macon Film Festival: 2015 Award Winners

Sara Casasnovas and Jesús Lloveras star in "Day Release (Tercer Grado),"
winner of Best Narrative Feature and Excellence in Directing awards.

The tenth anniversary of the Macon Film Festival saw its most high profile guest yet (Burt Reynolds), its highest attendance yet and—in the honest opinion of this annual attendee and film critic—its best programming yet. While special screenings of "Deliverance," "Sharky's Machine," "Slow West" and opening night presentation "Mavis!" have garnered the most attention, the entire lineup is glittered with exceptional films across the board.

Several selections won two awards—"Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou" took home the Best Animated Short and Excellence in Editing awards, "Forced Contact" was awarded both Best LGBT Short and Excellence in Cinematography honors, and "Day Release (Tercer Grado)" received awards for Best Narrative Feature and Excellence in Directing.

The festival wraps up today and Audience Award winners will be announced tonight. Check out the complete list of winners after the jump.

Georgia Icon Burt Reynolds Leads a Pack of Filmmakers Heading to 2015 Macon Film Festival

Burt Reynolds in his Academy Award-nominated role in "Boogie Nights."

Georgia-born film legend Burt Reynolds has been announced as a special guest of the 10th annual Macon Film Festival, taking place Thursday July 16 through Sunday July 19. Despite being born in Waycross, Reynolds was raised mostly in Michigan, Missouri and Florida. One of the biggest box office draws of the 1970s and 80s, Reynolds made it a point to return to his home state to film several of his hit films, including "The Cannonball Run," "Deliverance," "Gator," "The Longest Yard," "Sharky's Machine," "Six Pack," "Smokey and the Bandit," "Smokey and the Bandit II" and "Stroker Ace."

2015 Macon Film Festival Complete Lineup Revealed

This year's Macon Film Festival is bound to be the biggest event yet. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Macon announced last year that it would move the four-day event from February to July, coinciding with the city's annual Bragg-Jam Music Festival—creating a ten-day mega event in downtown Macon.

Kicking off our annual coverage of middle Georgia's premiere film event, we are pleased to showcase the entire lineup! Several great films are to be showcased this year, including many Georgia features and shorts, several films that also played the 2015 Atlanta Film Festival ("Divided Time," "Frame by Frame," "Old South," "Wildlike") and some very special presentations to be attended by #GAfilm icon Burt Reynolds.

OPENING NIGHT:

MAVIS!

USA (Director: Jessica Edwards) – Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers inspired millions and helped propel the civil rights movement with their music. After 60 years of performing, legendary singer Mavis Staples' message of love and equality is needed now more than ever.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:

Special Screening of DELIVERANCE (1972) 

USA (Director: John Boorman) – Burt Reynolds scheduled to attend a Q&A following the screening of this iconic Georgia film. 

HOW SWEET THE SOUND: BLIND BOYS FROM ALABAMA
USA (Director: Leslie McCleave) – Directed and Produced by Leslie McCleave Filmed over the course of ten years, How Sweet the Sound tells the story of The Blind Boys of Alabama. They met as children in the 1930’s at a state-run segregated vocational school and would become one of the last great gospel quartets, traversing the famed “gospel highway” and beyond. As the surviving band members recount their unlikely success story, we see a rare, frank view of life on and off the road with these renowned performers, now in their 70’s and 80’s.

LIVE FROM NEW YORK!
USA (Director: Bao Nguyen) – "Saturday Night Live" has been reflecting and influencing life in the United States for 40 years. Live From New York! goes deep inside this cultural phenomenon exploring the laughter that pulses through American politics, tragedy and popular culture.

Special Screening of SHARKY’S MACHINE (1981) 

USA (Director: Burt Reynolds) – Reynolds scheduled to attend a Q&A following this Closing Night screening. 

SLOW WEST

United Kingdom/New Zealand (Director: John Maclean) – "Slow West" follows a 16-year-old boy on a journey across 19th Century frontier America in search of the woman he loves, while accompanied by mysterious traveler Silas. The film stars Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

WESTERN
USA (Director: Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross) – For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, TX, from Piedras Negras, MX, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life.

Call for Entries Open for Macon Film Festival

Earlier this year, the Macon Film Festival announced it would move from February to July for it's 10th annual festival in 2015. The move is in collaboration with the Bragg Jam Music, Arts and Kids Festival. Together, the two fests will form a 10-day event in downtown Macon, celebrating the best of the city's vibrant arts community.

