Tag: Foreign Film Review
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya | Review
Princess from the Moon: Takahata Bows with Feminist Spin on Fable
Following the news of Hayao Miyazaki’s possible retirement after the release of 2013’s The...
Diplomacy | Review
Paris is Burning: Schlondorff Continues Plumbing the Depths of WWII
Playwright Cyril Gely (who also wrote the play upon which Safy Nebbou’s 2010 film Dumas...
Housebound | Review
Home is Where the Horror Is: Johnson’s Ozzie Horror Tickles Rather Than Chills
Fans of Peter Jackson’s early works of zany, comedy horror will most...
The Goob | 2014 London BFI Film Festival Review
Goober is Great: Norfolk Sets the Scene for Myhill's Debut
Rebellious youths riding motorbikes down dirt roads aside, while there are some similarities to Pawel...
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead | Review
Dead Again: Wirkola Outstays Welcome of Outlandish Gimmick
For those that were generally amused by Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola’s breakout festival hit Dead Snow (2009),...
Automata | Review
I, Robot: Ibanez Saddles Asimov for Arresting A.I. Concoction
Spanish director Gabe Ibanez makes an impressive sci-fi entry with his sophomore feature, Automata, an exploration...
For Those in Peril | Review
Fish Out of Water: Wright’s Debut a Visually Arresting, Moody Allegory
The mythological significance of the sea inflects and infects Paul Wright’s somber directorial debut,...
Partners in Crime | 2014 TIFF Review
Something Scandalous: Teenage Anxiety as a Reflection of Culture
In many ways, Taiwanese director Jung-chi Chang’s sophomore feature, Partners in Crime, is very much like...
The Liberator | Review
Plowing the Sea: Arvelo’s Portrait of Famed Leader Hardly Revolutionary
Arriving with all the earmarks of a truncated and incredibly abridged version of history in...
The Blue Room | Review
Blue in the Face: Amalric’s Simenon Adaptation an Exquisite Enigma
Though actor/director Mathieu Amalric’s last directorial effort, On Tour (2010), landed him a Best Director...
The Little Bedroom | Review
Good Grief: Nuanced Dramatic Debut Lands Long Awaited Release in US
Initially premiering at the Locarno Film Festival in 2010, the directorial debut of Stephanie...
Corbo | 2014 TIFF Review
Vive la FLQ: Revolutionary Tactics as Performance of Identity
With Corbo, Mathieu Denis’ second feature-length film, the Quebecois director has established an auteur focus on...
Pride | Review
The Climate Was Changing: Warchus Revisits 80s Set Instance of Activism
British director Matthew Warchus first appeared in 1999 with his directorial debut, Simpatico, based...
Lilting | Review
Common Grounds: Khaou Strikes Graceful, Observant Notes in Debut
A moving, and sharply wrought screenplay supported by several elegant performances marks Cambodian born director Hong...
Stop The Pounding Heart | Review
The Heart She Holler: Minervini Caps Texas Trilogy With Christian Corset
A hybrid of documentary aesthetic and subdued narrative happenings, the third film in a...
Tracks | Review
It’s Easier For a Camel: Curran’s Curious Reenactment of a Strange Journey
Early on in John Curran’s Tracks, which charts the 2,000 mile journey of...
The Zero Theorem | Review
Black Holes and Revelations: Gilliam’s Cluttered Dystopia a Mixed Return to Form
In what stands as his best film since 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las...
Pasolini | 2014 TIFF Review
The Gospel According to Pier: Ferrara Poetically Captures an Auteur’s Last Day on Earth
It appears that 2014 marks a resounding return for auteur Abel...
Frailer | 2014 TIFF Review
A Peculiar Experiment in Content Guiding Form
Experimental director Mijke de Jong’s latest feature-length film, is a curious exercise in content guiding form. It’s ostensibly...
’71 | 2014 TIFF Review
Control: A Frenzied Look at the Early Days of the IRA
Yann Demange, whose resume consists of serviceable, albeit unexceptional, television fare, has achieved the...
Life’s a Breeze | Review
The Little Foxes: Daly’s Heartfelt Family Drama Pleasantly Rendered
Arriving with a bit more investment than its airy title would suggest, Lance Daly returns to...
Bang Bang Baby | 2014 TIFF Review
Campy Histrionics at Their Most Mediocre
Canadian director Jeffrey St. Jules has demonstrated an aptitude for experimenting with the cinematic form and creating hyper-realized, wildly...
In the Crosswind | 2014 TIFF Review
Capturing History Through the Art of Tableau
Despite only having a couple of short films under his belt, Estonian director Martti Helde’s feature film debut,...
They Have Escaped | 2014 TIFF Review
Running on Empty: Valkeapaa’s Vicious Road Trip
We may have seen similar iterations of outcast, adolescent misfits refusing to conform to the world’s expectations many...
High Society | 2014 TIFF Review
Is There More to this Coming-of-Age Parable Than Meets the Eye?
