Tag: Foreign Film Review
Aquarius | Review
Sign of the Times: Filho’s Formidable Examination of Life as a House
For his sophomore effort, Brazilian director crafts an intriguing character study around a...
Being 17 | Review
Changing Times: Téchiné Skews Youthful with Enjoyable Drama
Director André Téchiné manages his most emotionally rewarding venture in well over a decade with Being 17,...
Betty (1992) | Review
Betty’s Blue: Chabrol’s Compelling Character Study of Victimhood and Agency
Claude Chabrol, dubbed the Alfred Hitchcock after rising out of the Nouvelle Vague, began his...
The Color of Lies (1999) | Review
The Hole Truth: Chabrol Explores What Lies Beneath the Chilly Idyll in Brittany
The continually clever and constantly rueful Claude Chabrol ended his stretch of...
Standing Tall | Blu-ray Review
Notable for opening the 2015 Cannes Film Festival (making director Emmanuelle Bercot the second woman to nab such a distinction in the festival’s history),...
Frantz | 2016 Toronto Int. Film Festival Review
The Guest Who’s Coming to Dinner: Ozon’s Period Culture Clash a Handsome, Uninvolving Production
In many ways, Francois Ozon’s output still swings jaggedly between the...
Hermia & Helena | 2016 Toronto Int. Film Festival Review
Like so many other filmmakers from around the world, the Buenos Aires born writer/director Matías Piñeiro has found himself straddling borders with his latest...
The Dreamed Path | 2016 Toronto Int. Film Festival Review
Scenes from a Fugue State: Schanelec Returns with Abstract Continuum of Dissolved Relationships
“I don’t know where to put myself,” says a character at one...
City of Tiny Lights | 2016 Toronto Int. Film Festival Review
Farewell, My Lovely: Travis Tries Urban Neo Noir in Prosaic Adaptation
One gets the sense the source novel by Patrick Neate is a bit more...
Daguerrotype | 2016 Toronto Int. Film Festival Review
Spirits of the Dead: Kurosawa Continues Ghostly Leitmotifs in First French Language Film
Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa makes a surprise venture into French language cinema...
Godless | 2016 Toronto Int. Film Festival Review
Just a Slob Like One of Us: Petrova Paints Bleak Portrait of Bulgarian Stupor
Judging from a recent slew of titles touring the festival circuit...
Orphan | 2016 Toronto Int. Film Festival Review
Woman Thou Art Loosed: Des Pallieres Disorientates with Fractured Character Portrait
Between constantly shifting time periods and abrupt transitions from one clutch of characters to...
Zoology | 2016 Toronto Int. Film Festival Review
Tale of Tails: Tverdovsky’s Myopic Modern Fable Chases Its Own Tail
Zoology. You ask, what does it mean? For the purposes of Ivan Tverdovsky’s sophomore...
Demon | Review
A Dybbuk Got Your Baby: Wrona’s Atmospheric Blend of Horror and History
For his third feature, Marcin Wrona adapts Piotr Rowicki’s stage play Adherence into...
London Road | Review
The Kindness of Stranglers: Norris Mounts Film Version of Macabre Musical
Those familiar with the infamous 2011 musical London Road should be pleased with this...
Klown Forever | Review
In Heart a Clown: Norgaard Takes another Spin with Popular Man-Children Duo
For those familiar with the various trials and travails of best buddies Casper...
In Order of Disappearance | Review
Gone Baby Gone: Moland’s Deadpan Nordic Noir Enhanced by Skarsgard
There’s a droll viciousness to In Order of Disappearance, a Nordic Neo-Noir which premiered...
Mia Madre | Review
Mamma Mia: Moretti’s Continues Exploring a Death in the Family
After having won the Palme d’Or in 2001 for his film The Son’s Room, Italian...
Blood Father | Review
Forgiveness of Blood: Richet Delivers Grimy Gibson in Slice of B-Movie Glory
If you’re looking for any sort of striking originality in French director Jean-Francois...
Florence Foster Jenkins | Review
Florence and the Machine: Frears Lets the Music Speak for Itself in Curio Biopic
In recent years, the quality of output from British director Stephen...
Summertime | Review
An Affair to Remember: Corsini’s Enjoyable, Brightly Hued Period Piece
Catherine Corsini returns with her ninth feature film, Summertime (La belle saison), an early 70s...
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Review
Filth and Wisdom: Saunders and Lumley Can’t Get Back to Where They Started From
This wheel doesn’t so much as explode as it does simply...
Train to Busan | Review
Here Comes the Train Again: Sang-ho’s Live Action Debut Heavy on Tropes
Zombie contagion sweeps over South Korea while a random band of survivors struggle...
The Whispering Star | 2016 Japan Cuts Film Festival Review
The Human Factor: Sono’s Somber Allusions to the Allegory of the Cave
When one contemplates the continuously expanding filmography of Japanese auteur Sion Sono, hyperbolic...
Our Little Sister | Review
Sisters Doing It For Themselves: Kore-eda’s Continued Examination of Polite Familial Discord
Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda returns with Our Little Sister (aka Umimachi Diary), another...