Along with the new dates, new submissions dates are also in place. The Early Bird deadline closes on Monday, November 17th with the regular deadline closing in two months, on January 12th, 2015. Click here to learn more about submitting your film.

The 2015 Macon Film Festival takes place July 16-19, 2015 and features $13,000 in prize money across several different short film and feature film categories. The Macon Film Festival has quickly made a huge impression on Georgia's film festival circuit. This move to July will only further solidify the festival's unique presence.

Macon Review: "Muscle Shoals" (****)

Keith Richards is featured in "Muscle Shoals"

Recent scientific research has shown that it is impossible to keep still during the first ten minutes of "Muscle Shoals." Moments after Bono's opening lines echo across the stunning colors and textures of northwestern Alabama's verdant riverbanks, Wilson Pickett's "Land of 1,000 Dances" kicks in and you can't help but shake loose. It is immediately clear just how much soul this film possesses, having gleaned character and zeal from its many revered subjects.

"Deep down in your stomach, coming out of your gut. That's that Muscle Shoals sound." —Candi Staton

Having first seen "Muscle Shoals" at the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham last summer—appropriately showcased at the Alabama Theatre—I was excited to hear that the film was also the opening night selection for the 2014 Macon Film Festival. Macon—although much larger of a city and with a less musically synonymous name than Muscle Shoals—has a rich and diverse musical history, even claiming home to Georgia's Music Hall of Fame. I knew the crowd in Macon would love "Muscle Shoals," and I was right. In the Q&A following the film, I can't tell you how many times an audience member (or one of the moderators) tried to cajole director Freddy Camalier into making a follow-up film about Macon. I guess it could work—he already has Gregg Allman's contact information.

Complete lineup of the 2014 Atlanta Film Festival

Less than two weeks away, the 38th edition of the Atlanta Film Festival is surely the most exciting yet. The lineup is striking—composed of previous festival hits and world premieres, international narratives and documentaries on a myriad of subjects. Cannes, Sundance, SXSW and Toronto all send their greatest hits of the past few months, but plenty of new local fare and standout docs from the Savannah Film Festival and Macon Film Festival ("Mayan Blue" [Savannah], "Brothers Hypnotic" [Savannah & Macon], "A Fragile Trust" [Macon]) dot the lineup as well.

Local feature titles include narratives "A is for Alex" and "The Unwanted" as well as documentaries "Limo Ride" and "Mayan Blue." Georgia-connected filmmakers share films like "Beside Still Waters" and "Bayou Maharajah" and a host of Georgia set, shot and connected short films feature in several different blocks.

The Atlanta Film Festival has worked very hard in recent years to clarify its voice and put on an organized, polished presentation. It has continued to grow and mature, leading up its 40th birthday in 2016, a feat that few festivals can boast—many likely never reaching that far.

You can bet that Reel Georgia will feature plenty of coverage of this very promising edition of the Grande Dame of Georgia's festival circuit. Look forward to a massive 'What to see,' Georgia film spotlights, red carpet interviews and reviews in the coming weeks. For now, check out the complete lineup!

OPENING NIGHT PRESENTATION

Joe
directed by David Gordon Green USA, 2014, English, 114 minutes
A gripping mix of friendship, violence and redemption erupts in the contemporary South in "Joe," directed by David Gordon Green. "Joe" brings Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage back to his indie roots in the title role as the hard-living, hot-tempered, ex-con Joe Ransom, who is just trying to dodge his instincts for trouble—until he meets a hard-luck kid played by Tye Sheridan (“Mud,” “The Tree of Life”), who awakens in him a fierce and tender-hearted protector. With a screenplay by Gary Hawkins, “Joe” is based on the novel by the late Larry Brown (“Big Bad Love,” “Facing the Moon”), the former Mississippi firefighter renowned for his powerful, gothic storytelling and universal themes of honor, desperation and moral rectitude.

CLOSING NIGHT PRESENTATION

The Double
directed by Richard Ayoade UK, 2013, English, 93 minutes
Simon James is a ghost. Friends, family, and coworkers meet his every action with complete indifference. He grimly goes through the motions, hoping for recognition that never comes. All of this changes when James Simon arrives. Physically, James and Simon are dead ringers. Yet in temperament, James is everything Simon is not: personable, spontaneous, assertive and desirable. When James begins to take over Simon’s life, he is forced to act. Jesse Eisenberg’s fantastic double performance is bolstered by a cast of seasoned character actors who bring Simon James’s gloomy retro world to life. Directed with a deftly comic hand and assured visual technique by Richard Ayoade, "The Double" is a stylish black comedy with acerbic wit to spare.