Tag: Foreign Film Review
Wolf Creek 2 | Review
Huffin & Puffin: McLean Continues Flaccid Exploration of the Menacing Aussie Outback
Tourists are again reminded that the Australian Outback is a statistically menacing place...
Chinese Puzzle | Review
Tuft of Fluff: Klapisch Bids Adieu to Globetrotting Crew
Diehard fans of Cedric Klapisch’s L’Auberge espagnole (2002) and its sequel, Russian Dolls (2005) should be...
Horses of God | Review
Paradise Then: Ayouch’s Drama Imagines the Making of a Terrorist
Examining a fictional decade in the life of a group of young Moroccan men that...
Darker Than Midnight | 2014 Cannes Review
Midnight Toil: Riso’s Debut Ambient Yet Ultimately Remote Tale of Teenage Woe
You might forget the ‘based on a true story’ warning during the opening...
Winter Sleep | 2014 Cannes Review
Ceylan's Talky Theatrical Epic unlikely to have Many Nodding Off
Since it was first announced to go into production more than a year ago, Nuri...
Filth | Review
Bad Detective: Baird Adapts Welsh for (Sometimes) Outrageous Effect
Danny Boyle’s 1996 classic Trainspotting set the bar for Irvine Welsh adaptations (Boyle is apparently at...
The Search | 2014 Cannes Review
Good Intentions Cobbled: Hazanavicius Chokes on War Story Update
It’s clear to see that there were good intentions behind the making of Michael Hazanavicius latest...
Grace of Monaco | 2014 Cannes Review
Coup de Grace: Embellishment Can’t Save Dahan’s Fairy Tale
Try as it might, Grace of Monaco can’t seem to wring any significant interest out of...
Ship of Theseus | Review
Ghost Ship: Gandhi’s Debut an Enjoyably Philosophical Triptych
Finally seeing a release after its 2012 premiere, Anand Gandhi’s directorial debut, Ship of Theseus is an...
App | Review
App of My Eye: Second Screen Technology Gets Double Dutch in Gimmicky Thriller
A film that will indubitably be remembered as a quaint first-wave exercise...
Stage Fright | Review
The Hamming of the Opera: Sable’s Debut Musical/Horror Hybrid Light Fun
What promises on paper to be a delirious mess or instant camp classic ends...
Hallucination Strip | Blu-Ray Review
Raro Video restores an odd obscurity with Hallucination Strip, the one and only film to be directed by Lucio Marcaccini. As one easily can...
Not My Type | 2014 COLCOA Review
A Game of Give and Take: Belvaux Examines Le Pompatus de L ’amour
Known for a number of genre tinged thrillers that tend to examine...
For a Woman | 2014 COLCOA Review
Mother Load: Kurys Revisits Plight of Parents in Post WWII France
For those familiar with the work of director Diane Kurys, the material that inspired...
We Love You, You Bastard (Salaud, on t’aime) | 2014 COLCOA Review
A Man and His Women: Lelouch’s Latest a Lumbering, Bloated Ensemble
Nearing his 80’s and with over fifty credits to his name, Oscar and Palme...
Last Passenger | Review
Runaway Train: Nooshin’s Banal Debut Goes Wrong Way on a One Way Track
What promises to be a nimble, low budget whodunit aboard a high...
Young and Beautiful | Review
Airy & banal, Ozon's Latest is as Indistinct as its Title
Moving right along the trajectory we’re all well familiar with by now, François Ozon...
Criterion Collection: Master of the House | Blu-ray Review
While he’ll always be best known for his 1928 silent masterpiece, The Passion of Joan Arc (or for his atmospheric 1932 horror film, Vampyr),...
The German Doctor | Review
A Nazi At My Table: Puenzo’s Latest an Eerie Reimagining
Argentinian director Lucia Puenzo once again adapts one of her own novels for her latest...
Tasting Menu | Review
Finger Food: Gaul’s Latest Effort Staunchly Unappetizing
Spanish filmmaker Roger Gaul (known for his 2002 debut, the co-directed Smoking Room) returns with this Irish co-produced...
Perfect Sisters | Review
Sister, My Sister: Brooks’ Uneven Debut Fumbles
Producer Stanley M. Brooks makes his directorial debut with Perfect Sisters, one of those tawdry sounding stories about...
Cuban Fury | Review
1, 2 Step: Griffiths’ Debut Features Solo Frost in Winning Performance
Though it may not command a notable shelf life in your memory, and even...
Ilo Ilo | Review
Singapore Slump: Economics Brushed Aside in Chen's Gem Debut
In his autobiographical debut Ilo Ilo, young Singaporean helmer Anthony Chen delivers a beautifully simple story...
Under the Skin | Review
Female Perversion: Glazer’s Latest a Strange, Hypnotic Exploration of the Body Feminine
It’s been over a decade now since Jonathan Glazer’s exciting and strange sophomore...
Nymphomaniac: Volume II | Review
Get Into the Gloom: Von Trier Evades Easy Answers in Darker Second Chapter of Sexual Odyssey
You can forget about love as well as any...
