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The major box-office successes of the year notwithstanding (we see you, “Barbenheimer”), 2023 saw many outstanding independent films come out to rival (or surpass) the quality of big-studio releases. Fortunately,…

(Check out Jessica Baxter’s movie review of Monica, it’s in theaters Friday via IFC Films. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) Despite recent progress (and…

(Editors Note: Eric Shultz’s debut feature Minor Premise is now streaming for free on Tubi. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per month via Patreon…

Editors Note: After a successful festival run, Fully Realized Humans is now available to buy or rent on all digital platforms. (Initially reviewed out of the amazing Bend Film Festival,…

(Christopher Winterbauer’s feature debut, Wyrm, is still making the rounds at film festivals, most recently at the San Francisco International Film Fest. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why…

(Iuli Gerbase;s  The Pink Cloud, is still making the rounds at film festivals, most recently at the San Francisco International Film Fest. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not…

(Prano Bailey-Bond’s directorial debut Censor is still making the rounds at film festivals, most recently at the San Francisco International Film Fest. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail?…

(Corrina Faith’s debut feature, The Power is streaming now on Shudder. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per month via Patreon to help keep us…

(Talia Lugacy’s film, This is Not a War Story is still on a festival run. It recently won the Audience Award at SF Indie and will play Cinequest end of…

(Multi-hyphenated talent Brea Grant wrote and stars in Lucky. The film is streaming now on Shudder. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per month via…

(Emerald Fennell’s rape-revenge film Promising Young Woman hits theaters and VOD in December via Focus Features. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per month via…

(After it’s premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, Kris Rey’s I Used To Go Here was picked up for distribution by Gravitas. The film is available now on HBO…

(Clea Duvall’s sophomore feature Happiest Season hit on Hulu on November 25th, 2020. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per month via Patreon to help…

(Juliette Landau’s writing/directing debut A Place Among the Dead is available now on VOD via Modern Films. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per…

(Filmmaker Seth Breedlove’s latest documentary film, The Mothman Legacy is available now on VOD. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per month via Patreon to help…

(Sean Durkin’s highly anticipated follow-up to 2011’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Nest is available now on VOD via IFC Films. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not…

(Steve Collins’ latest feature, I’ve Got Issues, might be the first zeitgeist film of the COVID shutdown. The film is available now via Gravitas Ventures. Like what you see here…

(Mindy Bledsoe’s The In-Between was programmed at the 2020 Oxford Film Festival. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per month via Patreon to help keep us…

(Nicole Jones’ documentary The Third Strike premiered at the 2020 Cinequest film festival. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay just $1.00 per month via Patreon to help keep…

(After it’s debut at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, Shannon Murphy’s Babyteeth will be coming to VOD June 19 via IFC Films. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail?…

(Whitney Hamilton’s Civil War love story Union is currently streaming on HBO, iTunes, VUDU, Fandango, Direct TV, Youtube, Google Play, Amazon Prime and other platforms via Indican Films. Like what…

(Same Boat, Chris Roberti’s low-budget, DIY, sci-fi time travel movie shot aboard a cruise ship is available now on VOD. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why…

It’s not a love story so much as the tale of a woman who turns things around thanks to the inspiration from an unlikely source – a man who has…

(Caleb Michael Johnson’s The Carnivores was slated to debut at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival. Alas…it’s become a #LostFilmsofSXSW. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not pay…

(After making it’s debut at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival, Marc Meyers’ Human Capital is available now on VOD via DirecTV Cinema. Like what you see here on Hammer to…

(Tyler Chandler’s directorial debut, Dosed has started a slow roll-out in NY and L.A. It will be expanding over the following weeks. Like what you see here on Hammer to…

One of the features of the increasingly-unpleasant-but-unavoidable social media site Facebook is called ‘Memories.’ Over the weekend, ‘Memories’ kindly reminded me that it was nearly 5 years ago that I…

...Liz Manashil manages to deliver a very effective story within her significant limitations. It speaks to her talents that she can make something so resonant whilst being forced to dance…

Boyhood was released seven years into the filming of Most Likely to Succeed. The comparison is obvious, but story-wise, Littky is on a whole other level.