One of the key specificities about the production of Julie Lopes Curval’s latest exploration...
The Vanished Elephant | 2014 TIFF Review
A Puzzle within a Puzzle within a Puzzle
Initially, The Vanished Elephant, Javier Fuentes-León’s follow-up to the well-received ghost story, Undertow, has a surprisingly unpolished...
Bird People | Review
Tweets and FaceTimes: Pascale Ferran Returns with Uneven But Adventurous Realist-Fantasy
There are a number of films scattered throughout that are intent on depicting how...
Red Rose | 2014 TIFF Review
Beware the Beauty of the Single Red Rose
Though she’s lived in France for more than three decades, Sepideh Farsi has carved out a career...
Waste Land | 2014 TIFF Review
Fear in a Handful of Dust: Van Hees Completes Trilogy with Dark Metaphor
Belgian director Pieter Van Hees completes his thematically connected "Anatomy of Love and...
Return to Ithaca | 2014 TIFF Review
Shared Tendencies: McGowan’s Debut an Understated Navigation
Palme d’Or winning director Laurent Cantet continues a tour outside of France with his latest feature, the carefully...
Out of Nature | 2014 TIFF Review
A Hollow World of Obligations
Ole Giæver’s sophomore feature, Out of Nature, very much resembles—in setting, structure and thematic preoccupation—his short film work and prior,...
H. | 2014 Venice Film Festival Review
What’s the Matter with Helen?: Attieh & Garcia’s Bizarre Parable Goes Over Heads
Generally, one would assume that a concise understanding of something would be...
The President | 2014 Venice Film Festival Review
The Emperor’s New Clothes: Makhmalbaf’s Conspicuous Allegory
Early on in Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s grimly steadfast The President, you may start by racking your brain for specific...
Cut Snake | 2014 TIFF Review
Out of the Past: Ayres’ Neo-noir is a Pulpy Brood
With a little luck, Australian director Tony Ayres’ latest film, Cut Snake will evolve beyond...
The Great Man | 2014 TIFF Review
A More Accurate Title Might Have Been The “Good” or “Serviceable” Man
Much like Kathryn Bigelow does with many of her works or like Jasmine...
Wetlands | Review
Soggy Bottoms: Wnendt’s Latest an Extravaganza of Delightful Perversity
German director David Wnendt’s adaptation of Charlotte Roche’s novel, Wetlands, is a bildungsroman unlike any other;...
God Help the Girl | Review
Girl From Ipecac: Murdoch’s Musical a Flimsy Masquerade
The directorial debut of Scottish musician Stuart Murdoch, the lead singer and songwriter of famed indie pop...
The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears | Review
A Woman in Trouble and a Man in Need: Forzani & Cattet Return Prove a Force to Reckon With
Directing duo Helene Cattet and Bruno...
The Notebook | Review
Behind Every Great War Is a Great Story: Szasz’s Captivating, Grotesque Portrait of Life During Wartime
World War II takes on the ambience of an...
Salvo | Review
Miracle Worker: Italian Duo’s Debut a Cold Rumination on Tenuous Connection
Though its initial setup holds considerable promise, due mostly to subdued visual cues that...
Metro Manila | Review
A Better Life: Ellis’ Latest a Masterful Drama of Sacrifice
British director Sean Ellis brings us to the Philippines with his third feature film, Metro...
14 Blades | Review
Blades of Glory: Lee Brings the Old West to the Ming Dynasty
Hong Kong filmmaker Daniel Lee’s 2010 film, 14 Blades is at last making...
Jealousy | Review
Cold Day in the Park: Garrel’s Green Monster in Black and White
Director Philippe Garrel returns to his prized black and white format for a...
Moebius | Review
Freudian Slip: Ki-duk Gets to the Greek
South Korean auteur Kim Ki-duk outdoes himself with his latest theatrical release, Moebius, so named for the continuous...
Abuse of Weakness | Review
My Afternoon With Maud’s Money: Breillat’s Most Personal Film Showcases Huppert
Catherine Breillat leaves behind the series of Grimm’s fairy tales she was adapting and...
What If | Review
The C Word: Dowse’s Latest a Joy Despite Censor Scramble
Don’t let the marketing snafu and the hopelessly generic title fool you into thinking...
The Strange Little Cat | Review
In a Word: Pulchritude
Buried in Cannes' most unassuming and roundly ignored sidebar, ACID (an acronym for what translates to "The Association for the Distribution...
The Almost Man | Review
Growing Pains: Lund’s Debut a Gem of Behavioral Regression
The long hard road to growing up and accepting responsibility takes the center stage in Martin...
Calvary | Review
Trials of Faith Without Error; Glesson’s Good Priest Suffers for Sins of the Fathers
Two years after The Guard, the most commercially successful Irish film...
A Five Star Life | Review
Perks of Using the Star System: Tognazzi’s Tale a Tad Too Familiar
Maria Sole Tognazzi, daughter of famed actor/director Ugo Tognazzi, visits the mid-life crisis...
