Tag: Foreign Film Review
Tammy’s Always Dying | Movie Review
Tammy and the Television: Johnson Jam Packs Eccentric Indie Drama
Death becomes Felicity Huffman in the sophomore feature Tammy’s Always Dying from actress-turned director Amy...
Kokoloko | 2020 Tribeca Film Festival Review
Love is Bolder Than Death: Naranjo Returns to his Roots with Lo-Fi Melodrama
All’s fair in guerilla love and warfare, at least from the male’s...
True History of the Kelly Gang | Review
The Ned Don’t Die: Kurzel Returns to Form with Exploration of Infamous Outlaw
It’s been nearly 140 years since the execution of Ned Kelly, Australia’s...
A White, White Day | Review
Indiscretion of an Icelandic Wife: Palmason Primes a Crime of Passion in Simmering Drama
Nothing is initially what it seems in Icelandic director Hlynur...
Sea Fever | Review
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Hardiman Finds Humanity in the Horror
We’ve seen countless films about bands of isolated humans in...
Why Don’t You Just Die! | Review
The Kalashnikov Sonata: Sokolov Serves Pulp in Enjoyably Nasty Debut
Hell hath no fury like a struggling actress, at least as it’s played in the...
The Other Lamb | Review
Lamb Tied to (Mis)Take: Szumowska Gets Culty with English Language Debut
Cults seem to be making something of a comeback in popular film culture, which...
Resistance | Review
The Wages of Ham: Jakubowicz Mimes Melodrama in Offkey Resistance
For his third film, Venezuelan born Jonathan Jakubowicz falls headlong into an acceptable faux pas...
Vivarium | Review
Life as a House: Beware the Burbs in Finnegan’s Metaphorical Sophomore Feature
The novelty of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone,” or any of its various...
Caught in a Bad Romance: Clouzot’s Dire Love Story Resurrected “Manon” | Blu-ray Review
Arrow Academy resurrects an early notable work from the filmography of Henri-Georges Clouzot with his 1949 Manon, which won the Golden Lion at the...
Heist Season: Losey Gets Hard Boiled in Somber Neo Noir “The Criminal” | Blu-ray Review
Sporting one of cinema’s most varied filmographies, American born Joseph Losey is one of the few blacklisted success stories of McCarthy’s witch hunt in...
The Roads Not Taken | Review
Roadside Assistance: Potter Putters in Nonsensical Melodrama
Who is the nearly catatonic man being dragged through New York by his overly sincere daughter? His name...
Hope Gap | Review
Mind the Gap: Nicholson’s Intimate Divorce Story Drama
The emotional devastation of a divorce girds the intimate dramatic underpinnings of Hope Gap, a quiet and...
Bacurau | Review
It Takes a Village: Filho & Dornelles Smash Art-House into Grindhouse
A heady melding of local cultural motifs, morbid politically-minded histories and exploitation slasher vibes,...
Balloon | Review
An Air Affair: Herbig Revisits GDR Getaway in Strait-laced Thriller
German director Michael Herbig, best known for his comedic films in his native country, makes...
The Whistlers | Review
If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle: Porumboiu Goes Mainstream with Neo-noir
Romanian New Wave alum Corneliu Porumboiu makes a marked departure with his latest...
DAU. Natasha | 2020 Berlin Intl. Film Festival Review
The Russia House: Khrzhanovskiy & Oertel Arrive from Russia with Love
As far as the cinematic form has been concerned, there’s been nothing which courts...
Guns Akimbo | Review
We Lost God Control: Howden Gets Loud with Gamer Action Comedy
Video games killed the cinema star could be one of many punchy quips concerning...
The Woman Who Ran | 2020 Berlin Intl. Film Festival Review
Rendezvous in Seoul: Sang-soo Gets Spare in Conversational Triptych
Ending a rare year-long absence from the cinema (an observation of note since he presents two...
Greed | Review
In a Rich Man’s World: Winterbottom Wobbles with Elementary Satire
Perennial British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, who has presented a number of different narratives across...
All the Dead Ones | 2020 Berlin Intl. Film Festival Review
Turn and Face the Strange: Caetano & Gotardo Navigate Displacement in Stellar Period Piece
The tagline for George Cukor’s 1939 classic The Women read “It’s...
Hidden Away | 2020 Berlin Intl. Film Festival Review
Painter Man: Diritti Resurrects Famed Italian Artist
Italian director Giorgio Diritti presents his first film in seven years with Hidden Away, a biopic on famed...
One of These Days | 2020 Berlin Intl. Film Festival Review
Hands of Fate: Gunther Paints Compelling Portrait of Pride and Poverty
German born director Bastian Günther returns to the other side of his dual citizenship...
The Intruder | 2020 Berlin Intl. Film Festival Review
The Sound of My Voice: Meta Delivers Masterful Psychological Identity Horror
Does it come from without or within? ‘It’ being the perception of danger, delusion...
Young Ahmed | Review
Stabbing Backwards: Dardennes “Beet” Misguided Youth into Submission
Up until now, even the most disenfranchised personage in Dardennian cinema had at least a glimmer of...
