movie review snow falls

'Snow Falls' Review: Winter Cabin Fever Horror Flick Doesn’t Run Hot Enough

Colton Tran’s feature directorial debut Snow Falls doesn’t have effective scares or complex characters, failing both as a thriller and a horror movie.

Colton Tran ’s feature directorial debut, Snow Falls has sneaked into Collider’s list of most anticipated 2023 horror movies with a killer premise. The movie follows a group of friends who decide to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a cabin far away from civilization. As the title indicates, they are caught in a snowstorm that forces them to fight for survival. With no phone reception, electricity, or means to ask for help, the friends must find ways to keep warm while their sanity slowly deteriorates. Meanwhile, they wonder if their strange visions are the fruit of their dire condition, or if something evil is hidden in the snow. With such an interesting concept, Snow Falls could have walked different paths by either embracing the supernatural or exploring the human drama amidst isolation. Unfortunately, the movie does neither.

By now, the cabin-in-the-woods horror subgenre has been done to exhaustion, to the point where Cabin in the Woods brilliantly exposed the limits of the trope back in 2011. That clearly indicates that new cabin-in-the-woods movies need to either focus on great character development or add an unexpected spin to the formula. It doesn’t take long for us to realize Snow Falls is not too concerned with its characters, as the movie reduces the five friends’ entire personalities to a single trait. There’s Kit (Colton Tran), who loves to party; Em ( Victoria Moroles ), paranoid about security and safety measures; Andy ( James Gaisford ), a wannabe Instagram celebrity; River ( Johnny Berchtold ), the rich boy whose parents own the cabin; and Eden ( Anna Grace Barlow ), a med student who just lost her mother to an unknown disease.

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It can be useful to simplify characters so that the audience becomes familiar with the entire cast in just a few minutes. That allows the viewer to quickly understand who the characters are and how they’ll probably respond to the horrors to come. Nevertheless, if the goal is to force people to face their fears, at some point, we have to know what makes these characters broader. How did they meet? What history do they have together? What are the emotional stakes? Especially when it comes to confined spaces, a movie must explore its character’s interior universe to make the audience care about them. Snow Falls never goes beyond each character’s shallow personality. Even a story-rich trauma such as Eden’s grief is suggested without becoming a relevant plot point.

With so little attention given to character, one could expect Snow Falls to pour its energy into the scares. Surprisingly, that also doesn’t happen. In fact, for most of its runtime, Snow Falls develops as a slow-burn thriller about humans on the brink, trading their sanity to extend their lives for a few more days and hours. Yes, as the movie’s trailer promised, there are a few supposedly supernatural elements sprinkled all over the story. And the movie puts into question if these elements are inherently evil or just the fruit of broken minds. Sadly, Snow Falls gives away the answer too soon, and there’s no twist to make the plot more interesting further ahead. The movie goes exactly where you think, and the horror is too mild to be effective.

There are some budget issues dragging Snow Falls down. For instance, the digital effects used to represent the warm breath of freezing people are certainly distracting. Still, these issues could be easily forgiven if there was any point in Snow Falls ' story. As it is, the movie is not scary enough to stand as a pure horror experience, but it also doesn’t have layered characters that can hold together an exploration of the human mind. What’s worse is that for a good chunk of the runtime, Snow Falls pretends to be doing both things simultaneously, which undoubtedly got in the way of hitting the mark for at least the horror or the emotional stakes. In the end, Snow Falls wastes a compelling premise with a dull script, without complex characters or effective scares to elevate the story.

Snow Falls comes to digital and on-demand this February 17.

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Violence, drinking, language in flat horror movie.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

One of the main characters is Asian American.

Some bloody violence. While the main characters su

Kissing in bed. Character dies in the cold after r

Strong language throughout, including "f--k." Also

Young adults in a vacation home binge drink -- sho

Parents need to know that Snow Falls is a 2023 horror movie in which five young adults in a winter vacation home struggle to survive after a blizzard cuts the power. Expect some moments of bloody violence -- including a character slicing open their chest and a fight in which a character with an axe…

Diverse Representations

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Violence & Scariness

Some bloody violence. While the main characters suffer from lack of sleep and borderline hypothermia, one of the characters cuts their chest open, with blood shown. A fight with an axe blade leads to one of the characters getting killed. Characters die in the cold outside. Character burns their hands on the stove. Jump scares.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Kissing in bed. Character dies in the cold after removing his clothes -- buttocks shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong language throughout, including "f--k." Also: "s--t," "a--hole," "d--k," "bastard," "bitch," and "damn."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Young adults in a vacation home binge drink -- shots, champagne, wine. Before drinking shots, one character announces, "Let's get f--ked up!" When the power goes out and they try to stay awake to avoid dying from hypothermia, they take Adderall.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Snow Falls is a 2023 horror movie in which five young adults in a winter vacation home struggle to survive after a blizzard cuts the power. Expect some moments of bloody violence -- including a character slicing open their chest and a fight in which a character with an axe accidentally kills the other. Characters die from the cold, including a character who removes his clothes and is found dead naked (buttocks shown). Kissing in bed. One of the characters burns their hands on a stove. Jump scares. Binge drinking. Before drinking shots, one character announces, "Let's get f--ked up!" Characters take Adderall to stay awake to avoid dying of hypothermia while asleep. Strong language throughout, including "f--k." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In SNOW FALLS, five young adults take a trip to a vacation home in the middle of ski country for New Year's Eve. The house belongs to River's ( Johnny Berchtold ) family, and he brings his friends Andy, Em, Kit, and Eden. While things start out as a big party of binge drinking and laughter, a blizzard moves in, cutting off the roads and the electricity. As they try to stay warm with firewood and the gas stove, they soon find themselves struggling with their sanity as the wood runs out, there's no phone service, and the snow isn't melting. It only gets worse as they struggle to stay awake to avoid dying of hypothermia, and their hallucinations and delusions become increasingly violent.

