Review by Dan Skip Allen

A lot of people know Rita Moreno for her Academy Award-winning role as Anita in West Side Story, but her career is much more complex and broader than that. The title of the documentary says it all. It was kind of funny that she found it on a tee-shirt and it became her motto and a phrase she lives by today in her late 80s. It's great to see somebody so successful in their career at such an older age.

Moreno was originally from a small town in Puerto Rico when her mother decided to move to New York City. Like a lot of immigrants, she struggled to find a life in the big city. The weather was blistering cold and not like the tropical island she had come to know as home. Manhattan, a different island, would be where she would have to grow up the rest of her life and try to fit into the biggest melting pot in the world. She was too stubborn not to. New York City was definitely a culture shock for both of them.

Early on, she got some work in her career as the Indian squaw, or gang member's girlfriends, but a lot of her roles were opposite white leading men. She had to talk with a Latino accent and have a "spicy attitude", whatever that means. She was sick of these stereotypical character roles. She knew she was better than these types of roles. Her dancing skills as a child paid off when she won the role of Anita in West Side Story. She finally was able to be herself.

As a star in Hollywood and a contract player for the studios, she was obligated to go out to parties with leading men as eye candy. They would bring different girls to parties all the time. She never felt satisfied by this kind of shallow relationship. It wasn't until she caught the eye of the biggest star in Hollywood at the time, Marlon Brando, that she would find some satisfaction in life. He was madly in love with her and she had eight solid years with him by her side. Their relationship would fizzle out though because of violence on his part. Violence is a thing women go through all over the world let alone in Hollywood, but her background made it more prevalent.

Violence was an everyday part of her life from Puerto Rico to New York and out to Los Angeles. She always seemed to be involved in some form of abuse or bad relationships that had violence in them. Inadvertently these instances helped make Moreno a tougher girl than most. Even after the relationship with Brando was over she got a role in a movie with him, The Night of the Following Day. She put her emotions from the abuse she got in the relationship into this role. The talking heads we're able to share their thoughts on these relationships and a whole lot more in the film.


After West Side Story and her Oscar win, her career dried up so she did some stage work in The Ritz and a lot of television work in shows like The Rockford Files and The Electric Company, where she was famous for the quote "Hey you guys!" The Electric Company was a staple of my childhood growing up. She and Morgan Freeman were fantastic in that show. Later she got a role as a nun in the highly praised HBO prison drama Oz. She received more awards for these roles.

The EGOT is the accumulation of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards. She did so much in her career that she was able to win awards in multiple avenues of entertainment. This shows how versatile she was as an entertainer. This wasn't her whole life though. She was also an activist fighting for women's rights and various other causes during her long and storied career. Her celebrity allowed her to give of herself like this. This was the true love of her life. She was able to put her heart into these causes.

Rita Moreno transcended her upbringing and her Latino heritage. She proved no matter where you come from and what kind of background you have, if you want something bad enough, and work hard for it you can accomplish your goals. She did that and more in her career. She's still acting to this very day in the Netflix sitcom One Day at a Time and she's got a role in the remake of West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg. She has been a role model for all Latinos, women, and her own family in which she has a daughter and a couple of grandkids. By any standard, she is a success. This film does a great job of depicting that to the fullest. For those who may not know about her, this documentary will get you up to date on this amazing woman.

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It hits theaters on June 18.

Rating: 4/5

Review by Sean Boelman

The hangout movie is a subgenre of comedy that is especially hit-or-miss, but the few which are able to effectively capture the intended feeling can be enjoyable beyond belief. Jamie Adams’s Love Spreads is an absolute surprise thanks to a sharp script and a cast that is strong all around.

The film follows a band who, following a successful debut, are in disarray when they try to make their second album. There have been plenty of movies that have shown the creative forces in a band at war with each other, but Adams’s script is refreshingly light on melodrama, taking a much more low-key approach than is typical for films like this.

Like much of the genre, the pacing of the movie is very laid back, but that isn’t a bad thing. For the ninety-three-minute runtime, audiences won’t feel as if they’re watching a movie, but rather a series of sessions by this fictional band. And for those who are into the music scene, the film will prove particularly entertaining.

The thing that Adams’s script largely lacks is something to say. There are some moments which show the promise of this being a commentary on the music industry, this isn’t really the movie’s focus. It’s much more observational than it is insightful, refraining from taking much of a stance on the issues that it could have explored.

That said, as an ode to creativity in the music-making process, it works exceptionally well. The dynamic between the members of the band feels extremely lived-in and authentic. This believability is what makes the film tick, as our investment in their creative process is fundamentally tied to how much we buy into their relationship.

The acting in the movie is also very strong. Alia Shawkat does a great job. Recent years have seen her evolve from being goofy to more straight-faced, even when she’s in a comedic-leaning project like this, and it suits her well. Eiza González, Chanel Cresswell, and Tara Lee are all good in their roles as well.

