Hammer to Nail

(Check out Chris Reed’s The Universal Theory movie review. It hits theaters Friday, September 27 via Oscilloscope Laboratories. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) The Universal Theory opens in 1974, in Hamburg, Germany, as a […]

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One of the most acclaimed, visually stunning animated films of the year is, without a doubt, Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow. It premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival to an overwhelmingly positive reception, and went on to win multiple awards at […]

The post FLOW Trailer: A Cat and His Friends Journey Through The Wilderness in Animated Spectacle appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

(Check out Chris Reed’s Rez Ball, movie review. It drops on Netflix Friday, September 27 on Netflix. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) Underdog sports movies are nothing new. From Rocky to Hoosiers to The […]

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Indie icon Crystal Moselle (Stake Kitchen; The Wolfpack) is once again blurring the line between fiction and documentary. She teams up with actor/rapper Derrick B. Harden to co-direct The Black Sea, a new cinema verité-like feature about a life turned […]

The post THE BLACK SEA Trailer: Crystal Moselle & Derrick B. Harden’s Drama Explores a Life Transformed Abroad appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Rising filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza made waves at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival with her debut feature, In the Summers. The poignant coming-of-age drama, which follows two sisters’ complex relationship with their father over four summer visits, captivated audiences and critics […]

The post A Conversation with Alessandra Lacorazza (IN THE SUMMERS) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

(We here at Hammer to Nail are all about true independent cinema. But we also have to tip our hat to the great films of yesteryear that continue to inspire filmmakers and cinephiles alike. This week Brad Cook dives into […]

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In her documentary Black Box Diaries, Japan-based journalist Shiori Itô takes on her most courageous, risky assignment yet – investigating her own sexual assault. The film, which premiered at Sundance, recounts the director’s harrowing experience of rape by a prominent […]

The post BLACK BOX DIARIES Trailer: Director Shiori Itô Investigates Her Sexual Assault in Gripping Documentary appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

File this one under books that kill [see The Babadook, the tome in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, or certain limited editions of Stephen King’s Firestarter apparently bound in asbestos (went down a rabbit hole this morning)].  Danny […]

The post A Conversation with Danny Villanueva Jr., Michael Hargrove, Lisa Wilcox, Sargon Odicho & Asya Meadows (WHAT HAPPENED TO DOROTHY BELL?) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

What did Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and other jazz musicians have to do with the CIA? Director Johan Gimonprez gives a mindblowing, yet jazzy account of the hidden connection between these famous figures and the agency’s […]

The post SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT Trailer: Sundance-Winning Documentary Uncovers a Hidden History Between the CIA and Jazz appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

It’s not every day you’d witness world leaders encounter a giant brain and muddy zombies in a deep, dark forest. But that’s just the surface of what directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson have conceived in their political […]

The post RUMOURS Red Band Trailer: Cate Blanchett Tries to Survive an Otherworldly G7 Summit in Political Satire appeared first on Hammer to Nail.