Is It Any Good?

This is a mostly unremarkable horror movie that doesn't get far beyond the conventions and cliches of the genre. Snow Falls is another version of the "young adults go to the vacation house in the country to die" horror story, only instead of murderous countryfolk, the homicidal culprits in this one are both snow and cold.

The lack of heat and the lack of sleep leads to delirium and hallucinations, and while it almost gets close to doing something creative with the story, the whole thing comes across as formulaic, with jump scares galore, cheesy hallucinations, and unsatisfying plot twists. And while the acting is pretty good across the board, this is also marred by young adult horror movie archetypes (i.e. the sensitive guy, the jock-bro, etc.).

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about horror movies like Snow Falls . How is this similar to and different from other horror movies you've seen?

How does the violence here compare to that in other horror movies?

Does the movie glamorize binge drinking, or is it more of an honest depiction of young adults partying in a vacation house?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : January 17, 2023
• Cast : Anna Grace Barlow , Jonathan Bennett , Johnny Berchtold
• Director : Colton Tran
• Inclusion Information : Gay actors
• Studio : Lionsgate
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 79 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : Brief bloody violence.
• Last updated : June 17, 2023

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Flickering Myth

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Movie Review – Snow Falls (2023)

January 24, 2023 by admin

Snow Falls , 2023.

Directed by Colton Tran. Starring Anna Grace Barlow, Colton Tran, Victoria Moroles, James Gaisford, and Johnny Berchtold.

A freak snow storm strands five friends in a remote cabin.

While there have been some excellent flicks which, in the past, have successfully harnessed the tropes of this particular kind of horror to great effect like Evil Dead , Misery , Dog Soldiers and Cabin Fever , the cabin-in-the-woods horror subgenre is one that’s been done to death and if you think this latest offering will change up things, think again.

Following a premise similar to that of Cabin Fever , Snow Falls also centers on a group of individuals who get trapped in an isolated cabin, when the aftermath of New Year’s celebration bash doesn’t go as planned. Most in this motley crew of personalities have their own share of emotional baggage and skeletons in their closets which motivate their actions later on in the movie.

Eden (Anna Grace Barlow), is an aspiring medical student who recently lost her mother to an unknown disease; River (Johnny Berchtold) is the rich kid whose parents own the cabin and harbors a secret affection for Eden; Andy (James Gaisford) the douchey social media addict; Em (Victoria Moroles) the paranoid hypochondriac and Kit (Colton Tran) the party animal.

Anna Grace Barlow’s character is by far the most interesting and very early on in the story it gets established that she’ll take the lead and steer the story. But unfortunately, there is only so much that can be done with a bunch of actors when you only have a below average script to work with.

Written by Luke Genton from a story by Tran and Laura M. Young, the trio’s effort doesn’t commit to any of their ideas fully; it is neither psychological horror nor does it have a supernatural twist to it. But failing the aforementioned, the writers could have gone for a more character driven, humans-battling-the-elements type of deal but even that is absent.

Combined with a selection of sub-par performances, Snow Falls quickly snowballs into a cinematic experience you’d wish you’ve missed. Even the technical aspects of the film fail to ignite interest. A lot could have been achieved if a more focused script was crafted or if some decent performances were dished out by the cast, but unfortunately Snow Falls is a very weak rehash of elements and tropes from a horror subgenre that has churned out much better efforts in the past.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ 

Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.

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Directed by Colton Tran

The weather outside is frightful.

After a winter storm strands five friends in a remote cabin with no power and little food, disorientation slowly claims their sanity as each of them succumbs to a fear that the snow itself may be contaminated or somehow evil.

Victoria Moroles Johnny Berchtold Colton Tran Anna Grace Barlow Jonathan Bennett James Gaisford Patrick Fabian

Director Director

Colton Tran

Producer Producer

Laura M. Young

Writers Writers

Colton Tran Luke Genton Laura M. Young

Casting Casting

Casey Bailey

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Michael Dean Greenwood

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Lighting lighting.

Scott W. Warren

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Darin Andersen Jeff Dotson Marty Kane

Composer Composer

Johnny X. Martinez

Sound Sound

Steve Yeaman Jeff Kimball Thomas Ouziel Jennifer Ricciardi Sean Oakley

Colton Tran Films Skowl Films

Releases by Date

17 jan 2023, releases by country.

• Physical R DVD

80 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Haunted Hippie ★ 2

Whoever named this movie was so right, the snow really falls

Review by Acoucalancha ★½

Jack Frost makes an appearance in the Cabin in the Woods while a bunch of drugged friends make the worst decision making in cinematic history. Decent kills, cool snowy setting, average acting, cringey dialogue and intriguing mystery but it melted away pretty fast. Snow Fails.

Review by nick ★★

A runtime of 79 minutes and still feels overlong is not a good indication of quality. I tried this one out mainly for its intriguing cabin fever premise, and it turns out the best bits of the movie have already been included in the trailer.

Chronicling five friends slowly losing their minds after being trapped in a cabin, Snow Falls is as formulaic and mainstream as it gets, with nothing truly standing out. It's only when the shit really hits the fan for one scene or two, that the story shows glimpses of potential had it been handled in better hands, but overall it's an utterly uninspired bore that's totally dispensable.

Review by thedayofthedot ½

Literally nothing worth mentioning happens

Review by james(: ★½ 4

i would actually cry myself to sleep if i made a 79 minutes long movie that was so bad it still felt fucking endless

Review by joshrowley ★★ 2

Brisk; cold; engaging; low-budget; predictable; short; simple; thin; well-made; wintry.

