Tag: Foreign Film Review
Last Love | Review
Sleepy Time Love: Nettlebeck Underwhelms with Latest Character Study
German director Sandra Nettlebeck returns with her fourth feature, Last Love, adapted from a novel by...
Man of Tai Chi | Review
Tai Me Up Tai Me Down: Reeves’ Directorial Debut a B Grade Vanity Project
Keanu Reeves. Hardly as woeful as you might assume, the directorial...
Blue is the Warmest Color | Review
Blue is the Color of My True Love’s Hair: Kechiche Takes Us Deep Sea, Baby
For his latest film, Abdellatif Kechiche returns to themes of...
Camille Claudel, 1915 | Review
Snake Pit Soliloquy: Dumont’s Brief Vignette Profoundly Effective
Many are perhaps familiar with Isabelle Adjani’s much hailed Oscar nominated performance as the turn of the...
The Dirties | Review
Masterfully taking on media-making headline subject matters of bullying and school shootings with the rarely witnessed buddy comedy swagger, Canadian writer/director/star Matt Johnson approaches sensitive...
Dark Touch | Review
If Only They Knew She Had the Power: De Van’s Somber Telekinetic Exercise Lacks Verve
Previously a scribe and actress for Francois Ozon in some...
On the Job | Review
Part Time Inmates: Generic Baddies Work Manila’s Streets
At this point in the history of cinema crime dramas have become a commodity for mere financial...
Music Box Make a Vow; Pawlikowski’s “Ida” Receives Foreign Oscar Support
A helping hand is always appreciated when it comes to the foreign film Oscar race. It begins with about 60 submissions from countries such...
Abdellatif Kechiche’s Gets Behind the Green Door with Marilyn “The Ivory Girl” Chambers
Following in the wave of auteur French filmmakers (Bonello, Dumont) gravitating towards the nontraditional biopic projects, it appears that Abdellatif Kechiche was at the...
I’m the same I’m an other | 2013 TIFF Review
Journey to the West Side: The Heartbreaking Work of Sensitive Genius
Lost Persons Area premiered at Cannes as the first in an unfinished trilogy from...
Zaytoun | Review
Pitted Olive: Riklis’ Period Piece Adventure a Sappy Fantasy
Israeli director Eran Riklis returns to familiar territory with Zaytoun, using another unlikely friendship scenario between...
The Colony | Review
They Are What They Are: Renfroe’s Derivative Ice Age
Indie filmmaker Jeff Renfroe returns to Canada for his latest effort, a sci-fi actioneer, The Colony,...
Wadjda | Review
The Kid Without A Bike: Charming Ride Through Gender Politics in the Middle East
Even before the film appears on the screen there is a...
iNumber Number | 2013 TIFF Review
I Think I Got Yours: Marsh’s Latest a Simple Heist Thriller
Considering its locale, its budget, and enjoyably committed performances, South African filmmaker Donovan Marsh’s...
The Station | 2013 TIFF Review
Copy Creature: Kren’s Sophomore Feature a Hybrid Derivative
Following his Berlin set zombie debut Rammbock, Austrian director Marvin Kren returns with The Station, an eco-horror-ish...
Break Loose | 2013 TIFF Review
Loose Caboose: Uchitel’s Latest Clings to Convention
Russian director Alexey Uchitel returns with Break Loose, a romantically tinged period piece crime drama that’s nicely packaged,...
Attila Marcel | 2013 TIFF Review
Keaton-esque Amelie (or Whimsical Pianist)
French director Sylvain Chomet has delighted audiences with his droll animated films The Triplets of Belleville and The Illusionist, earning...
Heart of a Lion | 2013 TIFF Review
Finding Out True Love Is Blind: Karukoski’s Latest Tackles Vehement Racial Tensions
Rising Finnish director Dome Karukoski follows up his hit 2010 comedy Lapland Odyssey...
Populaire | Review
Typist in Love: Roinsard’s Vivid Homage to 50’s Romance is Bearably Predictable
Infusing the unexplored world of competitive typewriting with classic romanticism, Regis Roinsard debut...
Je M’appelle Hmm… | 2013 Venice Film Festival Review
Name Dropper: Conflicting Techniques Clutter Agnes B.’s Debut
French fashion designer and film producer Agnes Trouble makes her directorial and screenwriting debut under the pseudonym...
Medeas | 2013 Venice Film Festival Review
You Gotta See Her: Palloaro’s Debut Trite Yet Lyrical Odyssey of Familial Discord
Any familiarity with the Euripides’ classic Greek tragedy will have you already...
Il Futuro (The Future) | Review
Future Starts Slow: Scherson’s Adaptation a Densely Structured Puzzle
For her third feature film, Chilean born director Alicia Scherson adapts cult Latin American author Roberto...
Closed Circuit | Review
Three Days of Ardour: Crowley’s Political Thriller Blunderbuss
There’s considerable promise at the beginning of Closed Circuit, employing a sort of Mike Figgis cam of multiple...
Passion | Review
Passion Fruit: De Palma’s Return to Genre a Flimsy Revamp
Arguably one of the greatest American directors from the mid 70s to late 80s, Brian...