The Raid 2 | Review
Badass Berendal: Gareth Evans Delivers a Bloody Good Time
Bigger is palpably better. In Gareth Evans' eagerly anticipated and ambitious sequel to his 2011 cult...
Alan Partridge | Review
Alpha Comedian: a Partridge in a Fair Tree
Steve Coogan is known to North American audiences as the successful writer and lead actor of Philomena,...
Nymphomaniac: Volume I | Review
The Girl Can’t Help It: Von Trier’s Indelible First Chapter a Sobering, Ruminative Examination of the Last Cinematic Frontier
In today’s modern world, where cinematic...
Just a Sigh | Review
Brief Encounter: Bonnell’s Latest a Breezy, Gallic Affair
With his fifth feature, Just a Sigh, (a butchered translation from what really should be The Time...
Blood Ties | Review
Blood Simple: Canet’s English Language Debut an Enjoyably Prostrate Epic
For his English language debut, actor/director Guillaume Canet arrives with Blood Ties, a remake of...
Himizu | Review
Suffer the Children: Sono’s Social Dystopia a Melancholy Landscape
It appears that 2014 will be a year that sees a flood of Sion Sono’s back...
Ernest & Celestine | Review
Cute in Court: Bears and Mice Controversially Live In Harmony
We are not for lack of anthropomorphized mice nor bears, from all the way back...
Le Week-End | Review
Meant to Be Spent Alone: Michell’s Latest a Welcome Return to Quality Filmmaking
After a pair of mainstream US misfires, South African born director Roger...
Enemy | Review
Identical/Identity: Villeneuve's Doppelganger Thriller a Kafkaesque Dead Ringer
You can forget the pulpy throes of the dark hearted Prisoners, the recently released collaboration of Jake...
The Art of the Steal | Review
Art Bitch: Sobol Turns to the Dependable Heist Drama with Mixed Results
Flying in on the feathery laurels of Kurt Russell (once again donning a...
Grand Piano | Review
Player Piano: Interesting Ideas Churn Into Nonsensical Slog in Mira’s Third Outing
Back with his first film since the 2010 potboiler, Agnosia, Spanish director Eugenio...
Journey to the West: Conquering Demons | Review
A Demon in My View: Chow Returns with Rousing, Comedic Action
Director Stephen Chow returns with Journey to the West: Conquering Demons, his first film...
Honey | Review
Helps the Medicine Go Down: Golino’s Winning, Striking Debut
Actress Valeria Golino hinges an intriguing character study around the thorny topic of euthanasia, with her...
Stalingrad | Review
Back in the U.S.S.R.: Bondarchuk’s Latest a Visual Feast and Narrative Folly
Arriving with a small coterie of distinctive firsts, actor/director Fedor Bondarchuk’s latest directorial...
The Wind Rises | Review
Miyazaki’s Swan Song A Somber Flight Of Fancy
Earlier this month, legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki, writer and director of such masterpieces as Spirited Away, Castle...
Black Out | Review
Black and Mild: Toonen’s High Octane Adaptation a Bit Derivative
If you could imagine The Hangover remade as a drug fueled action thriller with stylizations...
Easy Money: Hard to Kill | Review
Man of Straw: Kinnaman Beginagain in Energetic Yet Paltry Sequel
While Swedish director Daniel Espinosa’s 2010 film Easy Money kicked off his lucrative international status,...
Love is in the Air | Review
Pressurized: Sagnier and Co. in a Charming Rom-Com Straitjacket
For his first solo film as director, Alexandre Castagnetti nabbed the talented Ludivine Sagnier to headline...
Stranger By the Lake | Review
Wet Hot French Summer: Guiraudie’s Bold, Scintillating New Film
Idiosyncratic filmmaker Alain Guiraudie is set to take the art house by storm with his bold,...
Summer in February | Review
Summer Bummer: Menaul’s Love Triangle Inspires Opposite Emotions
Not every “based on a true story” is actually fit for a feature length film. In fact,...
In Bloom | Review
An Early Frost: Ekvtimishvili & Grob’s Debut a Memoir in Neorealism
The Georgian entry for 2014’s Best Foreign Language Film, In Bloom is the directorial...
Pauline Detective | Review
Pauline at the Beach: Fitoussi’s Breezy Caper Good for a Laugh
Director Marc Fitoussi seems inclined toward breezy-haired, bauble headed gamines that get jostled around...
The Rocket | Review
Silver Linings: Morduant’s Debut a Breezy, Formulaic Crowd Pleaser
After winning awards and audience accolades at nearly every film festival it’s screened at (including Berlin,...
The Invisible Woman | Review
In Plain Sight: Great Expectations for Fiennes' Sophomore Effort
After his brash, testosterone-fueled directorial debut Coriolanus, Ralph Fiennes fares far better with the quieter, chest-heaving illicit...
Paradise: Hope | Review
Grand Finale: Seidl’s Final Chapter Strikes Surprisingly Tender Notes
With Paradise: Hope, the crowning chapter of Austrian auteur Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise Trilogy, the provocateur surprises...