Review by Mihael ★★

Although it has some interesting character developments and a pretty good premise, this is again a bad movie with not enough meaningful development of the psychological sides of the characters, even though they look believable, their every step is kind of obvious. Despite the short duration of the film, you can feel the length and slow pace, because in some scenes it seems they didn't know what to put in the plot, so they supplemented it with some senseless clichéd event. There is simply a lot missing, that is, we have very few events that I could say are interesting, everything seems empty, and over time it surprises us (in a bad way) with rather illogical events in the development…

Review by Zay ★★

Five friends find themselves stuck in a secluded cabin during a winter storm with no food or power. Hypothermia sets in and the group begins hallucinating and seeing things. After awhile they begin to think that something evil lies within the snow...

Watching the group slowly lose themselves due to sleep deprivation, starvation, paranoia, and fear was rather interesting. Unfortunately none of the five characters were interesting. The end was weak. Just kinda sputters to a halt.

2023 Horror (Ranked and Evolving) boxd.it/kvT5o

Review by Daryl ½

Snow Falls is an absolute travesty of a film, only clocking in at a mere 79 minutes, but feels double the length. Intolerable characters, terrible acting and majorly flat storytelling. A rough watch, that I wanted to be over, a film to avoid.

Review by ℳ. ★

so bland, uninspired, slow, and boring that i'm too exhausted to even explain why it's not worth the watch

Review by colin... ★ 3

The director of this film, Colton Tran, is the owner of a film production company named Colton Tran Films.

If that's not all you need to hear to understand the vibe of this movie, then I don't know what to tell you.

Review by Cory 🤍 ★ 2

Cold, intriguing, insufferable, boring, cringey, silly, unrealistic, dumb, and bad.

One of the longest 80 minute movies I have ever seen. Nothing good to say. Just don’t.

➕ worst of the worst 2023 ➕ ⚠️ do not watch this ⚠️

note: this is my 100th logged movie of 2023

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Snow Falls Reviews

No All Critics reviews for Snow Falls.

Snow Falls (2023) Movie Ending, Explained: Is the Final Scene a Hallucination of Eden?

Five friends go to a isolated cottage to spend their ‘New Year’ holiday. But they don’t know that their planned ‘New Year’ celebration is soon going to be a nightmare. The place gets hit by the worst blizzard possible and they gets trapped with no one to help them out from the situation. The power is out, their food is running out, and they are slowly and surely succumbing to paranoia.

This is the brief story of Coltan Tran’s new survival horror film Snow Falls. Now, from this brief introduction, we all can agree that this is an oft-repeated story-line in movies. And, without a doubt, in this case, the director tells us the story in its traditional form, with no intention of subverting genre conventions. So far, everything appears to be in order. However, the problem arises when the basic execution is flawed.

The film’s writing is so bad that it fails to create basic horror scenes on the screen. And if the horror is not working in a horror film, it is undeniably going to be a mess. And it certainly does, despite the fact that it has the potential to tell a gripping story of paranoia, isolation, and survival. Though some directorial choices work for me and at the end, save it from being miserable, the film becomes nothing but a waste of time.

This article will go over the film in greater depth. So be aware that it will contain spoilers.

Snow Falls Movie Synopsis and Plot Summary

Five friends – Andy, Eden, Kit, Em and River decides to spend their ‘New Year’ vacation in the cottage of River’s parents situated in the remote skiing destination called ‘Snow Falls’. These people are extremely close to one another. They make each other laugh and have an incredible bond. Kit is the group’s party boy and prankster; Em is the awkward girl who is always concerned with her stomach; Andy is Kit’s partner in crime as well as Em’s boyfriend; River is his parents’ obedient son who always tries to follow their instructions to keep their antiques secure, and last but not the least Eden is the nerd of the group, who recently lost her mother.

Among the five people, Eden is the most mature person. She is a medicine student and always try to maintain a healthy balance between fun and seriousness within the group. The trip is actually intended to lift her spirits because she recently lost her mother. She appears to be extremely resilient on the outside, but she frequently thinks back on her mother’s final words before passing away (she mentions the incident in the film stating that her mother said her that she was cold). Those words haunt her till this date.

While everything seems quite good at first, the situation turns upside down suddenly. On the ‘New Year’s Day’, they hear the news that two back-to-back blizzards are coming towards Snow Falls and they are going to be struck there for some time. And as soon as the blizzard arrives, the power goes out and the generator stops working.

They assemble in the living room and light the fireplace since they are out of options to stay warm. They run out of food and wood to light the fireplace in the following two days as the situation deteriorates. Eden understands that they cannot continue in this manner; if action is not taken, hypothermia will soon set in.

She advises everyone to keep alert at all times and urges that they ration their food since if someone gets cold and falls asleep, there is a danger that he won’t wake up again. So they experiment with a variety of methods to stay awake. Although those methods first seem to work, people quickly begin to experience the symptoms of sleep deprivation and start hallucinating.

The next day, Em gets missing. But soon she is found outside in the snow with no warm garments over her body. Andy rescues her and with Eden’s instructions, they try to make her warm in every possible way. Meanwhile out of desperation, Andy makes the plan with others to siphon out the gas from the car to turn on the generator. River agrees to this and to do so he goes outside. Andy, who feels uneasy because River is taking so long, goes out to find him. He finds out that River siphons out the entire gas and spills it out. When he is asked why he has done it, he simply replies that they can’t let the virus contaminate others. So, they have to die here. Angry with this, Andy beats River and takes him back home.

Eden calms River down, and a remorseful River apologizes. Meanwhile, Em goes missing again. Andy finds that she hides herself in the bathroom. He continuously tells her to open the door but she refuses. Em has an hallucinating of vomiting snow and out of shear paranoia she slits open her belly.