Paradise: Faith | Review
Between Love and Hope: Seidl’s Second Film of Paradise Trilogy a Harrowing Hilarity
In what has to be the most significant auteur helmed cinematic motif...
Devil’s Pass | Review
Devil May Care: Harlin Gets on the Found Footage Train
Renny Harlin, a name synonymous with big budgeted 90s action flicks (and, debatably, the demise...
The Grandmaster | Review
Vertical Flow: Style Vs. Substance Vs. Wong Kar Wai
Sporting a lusty gestational period of something like sixteen years and taking nearly six years to...
The Patience Stone | Review
Stone Faced: Rahimi’s Concept Bogged Down By Transparency
As he did with his 2004 film, Earth and Ashes, Afghan filmmaker Atiq Rahimi adapts one of...
You Will Be My Son | Review
The Meek Shall Inherit: Legrand’s Familial Conflict a Seething, Elegant Drama
French director Gilles Legrand, (though perhaps better known as a producer on titles for...
Europa Report | Review
Another Successful Disaster in Space: Cordero Takes Found Footage to the Outer Limits
Boldly taking the found footage genre where no one has taken...
I Give It a Year | Review #2
Give it a Rest: Mazer’s Pedestrian Debut Examines Marriages, Relationships, Mediocrity
The most surprising item concerning I Give It a Year, a purposefully unromantic comedy...
I Give It A Year | Review
Fanning the Flames: Supporting cast shines in UK Rom-com
Romantic comedies are good for you in moderation. More than most genres, rom-coms are forced to...
Terraferma | Review
Solid Ground: Crialese’s Heartfelt Message Movie
In his fourth feature film, Emanuele Crialese tackles issues of immigration and the inhumanity that transpires from man-made laws...
Drug War | Review
Don’t Say No: To Revitalizes Cops & Robbers Genre
There’s a strong possibility that Drug War may stand as (or at least be vying for)...
The Attack | Review
Criminal or Heroine: A Terrible Marital Secret Makes Doueiri’s Return A Profound Statement
There is a scene in Ziad Doueiri’s latest film in which a...
Ritual: A Psychomagic Story | 2013 Fantasia Review
Psychobabble: Brazzale & Immesi Debut Fails to Spellbind
Despite its potentially intriguing title, Ritual: A Psychomagic Story, the debut of co-directors Giulia Brazzale and Luca...
Wasteland | Review
Waste of Time: Glossy Heist Fantasy a Missed Hit for Athale’s Debut
Producer Rowan Athale’s directorial debut, Wasteland, which he also penned, gets out of...
Still Mine | Review
Amour Terne: McGowan’s Latest a Pedestrian Glance at the Golden Years
While there’s certainly an audience out there that would be more susceptible to the...
Broken | Review
Slipping Down Life: Norris’ Debut Steeps Notable Performances in Melodrama
Famed theater director Rufus Norris makes his cinematic directorial debut with an adaptation of Daniel...
Animals | 2013 Outfest Review
What Are Friends For?: Fores’ Debut Slow Burn Bizarre Falters at the Finish
While it’s most memorable element will undoubtedly remind audiences of Donnie Darko...
Grabbers | Review
Don’t Snatch This Mixed Bag
Irish director Jon Wright seems content spoon feeding audiences with derivative genre efforts, or at least one could surmise after...
Crystal Fairy | Review
Wild In Part: Silva’s Zany Mescaline Film a Pleasurable Trip
Chilean director Sebastian Silva debuts two new films this year, both starring Michael Cera, the...
Criterion Collection: The Life of Oharu | Blu-ray Review
After remastering Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff earlier this year for Blu-ray, Criterion unleashes another of the auteur’s trio of early 50’s Venice prize winners...
Just Like a Woman | Review
Female Trouble: Bouchareb’s Understated First Chapter in Arab-American Trilogy
Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb, perhaps most widely recognized for his films Outside the Law (2010) and...
I’m So Excited | Review
Music Make You Lose Control: Almodovar’s Return to High Camp Shenanigans
Fans of Pedro Almodovar’s early works, like Dark Habits and Women on the Verge...
100 Bloody Acres | Review
At Any Price: Aussie Horror Comedy Predictable, Maintains Interest
Content with delivering an overly familiar comedy-horror scenario even as it seems committed to bringing both...
Boxing Day | 2013 LAFF Review
Ape & Essence: Rose’s Latest Another Profound Tolstoy Exercise
Like Branagh’s penchant for bringing Shakespeare to celluloid, British director Bernard Rose has steadily amassed a...
The Stroller Strategy | Review
What to Expect When You’re Expecting to Expect It: Michele’s Debut Arrives Stillborn
Times are tough for the rom-com and Hollywood isn’t the only old...
Aliyah | Review
The Holy Land is Dope; Wajeman’s Effective Family Drama is Surprisingly Subtle
Titled with a Hebrew term for Jewish immigration to Israel from the diaspora,...
Unfinished Song | Review
Undercooked Film: William’s Change of Pace Rings False
How could one not be curious to see Paul Andrew Williams’ (the UK director responsible for strange...
