Tag: Foreign Films
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...
L’Immortelle | Blu-ray Review
Kino’s Redemption label continues with the resurrection of New Wave provocateur Alain Robbe-Grillet’s 1963 directorial debut, L'Immortelle, (this is the third title in the...
Get Him to the Greek; John C. Reilly Completes Lanthimos’ “The Lobster” Ensemble
Supporting players in John C. Reilly, Ashley Jensen, Michael Smiley and Jessica Barden are joining the already cast, diverse set of Colin Farrell, Rachel...
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...
Desparately Seeking Studio: Peter Brosens & Jessica Woodworth’s The Fifth Season
Despite the accolades (awards, festival prizes, and critical praise), sometimes a film that we’ve praised and seemingly has a very bright future ahead, will...
Pauper Don’t Preach; Music Box Films Spies on Nadav Schirman’s The Green Prince
If Dror Moreh's The Gatekeepers gave us four decades worth of Shin Bet's tactile approach to the Middle East, Nadav Schirman's The Green Prince...
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,...
Criterion Collection: Persona | Blu-ray Review
Ingmar Bergman’s Persona is now available in a sharp and stunning Blu-ray from Criterion. This 1966 production has attained a special place in critics’...
Camille Claudel, 1915 | DVD Review
Many are perhaps familiar with Isabelle Adjani’s much hailed Oscar nominated performance as the turn of the century French sculptress Camille Claudel in the...
Tennis Anyone? Courtside Seats to Infidelity in Denys Arcand’s Le règne de la beauté (Trailer)
By comparison, Quebecois helmer Denys Arcand's output might be one film for every five that Xavier Dolan manages to produce, but nonetheless, his films...
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...
Film Movement Moves into the Dark; Prochaska’s Western Saddling Up for 2015 Release
A film genre that appears to have been perfected by the Aussies, judging by the tepid response (reviews from Variety, THR, IW) at it's...
Criterion Collection: The Hidden Fortress | Blu-ray Review
Criterion re-releases Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 adventure The Hidden Fortress for a ravishing blu-ray update this month, following hot on the heels of a similar...
Nothing But Net; Weinsteins Kick Campanella’s “Underdogs” into August
Some call it table soccer, the majority of us call it foosball, and the Weinsteins are calling it a cash cow. Variety announced that...
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...
GKIDS Nab Another Ghibli with Takahata’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
It’s been far too long since legendary animator Isao Takahata sat at the helm of a feature length picture. Fourteen years since My Neighbors...
Melanie Thierry, del Toro, Robbins & Kurylenko are Doctors Without Borders in Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s A Perfect Day
Known for his portraits of people and connection to their employment such as Princesas (or unemployment via Mondays in the Sun), Fernando Leon de...
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...
Roadside Attractions Moves Behind Enemy Lines; Yann Demange’s ’71 Set for the Front Lines of 2015
THR reports that Roadside Attractions and the newly formed Black Label Media who are backing a trio of (Jean-Marc Vallée's Demolition, Denis Villeneuve's Sicario...
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...
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...
Criterion Collection: Breathless | Blu-ray Review
Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless gave France’s nascent La nouvelle vague a solid international underpinning and it has remained a vibrant, stylish and entertaining influence on...
Criterion Collection: Blue is the Warmest Color | Blu-ray Review
Not quite a year after its memorable premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it would snatch the Palme d’Or from the Steven...
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...
Criterion Collection: Foreign Correspondent | Blu-ray Review
Criterion adds another illustrious Alfred Hitchcock title to the collection this month with Foreign Correspondent, which followed hot on the heels of Rebecca in...
Beyond the Black Rainbow | Review
This is a story about control: Cosmatos’ Throwback a Challenging Piece of Psychedilia
Words cannot rightfully describe Beyond the Black Rainbow, the debut of filmmaker...
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...
In Her Own Words: 10 Notes on Claire Denis’ Bastards
Earlier in the month, the TIFF Bell Lightbox was the lieu where a sold out crowd (including enthralled TIFF programmers Jesse Wente, Andrea Picard,...
With Friends Like These… Exclusive Clip for Costa-Gavras’ Capital
The name of Costa-Gavras is synonymous with politically-dosed narratives - we often cite Z and Missing as seminal films within the genre and the...
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...
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...
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...
Austenland | Review
Jane Austen Will Have Her Revenge: Hess’ Debut a Pandering, Middle Class Courting Cipher
Jerusha Hess, screenwriter of Napoleon Dynamite, which her brother Jared Hess...
Vanishing Waves | DVD Review
The travails of the neuron-transfer scientist get swirled into a surreal kaleidoscope of Eros and sci-fi in Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte’s sophomore feature, Vanishing...
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...
Shadow Dancer | Review
Perpetually Intense, Somewhat Monotonous IRA Thrills
Hot off the heals of his masterful documentary Project Nim, James Marsh presents a simmering thriller of political revenge...
Devil’s Knot | Review
Where the Truth Weakly Lies; West Memphis Less Effective in Non-Docu Treatment
Atom Egoyan has carved a career out of films focused on misunderstood and...
Erased | Review
Untaken Legacy: Stolzl’s English Debut a Clunky, Derivate Actioneer
Originally titled The Expatriate, German director Philip Stolzl’s English language debut gets the dumbed down title...
Love is All You Need | Review
Before the Wedding: Bier’s Latest a Vibrant Vehicle for Dyrholm
Susanne Bier returns with an uncharacteristically light film, Love Is All You Need, after her...
Lotus Eaters | Review
Let What is Broken So Remain: McGuiness’ Debut Familiar, Mesmerizing
“Ah, why should life all labor be?” asks Lord Alfred Tennyson in a line from...
Trance | Review
Goya’s Ghosts: Boyle’s Twisty Tale Fails to Hypnotize
Danny Boyle re-teams with scribe John Hodge (co-writing with Joe Ahearne) for Trance, their first collaboration...
All Along the… Film Movement Find Companionship with Pelin Esmer’s Watchtower
Turkish filmmaker Pelin Esmer made her narrative feature debut in 2009 with 10 to 11, a meditative drama about a man and his collections,...