Eden tries her best to stabilize her with some first aid. Even though she begins to stabilize, it soon becomes apparent that if she is not quickly transferred to a hospital, she won’t make it. According to Eden, they must keep Em as warm as possible. So, in an effort to ignite the fire, a helpless Andy begins to chop down an antique wooden table.River objects to this, and as a result of their argument, he accidentally kills Andy. Em gets to her feet in a fit of wrath and picks up the axe Andy was using to chop down the table and tries to murder River as well. But Eden intervenes just in time to stop her.

Eden and Kit plan their next step after things settle down a bit. Kit suggests to go out in order to get help. Though it is a risky thing to execute, they both agree. In the night, Em hallucinates about the remaining gas of the car and tries to get there and start the heater of the car. She successfully gets there and starts the car and sees that Andy is waiting there for her (which suggests that all of these are just her hallucinations).

River and Eden go out to find out Em and at last, they find her body inside the car. Eden becomes shattered by this and River calms her down. On the next day, they both set foot on the snow to get help. They discover Kit’s naked body laying on the snow along the trail. When River asks Eden why Kit did that, Eden responds that it is known as “Paradoxical Undressing,” in which individuals remove their clothing to quench their internal fire while remaining chilly in reality. This is a typical behavior in hypothermia.

Realizing that only two of them are left, River and Eden share their bond and affection for each other. River eventually agrees to cut the antiques and goes to get the axe. But in the meantime, he hallucinates that Eden is seducing him to come over for a hot shower. He goes to the bathroom and opens the shower. But Eden comes to his rescue at the right moment. Soon, the lights come out and she tells him that now everything will be alright.

The two of them emerge from the cottage in the closing scene, and a police officer arrives to save them. He asks Eden if anyone is still in there. In which she replies that only she and River are the only survivors. But when she moves towards River, there is no one present suggesting that like everyone else River is also dead.

Snow Falls Ending Explained: Does the Final Scene a Hallucination of Eden?

In the final scene, we see a cop comes to the rescue of Eden and River. They sit on the outer porch of the cottage with the hope of everything will be alright now. But right then, the cop asks Eden if anyone in there is still alive. To which she replies that only she and River are alive while all other are dead. However, as she turns towards River, we can see that there is no one present. At this point, we can easily understand that River is dead and Eden is just hallucinating about him.

The most puzzling aspect of the entire movie, in my opinion, is how the cop comes to rescue them. Does that indicate Eden is hallucinating about him as well?

The film showcases from early on how the people are depriving themselves of sleep as a precautionary measure from getting affected by hypothermia and as a result how they are reacting differently. So, it is possible that Eden is also hallucinating about the cop coming for their rescue. As evidence, I would like to mention a previous incident, where she hears her phone ringing while her phone is long dead.

So, all the incidents are indicating that the coming of the cop is a hallucination of Eden and she is still struck in the snow.

Related Content: For All Mankind (Season 3), Episode 6: Review, Recap & Ending Explained

Snow falls (2023) links: imdb, trending right now.

A movie buff constantly exploring cinema through watching, reading and writing about them. I love to overthink and overanalyze everything, perhaps that's why I often struggle to put them all together. Likes to be alone and watch people do various aberrant things.

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"Snow Falling on Cedars" is a rich, multilayered film about a high school romance and a murder trial a decade later. The young lovers are Ishmael Chambers ( Ethan Hawke ), son of the local newspaper editor in a small Pacific Northwest town, and Hatsue Miyamoto ( Youki Kudoh ), daughter of Japanese Americans. They meet at the time of Pearl Harbor, when feeling runs high against local Asians. Ishmael's father ( Sam Shepard ) runs editorials thundering, "these people are our neighbors," but then the U.S. government seizes their property and trucks them off to internment camps in a shameful chapter of American history. Nine years later, Ishmael is a reporter at the paper, covering a murder trial. The defendant is the man Hatsue married in the camp.

Told this way, the story seems like crime and romance, but "Snow Falling on Cedars" reveals itself with the complexity of a novel, holding its themes up to the light so that first one and then another aspect can be seen. The style is crucial to the subject. The story unfolds in flashbacks, overlapping dialogue, half-understood events, flashes of memory, all seen in a variety of visual styles: Color, desaturated color, black and white, even a little grainy 16 mm. The look and sound of the film are not just easy flashiness, but match the story, which depends on the many different ways that the same events can be seen.

Above all there is a sense of place. Director Scott Hicks and his cinematographer, Robert Richardson , use a wide-screen canvas to envelop the story in trees and snow, rain and lowering skies, wetness and shadows. Rarely has a place been so evoked as part of a narrative. We sense that these people are neighbors partly because the forests crowd them together.

In this community the Japanese Americans work as fishermen and shepherds, farmers and small-business holders, and their teenagers dance to the same pop tunes as everybody else. Yes, the races keep to themselves: Ishmael's mother disapproves of her son's friendship with Hatsue, whose own mother warns her against white boys. But boys with girls in love will fall, as e.e. cummings so simply put it, and Ishmael and Hatsue have a hidey-hole, a green cavern in the roots of a big cedar tree, where they meet to feel happy with one another. He asks her to marry him, and perhaps, if it had not been for the overwhelming fact of the war, this would have been a high school romance with a happy ending.

It is not, and in 1950, Ishmael covers a trial at which Kazuo Miyamoto ( Rick Yune ) is tried for the murder of a local fisherman whose body was found in some nets. He seems to have been bashed with a fishhook. There was bad blood between Kazuo and the victim; they fought a week before the death, and there is old bitterness involving the title to some land that was confiscated during the internment. The courtroom scenes pit a duty-bound prosecutor ( James Rebhorn ) against a tall, Lincolnesque defense attorney (Max Von Sydow), foreign-born, but American to the core.

