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Watching Tim Bartell's "Dirty Beautiful" was filled with some many wonderful surprises - the many laugh-out loud moments, including a dream that gets hilariously ruined, some pretty painful rejections, and some great industry jokes of the struggles of making it in LA. It was really interesting watching the arc of the Kat character (Jordan Monaghan) who can be downright deplorable in certain moments, retaining an edgy quality throughout the entire runtime, without truly changing or redeeming herself in the end. I also noticed some carefully crafted callbacks and nods, such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" reference that is totally perfect. This film really took me by surprise but I was quite happy getting to spend 90 minutes with these extremely quirky characters.

Lizzie Kehoe gives a winning performance as Claire, a French-obsessed film student, in Nicola Rose's "Goodbye, Petrushka." I really enjoyed the small details: Professor Steve spelling "honisty" wrong, the way the French Au pair coordinator asks for payment, or Claire's sheer joy walking down a French street. I really liked the interweaving of the Petrushka fable into the main storyline and Clarie's goal of staging a puppet show with her crush Thibaut (Thomas Vieljeux). The intercut animations were also very cool. I loved watching Claire's journey and Lizzie Kehoe was excellent in the role. When we finally get to see some of her puppetry skills to her roommate, Kehoe fully commits and it's a joy to watch. I also really enjoyed her connection with her roommate Julia (Casey Landman), especially towards the end where they join together to throw *something* off of their roof. The ending was bittersweet but also rang very true to life. Would definitely recommend.

"A Greenland Story" is a beautiful film about an often misunderstood country. Gorgeous aerial footage and soothing narration will transport you to the hauntingly beautiful landscape. Whales swim past the shoreline, popping up and diving below the surface. Some of the shots are simply awe-inspiring. To be honest, I had a bit of a difficult time watching the hunting segments. Hunting is an important part of the indigenous culture but some of the archival footage made me have to close my eyes. The high school student graduation segment was touching to watch and also very educational (also love the sweaters!) 24-hour daylight is something I can't really wrap my mind around but the film captures it beautifully. The later passages about the melting of ice sheets were urgent and passionately crafted. It's brisk 52 minute running time and engaging subject matter makes this a very easy watch. Check it out today!