What at first seems like a run-of-the-mill genetic test to put their minds at ease becomes the opening of a Pandora’s Box of cultural secrets and anthropological misconceptions.

Mohan and Tuxford’s script is funny, but not because the teenaged characters are clever beyond their years. The comedy comes from a very truthful place of painful awkwardness...

My favorite thing about Freaks is the way it harkens back to the starter genre films of my youth, like Escape to Witch Mountain, Anna to the Infinite Power, The…

But, as you may have heard, something is rotten in Denmark...

The gimmick is reason enough to see this film. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for outsiders to get a real peak behind the scenes at the Olympics. But the trio sweeten…

Young romantic love is a big deal, but high school BFFs are some of the most intense relationships in a woman’s life.

People don’t give Molly Shannon enough credit for her ability to deliver a line as dry as the Sahara. Shannon marries the elements perfectly and clearly revels in Emily’s coded…

Porno is a promising feature debut from director Keola Racela and his college collaborators, writers Matt Black and Laurence Vannicelli.

Jezebel is a drama, but Perrier manages to show the humor and empowerment in Tiffany’s profession. Though there is darkness, it is also an opportunity for women to control the…

This is theater. This is Chuck E. Cheese for blood-thirsty right-wing nut jobs with too much expendable income.

This World Alone is an excellent film, tonally, it’s a tough hang.

Even though Mapplethorpe aspired to be a “modern Michelangelo," he knew that, “people will be expecting some cock.”

Unfortunately, Eva Vives directorial debut couldn’t be timelier.

While the patriarchy infects even the world of skating, Moselle’s Skate Kitchen provides the antidote.

It’s worth noting that first-time film director Christian Papierniak has a background in video games because that’s a bit how Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town plays out.

THE LONG DUMB ROAD resembles an update of Albert Brooks’ 1985 masterpiece, Lost in America. Only instead of yuppies attempting to emulate Easy Rider, we follow a 19-year-old boy who…

Carlos López Estrada tackles such a staggering number of themes in his feature debut, Blindspotting, that it almost feels like too much for one film. Then again, that may be…

(That Summer, Göran Hugo Olsson’s fascinating new documentary that finally restores footage of Big Edie and Little Edie Beale of Grey Gardens that was thought lost for decades opens Friday…

French writer/director Coralie Fargeat is an insanely talented up-and-comer. She’s clearly capable of crafting a cinematic masterpiece and comes pretty close to achieving perfection with her debut film: the rape…

Two years later, we’re finally embarking on the next wave of feminism. Hopefully this means more women will get to tell their own stories and not have to rely on…

Scary Mother is a quietly riveting film that is richly layered with themes of identity, traditional gender roles, sacrifice, and hypocrisy filtered through the lens of a middle-aged mother of 3.

Though it’s her first feature, Bridey is clearly a studied filmmaker. She doesn’t just understand her father’s signature comedy formula that so deftly combines pathos and lowbrow humor. Her brand…

You may think you know where this is going, but I promise, you don’t. Wells’ film vehemently eschews Rom Com tropes.

Historically a cinematographer, Taylor’s debut feature is a cerebral cinematic experience. Without dialogue, the weight of the story falls entirely on the expressions and body language of the actors.

You don’t throw this out. You take care of it. Because someone took that time out of their life that they can’t get back to make this tape for you.

For the uninitiated, Byington’s films are best describes as Twilight Zone Todd Solondz with jokes.

If this film had been released during the Obama administration, it might have seemed almost quaint. But in retrospect, it feels like a light rainstorm before the world-ending flood.