The movie slowly reveals its connections and motivations, which take on greater importance because the trial may result in all the relationships shifting again. If the husband is guilty, perhaps the teenage lovers can be reunited. Ishmael wants that, but does Hatsue? His resentment at being rejected even colors his coverage of the trial and his thinking about the accused man. We know Hatsue married Kazuo in the camps under pressure from her parents; does she love him? Is he guilty? The only weakness in the film is its treatment of Kazuo, who is not seen in three dimensions but primarily through Ishmael's eyes. He is the man, after all, who has shared his life with Hatsue, and if they were married in the camps, well, people of Ishmael's color put them there. Imagine the same triangle involving Jews and Nazis and see how it feels. We sympathize with Ishmael. Would we sympathize with the Nazis? Because the movie is centered on Ishmael's point of view, Kazuo is the interloper, the thief of love, and now probably a killer as well. From Kazuo's point of view, which we can only infer, his society has put him behind barbed wire, discriminated against him and now is rushing to a prejudiced judgment, while its representative stands ready to snatch away his bride. The movie never really sees him clearly. It places him over there at the defense table, or in long shot, objectively. It doesn't need him as a fully fleshed person, because he functions as a symbol and obstacle.

This may however be a weakness the film has to accept in order to get where it is going, because we need fears and confusions to make it more than just a courtroom drama. If we knew Kazuo better, we might have a better notion of whether he could kill someone, and that would not help the story. In most movie trials we make fairly good guesses about guilt and innocence, but here there is real doubt, which plays against the bittersweetness of lost love.

And then there is the care given to the opposing attorneys, who are seen as quite particular people, especially Von Sydow, as Nels Gudmundsson, whose hands shake and whose voice sometimes trembles with anger as he defends the principles that drew him to immigrate to this land. The summation to the jury is a set piece in countless movies; rarely have I seen one better acted.

"Snow Falling on Cedars" is Scott Hicks' first film since " Shine ," the 1996 story of the pianist seized with paralyzing doubts. In both films he sees his stories as a whole, circling to their centers instead of starting at the beginning and trekking through. This film, written by Ron Bass and Hicks from the novel by David Guterson , is unusually satisfying in the way it unfolds. We don't feel the time structure is a gimmick, but that we learn what we need to know for each scene.

Some of them are of particular power, as when the Japanese Americans are ordered from their homes by local authorities, told to take no more than will fit in a suitcase and driven away to the internment "centers." We have seen scenes like this in stories about the Holocaust and in parables of the future in which America has become a totalitarian state. Not everyone in the audience will realize it actually happened here.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Snow Falling On Cedars (2000)

Rated PG-13 For Disturbing War Images, Sensuality and Brief Strong Language

130 minutes

Ethan Hawke as Ishmael Chambers

Youki Kudoh as Hatsue Miyamoto

Rick Yune as Kazuo Miyamoto

Max von Sydow as Nels Gudmundsson

James Rebhorn as Alvin Hooks

Directed by

• Scott Hicks

Based On The Novel by

• David Guterson

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Nick Schroeder’s perfect day includes a show in South Paris and vintage shopping in Biddeford

The communications manager for Space and member of Mad Horse Theatre Company would also make Rockland and several Portland shops part of the itinerary.

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Nick Schroeder, 42, of Portland, is communications manager and multidisciplinary programmer for Space, a nonprofit arts venue in Portland. He’s also an actor, director and ensemble member with Mad Horse Theatre Company in South Portland. A native of Old Orchard Beach, he’s worked as a journalist and editor at several local publications.

As much as I like bopping around the state by myself, I’ll spend my perfect Maine day with my partner, Mallory, and our nearly 3-year-old toddler. The kid’s in the stage of life where she asks why to just about everything, and that question makes for good conversation.

Getting dressed (finding pants, socks, etc. and negotiating their deployment) can take a while in my house, so we’ll put on WMPG to keep the energy loose. I’ll pour a good cup of coffee, Speckled Ax Early Riser preferred , in my clunky travel mug. Then we’ll get things cracking at that one real good climbing tree in the park for a little proprioceptive rinse. The branches are real low to the ground and I don’t have to worry about my kid taking any nasty falls.

The Palace Diner in Biddeford. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Will Zu Bakery still have croissants by now, or is that too much morning meandering? The neighbors tend to swarm the little West End spot – how is it this good? – and it can quickly sell out. If that’s the case, we’ll drive south. Actually, scratch that – Mallory will drive this leg, and I’ll bike. Our destinations will be the same, Palace Diner (in Biddeford). I’ll have the omelet du jour and those great big potatoes, and maybe a bite of my kid’s pancake – the dad handbook clearly states that you must eat your children’s leftovers. We’ll all poke our heads inside Biddeford Vintage Market and see what new vendors they’ve got (my aunt Barb runs the place with some friends) before making a quick spin into Color.Sound.Oblivion to check their newly stocked records.

The Basico – an arepa stuffed with chicken, cheese and pico de gallo – with a side of pan de bono and a cup of verduritas (spicy green sauce) from Maiz in Portland. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

With family who live nearby, I’ll be able to ditch the bike and hop into the car, heading north. We’ll stop in Portland to grab a couple of arepas for the road from the outrageously good Colombian food restaurant Maïz, and head to South Paris. In this fantasy, the Celebration Barn has a perfectly timed matinee show, and true to form, it’s equally enchanting for kids and adults.

The Celebration Barn in South Paris. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

After that, we’ll drive to Rockland (here’s where the kid naps) and head to a beach (any beach) before I pop into Curator , one of few consignment shops that bothers to stock nice stuff for tall fellas. Then it’s over to Rock City Cafe for a refill and a poke around Hello Hello Books behind the cafe. Last time, I found a nice used paperback of a Judy Chicago biography. Will I get this lucky again?

A stack of books at Print: A Bookstore in Portland. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Returning to Portland, we’ll have had our fill of driving and Raffi sing-alongs. It’s time for our A-list East End retail trifecta – Ferdinand  for handmade wonders, Starry Eyes  for snazzy kids’ stuff, and Print: A Bookstore (more books!).