Lars and the Unreal Girls: The Danish Provocateur Pushes Buttons in Cruel, Grotesque “The House That Jack Built” | Blu-ray Review
The most controversial entry in the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Lars Von Trier’s The House That Jack Built finally makes its way to Blu-ray...
Beanpole | Review
Life After Wartime: Balagov Crafts Exemplary Portrait of Post-WWII Role of Women
In the words of Plato, “Only the dead have seen the end of...
Come to Daddy | Review
Father of Mine: Timpson Paints Pastiche with Peculiar Debut
While he assembles all the requisite elements for what promises to be a throwback to the...
Charter | 2020 Sundance Film Festival Review
The Custody of Love: Kernell Returns with Emotionally Wrought Portrait of a Mother’s Love
Consider the standard, universally familiar (i.e., acceptable) narrative of fathers who...
High Tide | 2020 Sundance Film Festival Review
The Moon in the Gutter: Chen Turns Tables in Taut Character Study
Argentina’s Veronica Chen adds to the annals of violent amour fou with her...
Exil | 2020 Sundance Film Festival Review
Fugee Fugue: Perceptions and Paranoia Make Bitter Bedfellows in Morina’s Drama
For anyone who’s ever experienced the phenomenon of ‘otherness,’ Visar Morina’s terrific sophomore film...
Summer White | 2020 Sundance Film Festival Review
Sons & Lovers: Patterson Explores the Trouble with Sharing the Love in Subdued Debut
The subject of the single mother is a scenario rife for...
The Corrupted | Review
Crime Time: Scalpello Skirts the Underbelly in Generic, Capable Thriller
We’ve reached a point where something like The Corrupted, the latest offering from Britain’s Ron...
The Europeans (1979) | Review
Munster’s Ball: Ivory’s First Crack at James is Ripe for Restoration
Arguably, Henry James, the famed American author whose most notable acclaim was received in...
Interview: Céline Sciamma – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Cannes 2019 marked an important step in the career of Céline Sciamma, who took home a Best Screenplay Award from her impressive premiere in...
Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Review
Paint it Bright: Sciamma Dazzles with Career-Best, Ardent Period Drama
You only need a few seconds to fall in line with Céline Sciamma’s commanding directorial...
In Fabric | Review
Dress to Kill: Strickland Strikes Again in Luscious Homage to 70s Cinema
“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the...
Little Joe | Review
Stamen Alive: Hausner Examines the Pursuit of Happiness in Cerebral Sci-Fi
It was “the nightmare that threatened the world” and something that came from “deep...
The Kindness of Strangers | Review
Strife Itself: Scherfig Delivers Major Misfire with Manhattan Set Melodrama
Lest we forget, it was Blanche Dubois, the broken seductress of Tennessee Williams’ classic A...
Wisdom Tooth | 2019 PYIFF Review
A seductive debut film, Liang Ming’s Wisdom Tooth is a bildungsroman, both understated and immersive. Vividly rendered characters, organic humor plus a splash of...
Queen of Hearts | Review
The Sorrows of Milf: Dyrholm Puts the Extra in Extra-Marital as the Star of el-Toukhy’s Uncomfortable Drama
Danish director May el-Toukhy crafts a compelling melodrama...
Frankie | Review
A Death in the Family: Sachs Sacks Huppert in Sun Dappled Soap Opera
The latest film from American director Ira Sachs is set in the...
Synonyms | Review
Lost in Translation: Lapid Languishes in Enigmatic, Complex Study on Cultural Identities
The rejection of self and the adoption of persona are prominent themes pouring...
Sister | 2019 Warsaw International Film Festival Review
Little Women: Tsotsorkova Poetic Study of Female Solidarity
Svetla Tsotsorkova’s assured sophomore feature proves that the Bulgarian filmmaker has an unparalleled eye for the raw,...
Invisible | 2019 Warsaw International Film Festival Review
Hidden Treasure: Jonynas Stages Greek Tragedy against Backdrop of Eastern Europe
A student of Krzysztof Zanussi, Lithuanian director Ignas Jonynas infuses his third feature film...
Cat in the Wall | 2019 Warsaw International Film Festival Review
Walls of existence: Politics & Pettiness find a Way Through the Cracks of Everyday Life in Bulgarian Debut
Bulgarian duo Vesela Kazakova and Mina Mileva’s...
Carturan | 2019 Warsaw International Film Festival Review
Pray the Lord My Soul To Take: Sandulescu’s Poignant and Witty Meditation on Mortality
Liviu Săndulescu’s Carturan is a tale about bribery, the uncaring bureaucratic...
The Day Shall Come | Review
Fooling the Children of the Revolution: Morris Returns with Dark, Political Satire
Stakes are perhaps too high for writer-director Christopher Morris’s sophomore film following the...
The Golden Glove | Review
No Glove No Love: Akin Revels in Garish Grotesqueries with Squalid Period Piece
Turkish-German director Fatih Akin resurrects the obscure German serial killer Fritz Honka...
The Moneychanger | 2019 Toronto Intl. Film Festival Review
Money Ain’t for Nothin’: Veiroj Turns to Political Period Caper
A common saying in Montevideo, Uruguay, meant to succinctly condense the city’s appeal and cement...