Microbe and Gasoline | Review #2
Boys of Summer: Gondry Dials Down the Mayhem for Gentle Road Film
If Michel Gondry’s latest film Microbe and Gasoline can potentially be regarded as...
Microbe and Gasoline | Review #1
Whimsy with Measure: Gondry’s Reflection on Youth and Imagination
There are certain expectations that come with a Gondry film; his trademarks have helped to define such...
Right Now, Wrong Then | Review
Two in One: Sang-soo’s Latest Delight Examines Outcomes and Possibilities
Prolific South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo, who debuts annual films at various festivals every year,...
Cosmos | Review
The Fault in Our Stars: Zulawski’s Uncompromised Return a Dark Hearted Farce
Throughout a filmography that’s spanned five decades, including two short films and now,...
The Department Q Trilogy | Review
The continued reverence for the pulpy wave of crime thrillers popularized as Nordic Noir continues with the imported The Department Q Trilogy, a series...
From Afar | Review
The Space Between Us: Vigas’ Debut a Somber, Compelling Character Portrait
Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas unveils a stellar debut with stark and subversive relationship drama...
Ma Ma | Review
Soap on a Rope: Medem Returns with Malignant Cancer Drama
It’s becoming harder and harder to remember the relevancy of Spanish filmmaker Julio Medem, a...
The Other Side | Review
Beasts of the Southern Wild: Minervini Continues Fascination with American Rural Dysfunction
One can’t help but recall the refreshing yet uncomfortably toxic memories of Harmony...
The Unknown Girl | 2016 Cannes Film Festival Review
The Guilt Trip: The Dardennes’ Add a Touch of Genre to Collective Guilt
For better or worse, we already know what kind of quiet poignancy...
It’s Only the End of the World | 2016 Cannes Film Festival Review
Don’t They Know?: Dolan Delivers a Dud with Familial Drama
Though no stranger to working with French stars, Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan makes his first...
Belladonna of Sadness (1973) | Review
The Devil Inside: Yamamoto’s Cult Classic Restored to Gloriously Problematic Perversity
Cinelicious resurrects one of the most disturbing, sleazy and undeniably artistic animation endeavors...
Remember | Blu-ray Review
Ever since his 2009 mainstream breakthrough Chloe (an English language rehash of a 2003 film from Anne Fontaine), Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan has been...
The Lobster | Review
Animal Farm: Lanthimos’ Dystopic Dip into RomCom
Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos makes an admirable English language debut with The Lobster, set within an original dystopic...
The Man Who Knew Infinity | Review
Beautiful Mind: Brown’s Restitution for Neglected Mathematics Genius
For those outside of an academic realm in mathematics, the name Srinivasa Ramanujan most likely won’t register,...
Viktoria | Review
Milk of Sorrow: Motherhood and Metaphors Structure Vitkova’s Somber Debut
Using intergenerational familial dilemmas to convey significant historical upheaval is certainly nothing new to fiction...
Viva | Review
Blame it on Fidel: Breathnach Circles the Boiler Plate with LGBT Coming-of-Age Flick
A Havana set coming-of-age tale concerning a young, gay hairdresser, Paddy Breathnach and...
Wedding Doll | Review
Dolled Up: Giladi’s Melancholy Debut on Dreams Deferred
Lives and loves hampered by the desires of others provides the basis for Israeli documentarian Nitzan Giladi’s...
Tale of Tales | Review
Good Gaud: Garrone’s Critique of Aristocracy Goes Barely Skin-Deep
Italy’s film industry is enjoying something of a renaissance lately, though honestly it’d have to be...
Men and Chicken | Review
Cheep cheep cheep: Jensen’s Bizarre Family Reunion
Known for his incredibly prolific career as a screenwriter, penning several of Susanne Bier’s most internationally renowned films...
Colonia | Review
Ticket to Heaven: Gallenberger Depicts Chilean Torture Cult
The devastation General Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship waged on Chile from the moment of his infamous 1973 coup...
A Married Woman (1964) | Review
Charlotte’s Web: Godard’s Detailed Fragments of Woman Consumed
Cohen Media Group presents a limited theatrical re-release of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1964 film A Married Woman...
Neon Bull | Review
The Tail End: Mascaro’s Sophomore Feature a Strikingly Sensual Exhibition
For his sophomore directorial effort, Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro examines a strange universe through his...
Kill Your Friends | Review
How to Get Ahead in Miming: Harris’ Recycles the Sociopathic Entrepreneur
Owen Harris dips out of television for feature debut Kill Your Friends, an adaptation...
Standing Tall | Review
Jostling Juvi: Bercot’s Take Familiar Stance on the System
Exploring a few too many problematic delinquency issues than it can rightly address, Emmanuelle Bercot’s Standing Tall (La Tête...
Remember | Review
Where the Truth Lies: Egoyan’s Pensive, Inconsistent Revenge Thriller
Even despite its ironically forgettable title and considerable narrative flaws, Remember, the latest effort from Canadian...