For dinner, the ideal is Asmara , the great Eritrean gem, where we as a family can share big communal plates of colorful food using only our hands as utensils. After we put the kid to bed, I’ll text a friend, and if his kid’s asleep, too, we can sneak out for a little nightcap at the Continental and discuss the news.

How would you spend your perfect Maine day? Send your itinerary, in 500 words or less, with a little about yourself, to [email protected] .

A Belhaven beer, a Negroni and a pint of Guinness at The Continental in Portland. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

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Wealth of Geeks

Snowy Tales: The 25 Chilliest Movies Set in Winter

Posted: March 11, 2024 | Last updated: March 12, 2024

Seasons can be powerful symbolism in cinema, with spring representing renewal, summer showing growth and passion, and autumn depicting decay. What does that make winter? In some movies, winter embodies death and hopelessness. Winter is a time of hardships, which can be horrifying, inspiring, or something in between.

Wintery movies range from unforgettable horror films about survival to endearing kids’ movies with magic and friendship. Whatever the plot, the snow and cold in winter movies often play a significant role in the story.

1. Fargo (1996)

Fargo is one of the best wintery movies. Set in North Dakota and Minnesota, the whole film has a blanket of white snow over it. The cold weather and pure white snow provide a contrasting setting for the bloody murders and sinister plot that plays out in this gripping film by the Coen brothers .

2. Frozen (2013)

Kids and adults can enjoy frosty imagery in Disney’s Frozen . The movie features music about building snowmen, frozen hearts, and the warm defrost of spring. While the movie can be casual and fun to watch, it does have compelling themes that tie into the chilly setting, using the winter weather as a powerful and complex symbol.

3. The Shining (1980)

The Shining is one of the scariest films from the ‘80s, with an unhinged man who turns on his family. The freezing weather outside contrasts with the fire raging inside as the family deals with the demons in the resort, as well as their own. The heaps of snow and cold temperatures contribute to the horror, trapping all of them inside together.

4. Snowpiercer (2013)

The movie Snowpiercer shows what the world might be like if winter never ended. The last humans on Earth all live on a high-tech train that never stops moving through the frozen tundra that is now Earth. In the film, those in power use the freezing conditions to torture, punish, and control everyone.

5. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Climate change and global warming are major issues, but what if the Earth was cooling down instead of heating up? In The Day After Tomorrow, that’s exactly what happens. The world faces an insane superstorm that brings freezing temperatures that cause apocalyptic chaos.

6. Winter’s Bone (2010)

Jennifer Lawrence gives an incredible performance in Winter’s Bone as a young woman trying to find her irresponsible father. She treks through the mountains in chilling winter to save her family. The entire movie feels chilly and grey, capturing the desperation that can come with winter.

7. Society of the Snow (2023)

This survival thriller will have you on the edge of your seat the whole time and reaching for a snuggly blanket. It takes place in 1972 and follows the survivors of a Uruguayan flight crash . The brutal story shows how freezing temperatures and endless snow can force people to abandon their humanity and fight for their lives in disturbing ways.

8. Ice Age (2002)

Many of these winter movies are rough, but Ice Age is a cute and playful kids’ movie. The animated film follows some unlikely animal friends as they journey to save a human baby. The winter conditions in the film are less threatening than in other movies, so you can just enjoy the pretty white images.

9. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a nuanced film about mental illness and loneliness. It follows a troubled man taking his girlfriend home to meet his parents. The film plays with your mind in twisted ways. It takes place in a snowy winter, which adds to the dark, cold energy of the movie.

10. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

This beloved movie highlights the hopelessness and despair of a neverending winter. Characters point out that winter can be lovely but not without the relief of summer. Most of the plot involves the lead characters fighting the White Witch to end the cold season.

11. Happy Feet (2006)

Another adorable kids’ film that captures the snowy vibe of winter is Happy Feet ! This heartwarming movie takes place in chilly Antarctica, following an awkward penguin who doesn’t fit in with his colony. With a star-studded cast and a sweet story, it’s the perfect feel-good winter watch.

12. Snow Dogs (2002)

Snow Dogs is a supremely silly story about a Miami man who heads to Alaska to deal with an inheritance from his biological mother. Rather than inherit a hefty sum of money, he gets a pack of rambunctious snow dogs that teach him about perseverance and courage. The way the main character reacts to the cold conditions in Alaska is wildly funny.

13. Misery (1990)

What can we say? Stephen King loves a snowy, scary story. Misery is about an author who becomes a hostage of his most devoted and deranged fan. He falls into her clutches when his car crashes due to icy, snowy road conditions. Along with his injuries, the awful conditions outside keep him trapped by this lunatic.

14. Frozen (2010)

This Frozen is different from the delightful children’s movie — very different. The 2010 movie Frozen is a horrifying tale of three skiers trapped on a chairlift over a long weekend. The movie depicts the toll the cold takes on the human body and the desperate lengths people will go to survive.

15. March of the Penguins (2005)

This popular documentary shows what the life of a penguin is like in Antarctica. It’s a nice middle ground between the terrifying winter films and goofy kids’ movies. It shows the methodical way penguins survive in the unbearable Antarctic winter and work together to protect their babies.

16. Eight Below (2006)

Eight Below is another flick that depicts the horrors of humans being trapped in freezing conditions. Starring Paul Walker, the film shows the resilience of both humans and dogs. We’re warning you now the movie will smash your heart into pieces, but it’s a riveting film.

17. The Frozen Ground (2013)

This Nicolas Cage movie follows an Alaskan State Trooper hunting down a notorious state killer preying on young women. The movie begins sans snow, but deep winter descends on the characters as the story unfolds. It uses the intensity of the winter weather to reflect the increasingly dramatic hunt for the killer.

