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I typically love scenarios where one character, or multiple, has a bad day or week. This setup makes the rest of the story exciting since we know things can only look up from there. Notice to Quit is very much this kind of film, as Andy Singers (Michael Zegen) day goes from bad to worse to only slightly better. Writer-director Simon Hacker has a good grasp on his characters and story, but while Notice to Quit has a spark, it lacks any true heartwarming moments, which are buried beneath a surface-level premise that refuses to engage with vulnerability.

Notice to Quit (2024)

Director Simon HackerRelease Date September 27, 2024Writers Simon HackerCast Dan Domingues, Jeff Mantel, Jason Liebman, Chakeefe Gordon, Katie Kuang, Cliff Samara, Andrus Nichols, Leah Loftin, Victor Verhaeghe, Kasey Bella Suarez, Robert Klein, Jaime Zevallos, Rose Jackson Smith, Demosthenes Chrysan, Nell Verlaque, Eric Berryman, Isabel Arraiza, Michael Angelo Covino, Michael ZegenCharacter(s) Andy Singer,...

South Mountain Breaking Glass Pictures Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Hilary Brougher Screenwriter: Hilary Brougher Cast: Talia Balsam, Scott Cohen, Andrus Nichols, Violet Rea, Michael Oberholtzer, Macaulee Ruosnak Cassaday Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 3/9/20 Opens: April 3, 2020 New York State’s Catskill Mountains, where the events […]

The post South Mountain Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

“South Mountain” joins the company of “Gloria Bell” and “Diane” as yet another 2019 drama intimately attuned to the literal and emotional plight of a middle-aged woman. In the case of Hilary Brougher’s incisive feature, the female in question is Lila (Talia Balsam), whose quiet life in upstate New York is destabilized by a continuing series of abandonments. A snapshot of major and minor upheavals, and the rocky means by which people move forward from them, it’s a showcase for Balsam’s superb lead turn, and — following its premiere at SXSW earlier this year, and spotlight selection screening at BAMcinemaFEst — an accomplished if minor indie facing a tough marketplace.

At an afternoon cookout with breast-cancer-stricken friend Gigi (Andrus Nichols) and her kids Charlotte (Violet Rea) and Jake (Guthrie Mass), Lila appears subtly troubled when screenwriter husband Edgar (Scott Cohen) chooses to take a work call in private. Her fears are well-founded,...

After the melodramatic setup of its first act, “South Mountain” almost takes a violent turn. Faced with the devastating decision by her husband Edgar (Scott Cohen) to leave her after decades of marriage, Lila (Talia Balsam) acts on an angry impulse and nearly causes irreparable harm. But director Hilary Brougher’s wise, understated screenplay undercuts the tension with a practical response, as if to prove that the movie needs no special gimmick to infuse its complex scenario with purpose. The characters are deep enough to do the heavy lifting.

Brougher’s first feature since 2006’s “Stephanie Daley” is a tender, intimate, and blatantly personal work that wears its lo-fi narrative with pride. Grounded in mature dialogue and the quiet moments in between, the movie centers on a tumultuous summer in which middle-aged Catskills resident and community college teacher Lila finds her utopian hippy lifestyle thrown into upheaval when her husband...

Following the news they would open with the world premiere of Jordan Peele’s Us, the 2019 South by Southwest by Southwest Film Festival have announced their features and episodic premieres lineup.

Among the slate is a handful of our most-anticipated films of the year, including Harmony Korine’s The Beach Bum, Chris Morris’s Four Lions follow-up The Day Shall Come starring Anna Kendrick, and Riley Stearns’ Faults follow-up The Art of Self-Defense. Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut Booksmart will premiere at the festival as will Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron’s new comedy formerly titled Flarsky.

“As we head into our 26th edition, we couldn’t be more excited to once again share a completely fresh SXSW 2019 slate with our uniquely smart and enthusiastic SXSW audience,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film. “As always, we looked for a wide range of work, contemplating scale, style, tenor and tone. We...