As expected, the film is very low-key, but it does a great job of capturing the intimacy of the setting. The recording studio Rockfield is fabled, and the movie does a great job of bringing to life what one would imagine the place to be like. The soundtrack is strong as well, with some catchy tunes, but one will be left wishing the filmmakers had done more with it.

Love Spreads is a charmingly quaint film, and while it certainly could have done more with its premise, part of the appeal is how simple it is. It’s a great hangout movie set in the music world, and that’s a niche that is fun to watch.

Love Spreads hits VOD on June 18.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review by Sean Boelman

Filmmaker Abel Ferrara and character actor Willem Dafoe have had very fruitful collaborations in the past, having worked together six times at this point, and Siberia is about the weirdest they come. With a bountiful amount of haunting imagery but too weak of a narrative to justify it, this is on the weaker end of Ferrara’s filmography.

The film follows a man who spends his days fighting hallucinations tied to his past demons and tending a bar whose patrons speak a different language than him. For better or worse, this movie shows all of Ferrara’s most abstract tendencies, but it’s not quite experimental enough to fully work as such.

There is definitely some very aggressive pacing in this film. Certain portions completely drag, and others are loud and frantic, which will create some serious whiplash. Even though it only clocks in at around an hour and a half, the frequent shifts in how the story moves will be off-putting for anyone who isn’t a hardcore Ferrara devotee.

However, that isn’t the only thing that is wildly inconsistent about this movie. At some points, it feels extremely vague, and at others, it is far too on-the-nose. Ferrara isn’t exactly known for the subtlety in his films, but with this movie, he shoots for something much more ambiguous but doesn’t exactly pull it off.

The character development in the film is also very lackluster. The backstory that we are given to the protagonist’s past is very generic. There is such little development to the characters that it completely fails to create an emotional connection, instead feeling like a smattering of thematically connected images. 

Willem Dafoe’s performance in the leading role is absolutely the highlight of the movie. Dafoe is such a central component of every single moment that the effectiveness of the whole film rests entirely on his performance. He single-handedly makes a movie that otherwise feels cold and distant into something that is at least compelling to watch.

The film is also mostly successful on a visual level. Apart from a few scenes that aim much bigger than the budget that Ferrara had, the movie is effectively nightmarish. It is when Ferrara is focusing on the hauntingly simplistic motifs that the film is at its best, allowing it to capture the atmosphere for which it is aiming.

Siberia has some very effective elements, but it is about as divisive as they will come. A majority of viewers will reject it for how abstract it is, and others may not like how much it is lacking in subtlety, although there is a sweet spot of the audience that will dig Ferrara’s vibes.

Siberia hits theaters and VOD on June 18.

​Rating: 3/5

Reviewed by Adam Donato

Review by Camden Ferrell

The Sparks Brothers is a documentary about the iconic band Sparks, which is cheekily described as “your favorite band’s favorite band”. It had its premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and is the first documentary from director Edgar Wright. This eccentric group is given an equally fun and eccentric treatment in a comprehensive documentary that celebrates their music.
 
Sparks is a band consisting of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, and their career has spanned five decades and influenced numerous musicians. This documentary tells the story of their career from their formative years as children, attending a Beatles concert with their mom all the way to the present day. These are some truly fascinating and influential musicians that provide so much potential for a great documentary.
 
Upon watching this film, it certainly does not feel like someone’s first time directing a documentary. Wright seamlessly enters the genre with the skill of a seasoned documentary filmmaker. It feels like the eccentricity of Sparks compliments Wright’s own unique and quirky style of storytelling. While it’s his first documentary, it definitely feels like an Edgar Wright movie. It has a unique visual style that’s effective at telling a story entertainingly, and it’s a style that has fun with itself. There are lots of animations, cutaways, and gags sprinkled throughout the documentary that give it a noticeable personality. 

The movie features various interviews with people like Beck, Weird Al, Flea, and many others. They all provide interesting commentary and anecdotes that elevate the film and truly illustrate the widespread affect Sparks have had on several people in the music industry. Sparks may not be the most popular act in the United States, so it’s nice to see so many significant figures acknowledge the impact Sparks have had on the industry.
 
The movie is around 140 minutes, and there are some moments that could have been cut. However, to the film’s credit, it surprisingly captures the entirety of their career and allocates time efficiently between all the eras and styles their career has spanned. It’s more comprehensive than I thought it would be, and it does a mostly good job of focusing on the most important aspects of their career over the last fifty years. The movie has plenty of archival footage and features many songs from their catalog that features hundreds of unique songs by them.
 
This is a movie that is great for die-hard Sparks fans as well as those who want to learn more about them. Wright does a great job of making this accessible to fans and novices alike, and he imparts his own style that sets it apart from other musical documentaries. This is a movie that captures the past and present of these two brothers while also getting us excited for what’s to come from them.
 
The Sparks Brothers is in theaters June 18.
 
Rating: 4/5