18. Smallfoot (2018)

Smallfoot is a precious animated movie about a human meeting a yeti. The characters journey through the snowy mountains and forest. The movie’s wintery imagery is stunning, with pinky sunsets over snow-peaked mountains. This touching film is all about accepting those different from you and exploring the seemingly impossible.

19. The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant is an extreme movie about a man left for dead in a snowy forest following a horrific bear attack. While it is one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best performances, this tragic film is tough to watch. The main character fights to survive against the deadly elements, painting a brutal picture.

20. The Mountain Between Us (2017)

This movie stars Kate Winslet and Idris Elba as two plane crash survivors who must face the snowy elements to survive. They rely on one another as they trek across the mountainous terrain in freezing temperatures and eventually form an unbreakable bond. The struggles of winter can tear people apart or bring them closer than they thought possible.

21. Last Holiday (2006)

On a lighter note, Last Holiday is a charming rom-com about a woman who decides to live life to the fullest after receiving a fatal diagnosis. Queen Latifah stars as the bodacious woman coming out of her shell. The wintery backdrop of this film is lovely, and you don’t have to watch any characters struggle to survive!

22. Winterland (2019)

Winterland is the perfect movie if you love this season because it allows you to hit the slopes. This documentary celebrates skiing, snowboarding, and the culture surrounding these chilly sports. Watch some of the best winter athletes in the world fly through the snow and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

23. No Exit (2022)

No Exit is a gripping movie similar to Identity . During a roaring blizzard, a group of strangers trapped at a rest stop lodge must wait out the weather. The snow and cold keep them all stuck together, but things quickly turn sinister when the main character discovers a kidnapped girl in one of the parked cars.

24. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

This acclaimed movie takes place in a gray winter, and the season acts like an ominous character in the story. The chilly winter creates the foggy vibe of the movie, shrouded in mystery and darkness. Not only is it winter, but the characters mention that it is one of the coldest winters in decades, adding to the intensity of the captivating plot.

25. Two Night Stand (2014)

This awkward rom-com depicts a one-night stand that becomes longer when a raging snowstorm traps the two characters. The cute comedy captures the vibe of staying inside your house as snow piles up outside your window but with an added twist of romance and subtle social commentary on hook-up culture.

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'The Fall Guy' an escapist treat rich with spectacular action, romantic banter

When you’ve got jaw-dropping stunts and the playful chemistry of ryan gosling and emily blunt, who cares whether the plot holds up.

A nearby explosion doesn’t stop a passionate moment between filmmaker Judy (Emily Blunt) and stuntman Colt (Ryan Gosling) in “The Fall Guy.”

Universal Pictures

How’s this for a Hollywood Full Circle story for you:

David Leitch was Brad Pitt’s stunt double on “Fight Club” and a number of other projects. Brad Pitt played a stunt double in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” David Leitch eventually became a top-tier action filmmaker, directing “Atomic Blonde,” “Deadpool 2” — and “Bullet Train,” starring Brad Pitt.

Now comes Leitch’s rousing and action-packed and funny and even heartwarming “The Fall Guy,” with Ryan Gosling playing a stuntman who often doubles for Hollywood’s biggest star — just as David Leitch once doubled for Brad Pitt. Ta-da! (Sidebar: This is the THIRD time Gosling has played some kind of stunt performer, after “Drive” and “The Place Beyond the Pines.”)

Loosely inspired by the Lee Majors-starring TV show from the 1980s and given a rocket-booster jolt of stardom from the pairing of Gosling and Emily Blunt, “The Fall Guy” is pure popcorn entertainment — an absolutely ludicrous yet consistently entertaining, old-fashioned action/romance combo platter that plays like a feature-length pitch to the Academy to add a best stunts category (as it should).

If you’re looking for anything more than an escapist adventure featuring two of our brightest stars exchanging banter in between kissing scenes, set against the backdrop of some jaw-dropping practical effects stunts (mostly performed, of course, by doubles who are filling in for Gosling), you’ve wandered into the wrong theater. The screenplay often falls back on lazy clichés (karaoke sequence, anyone?) and the final act takes place in a universe that has no connection to anything resembling reality, but the action sequences and the playful chemistry between Gosling and Blunt save the day.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the arrogant movie star who lies about doing his own stunts.

“The Fall Guy” opens with Gosling’s Colt Seavers on the set of an action film starring the global superstar Tom Ryder (a self-deprecating Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an arrogant egomaniac who is constantly bragging about doing his own stunts. (Spoiler alert: He’s lying.) Colt doesn’t care about Ryder’s dismissive attitude toward him; he’s too busy gushing about the love affair he’s having with Emily Blunt’s Jody Moreno, a camera operator on the film. Why, it’s the stuff of movies!

Fast forward 18 months. After a near-fatal accident on that set, Colt is a broken man in more ways than one. He’s retired from stunt work, he has a job as a valet, and he has fallen off the grid. When the powerful producer Gail Meyer (a hilarious Hannah Waddingham) rings Colt and offers him a job on a big-budget sci-fi epic shooting in Australia starring none other than Tom Ryder, he has no interest in returning to the game — until Gail informs him that Jody is directing the film in her feature debut. Down Under here we come!

Once Colt arrives on the location set for “Metalstorm,” which looks like a cross between “Dune” and “Mad Max,” he learns Jody is still furious with him for ghosting her. She takes it out on him by ordering repeated takes of a particularly painful stunt, all the while airing her grievances over a bullhorn. Winston Duke scores some laughs as a stunt coordinator who often quotes dialogue from action blockbusters, while Stephanie Hsu is terrific as Tom Ryder’s long-suffering personal assistant.