(The 43rd Annual Seattle International Film Festival started May 18 and ran almost a month, all the way until June 11. Stay tuned to Hammer to Nail for reviews throughout the festivals…

(The 43rd Annual Seattle International Film Festival starts May 18 and runs almost a month, all the way until June 11. Stay tuned to Hammer to Nail for reviews throughout…

The opening of John Jenck’s The Hippopotamus is a flawless, wordless introduction to the film’s protagonist, Ted Wallace.

Handsome Devil is an affable picture, but it’s a few nips and tucks away from being great.

(Jessica Baxter did some legwork at this year’s SFIFF. Here’s her final three reviews from the fest which ran April 5-19.) Family Life (Vida de Familia) Chilean directors Alicia Scherson and…

A Date for Mad Mary is a comedy, but it’s not exactly a romantic comedy. It’s more about how changing friendships can sometimes be as painful as a breakup.

It’s not a perfect film, but one gets the impression that Madalyn Murray O’Hair would have been pleased as punch to be remembered as such a force of nature.

That’s the fantasy of the liberal parent: our children will be us, minus the bugs that our parents installed. But it doesn’t work like that. No matter what we do,…

There is no shortage of coming-of-age films, but none that I’ve seen are quite as virtuous and laissez-faire as Clay Liford’s Slash, a feature-length remake of his 2012 short film.

Writer/director Kerem Sanga’s First Girl I Loved is an astoundingly accurate depiction of the agony of first heartbreak...

Ergüven (along with co-writer Alice Winocour) spends a great deal of time early on establishing the sisterly bond, beautifully capturing what would be a typical sibling dynamic

So when I heard about “Competitive Endurance Tickling” – the subject of New Zealand directors David Farrier and Dylan Reeve’s documentary, Tickled – my first thought was, “DEAR GOD, WHY?!”

Panti Bliss didn’t ask to become the poster woman for gay rights in Ireland. But when duty called, she answered with gusto.

For a film about a comedian, there aren’t very many laugh-out-loud moments in Middle Man. It is a black comedy that’s heavy on the black.

I was admittedly skeptical about this digital character, half expecting Dan to devolve into a sort of Max Headroom annoyance, but despite his ever-present cheek, the tragedy of his untimely…

Despite the fact that they were all rookies to the sport, The Pistol Shrimps have been passionate about their team from the beginning, even when their record was dauntingly poor.

(The 2016 Seattle International Film Festival kicked off May 19 and runs for just shy of a month, until June 12. Reviews are coming in steadily but here’s the rundown on the fest’s…

There has been a recent surge in films about trans people, both narrative and documentary. And it’s about time. Trans rights have long been either lumped in with the rest…

There are things in this world more problematic and scary than being haunted by ghosts. One of those things is realizing you accidentally hired an unhinged person to provide a…

Sundance breakout hit, the one about the mermaids in the electronica band...with keytars!

It seems insane to think that treating prisoners as sub-human will be an effective way to rehabilitate them and deter crime, yet that is the prevailing message the criminal justice…

"The Family Fang" is far from the feel good movie of the year. But it has purpose.

It shouldn't be too much to ask of the world to let us live our truth. And yet, for Jheri Jones, and an estimated .3% of American adults identifying as…

If we wanted to send something off into the cosmos to show aliens in far off galaxies what life is like on Earth, this is a pretty accurate depiction, at…

The film is composed beautifully, with a couple of especially memorable static, shots that encapsulate the terror of investigating unexplained noises in your house or searching for that all-important file…

These days making music is the easy part. The hard part is getting someone to hear it, and harder still, to care about it. If an album drops in the…

Before the Sun Explodes is difficult to watch, but if you can stomach it, you’ll be rewarded with a compelling case study of people who live their lives, teetering on…

But what if the greatest trick Joey Skaggs ever pulled is convincing the world that he exists?

The 2016 Sundance Film Festival is in full swing and we have boots on the ground as well as eyes on screener links for the whole festival! Stay tuned to…

The 2016 Slamdance Film Festival is in full swing and we have boots on the ground as well as eyes on screener links for the whole festival! Stay tuned to…

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