When Tom goes missing for reasons that defy logic, it’s an excuse for Colt to put his stunt man skills to work as he investigates, finds himself mixed up in all sorts of dangerous hijinks and is eventually framed for murder. If you spend even a nanosecond examining the particulars of the case and the developments that ensue, the whole structure falls apart — so it’s best to just sit back and marvel at the amazing stunt work

“The Fall Guy” is filled with self-referential, “meta” moments, whether it’s a scene where Colt enters a booth where his face can be scanned for use in perpetuity, or a sequence in which Jody and Colt are on the phone, discussing the possibility of Jody employing a split-screen technique in “Metalstorm,” and the conversation itself is rendered in … split-screen. Even the plot of “Metalstorm” is one big metaphor for the relationship between Colt and Jody. None of it this is particularly subtle, but it’s good fun, and it continues all the way through the closing credits, where we get to see the real-life stunt performers who did nomination-worthy work on the film.

If only the Academy had a category in which they could be nominated.

Amazon Prime Day 2024: Here's what to expect, tips, and tricks

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Amazon Prime Day has grown into one of the biggest sales events of the year, with discounts rivaling those of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. With so many retailers selling on Amazon, Prime members can save on just about anything, from viral beauty products to new unlocked smartphones.

The best Prime Day deals we saw last year included all-time lows on brands like Apple, Vitamix, iRobot, Dyson, Crocs, and, of course, Amazon-owned products like the Fire TV , Kindle e-reader , and Echo smart speakers . We expect to see more of the same this year as well.

It'll be the first major deal holiday of the year, so it's an awesome chance to score summer discounts on big-ticket items and household staples. The retailer's 10th Prime Day event has officially been announced to arrive in July, but the actual days are still unknown. In the meantime, we're keeping tabs on all of the latest Prime Day news, and we'll keep you updated with our findings here.

• Shop the latest deals at Amazon

When is Amazon Prime Day 2024?

Amazon Prime Day is officially coming this July, though the exact days have not yet been announced. In past years, it kicked off on the second Tuesday of the month. If Amazon follows the same trend, it will take place on July 9 and 10. We'll keep this story updated as more details are announced.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day is the retailer's annual mega sale and one of the major benefits of Prime membership. It's a two-day sales event, usually during the summer, that features products from every category, from fashion staples to hot new tech. 

Though it used to be a deal holiday of a much smaller scale, Prime Day has grown exponentially since the first one in 2015. Now, you can find almost everything on sale for all-time low prices, matching discounts we see during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

What should I buy during Amazon Prime Day?

Everything is fair game to buy during Amazon Prime Day. Whether you've been holding out on a pricey new TV or just need to stock up on toiletries, Prime Day is a good time to make your move. 

Last year, we saw incredible prices on tech, including 4K TVs , Fire TV streaming devices , Apple products, Kindle e-readers , PC gaming accessories, Echo smart speakers , and top headphones picks. Prime Day tech deals featured brands like Logitech, Bose, Jabra, Sony, Roku, Samsung, TCL, and more. 

If you're looking for style and beauty deals during Prime Day, last year, brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Tatcha, Laneige, Levi's, Carhartt, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Adidas, and Marc Jacobs all featured products at rare low prices. That means skincare, makeup, shoes, men's clothing, women's fashion, and accessories will all be available for less. 

Home and kitchen products saw no shortage of Prime Day deals either, with big names like Dyson, Shark, iRobot, Philips, KitchenAid, Nespresso, Casper, Leesa, and OXO down to all-time lows for the event. So, whether you need an air fryer , robot vacuum , mattress , or just some sturdy mixing bowls, Prime Day is a good time to buy. 

You don't need to be focused on fancy new gadgets or treatments to shop smart during Amazon Prime Day either. We also catch tons of affordable household essentials available for even less every year, like toilet paper, dish soap, doggy bags, and makeup wipes. These deals are sweet, since they save you money on stuff you needed to buy anyway. 

How long do Prime Day deals last?

How long a Prime Day deal lasts differs between items, but in general, the best discounts will start during the event and end before the 48-hour holiday is over. Some will last the whole two days while others will only last one, so it's always wise to act on a good sale when you see it. Lightning deals especially go fast, the most popular of which dwindle away in less than an hour.

I always recommend buying a product you've had your eye on as soon as it's highlighted as a Prime Day deal. Regardless of how long it's set to last, oftentimes the best sales run out of stock, resulting in shipping dates being pushed out, or the deal no longer being offered at all. We'll be providing all of the deal context you need to shop confidently and quickly, so be sure to check our roundups of the best discounts when the event rolls around. 

Do you need to be a Prime member to shop Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day is locked to Prime members only. It's one of the major benefits of subscribing to the service, in addition to other perks like free two-day shipping and Prime Video streaming. 

If you have yet to become a member, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial to test it out. Once the official Prime Day dates have been announced, you can even time your free period to overlap with the sale, but it's not a guarantee since sometimes retailers will lock out free members from shopping the best deals.

Do other stores participate in Prime Day?

Although Prime Day is an Amazon-specific event, it's grown so large that other major retailers have started kicking off competing sales to overlap with it. No one has announced a competing Prime Day sale just yet, but if past years are any indication, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy will likely be holding their own events.

These are definitely worth checking out; they often match the best deals on popular items you can find from Prime Day. We'll also be rounding these deals up so you can shop from the retailer that best suits you, whether you're a Target Circle cardholder, My Best Buy Plus member, or Walmart Plus subscriber. 

Is Prime Day an international event?

Prime Day occurs in several other countries, but not all of them. Here's a list of countries where Prime Day will be available to shop:

• Netherlands
• Saudi Arabia
• The United Arab Emirates
• The United States
• The United Kingdom

Want to see what Amazon has on sale right now? We've spotted some hefty price cuts on electronics, fashion, home, kitchen, laptops, and more on its main deals page .

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