Tag: top-stories
Brimstone | Review
The Love of a Preacher Man: Koolhoven’s Pseudo-Feminist Western an Ambitiously Grotesque Affront
Unveiling the most expensive Dutch film production since Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book...
Donald Cried | Review
Escapes of Time and Memory: Avedisian’s Debut and the Cinema of Discomfort
Director Kris Avedisian wants to make you feel repulsed and uncomfortable in his...
The Shack | Review
Papa Does Preach: Hazeldine Adapts Heavy-handed Religious Melodrama
For his sophomore directorial effort, Stuart Hazeldine helms The Shack, an adaptation of the successful novel by...
Wolves | Review
Wolf Like Me: Freundlich Returns to Familial Angst with Latest Drama
Director unveils his first theatrical release in seven years with Wolves (which premiered at...
Get Out | Review
The Souls of Black Folk: Peele's Debut Subverts the Norm in Edgy, Timely Horror Film
Behold the power of genre film, a tradition of cinema...
Joaquim | 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Once Upon a Time Tiradentes: Gomes Delivers Exceptional, Unique Biopic on Brazil’s Crusader of Enlightenment
Brazilian director Marcelo Gomes tackles eighteenth century revolutionary Joachim Jose...
On the Beach at Night Alone | 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Qualified for Love: Sangsoo Showcases Minhee in Latest Perambulation on Soju Soaked Saudade
Prolific South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo consistently unveils mannered films with marked...
Return to Montauk | 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Review
The Past is Present: Schlondorff Explores Romantic Regrets in Mismated Adaptation
A key figure in the New German Wave from the mid-60s through the 1970’s,...
Lovesong | Review
Her Best Friend’s Wedding: Kim’s Poetic Exploration of Muted Desire
Indie auteur So Yong Kim continues in English with her fourth narrative feature, Lovesong, a...
Land of Mine | Review
Enemy Mine: Zandvliet Explores the Casualties of War
Martin Zandvliet leaves behind the world of theater for his third feature, Land of Mine, a based...
A Fantastic Woman | 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Review
A Time to Love and a Time to Die: Lelio’s Fantastic Portrait of Pain and Perseverance
“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,” murmurs the...
Spoor | 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Animal Love: Holland Blunders with Hysterical Murder Mystery
What reveals itself to be an interesting inversion on parable of the boy who cried wolf, Polish...
On Body and Soul | 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Review
That Obscure Object: Enyedi Mounts Moving, Lyrical Return with Inspired Portrait of Desire
For her first film in nearly twenty years, Hungarian auteur Ildiko Enyedi returns with...
Requiem for Mrs. J | 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Review
The Day the Music Died: Vuletic Courts Comedy of Frustration with Shades of Thanatos
If anyone comes close to conjuring comedy from the Kafkaesque, it’s...
Barrage | 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Review
You’ll Like My Mother: Schroeder Stages Conflicted, Femme Centric Triplicate of Intergenerational Conflict
As the title succinctly suggests, Luxembourg’s Laura Schroeder navigates the trenchant, inescapable...
John Wick: Chapter 2 | Review
Wick 2 Wick: Stahelski Forges Tenuous Franchise with Solemn Reeves Assassin
Director Chad Stahelski steps out on his own for John Wick: Chapter 2,...
A Cure for Wellness | Review
Do Capitalists Dream of Electric Eels?: Verbinski’s Visits Mountains of Madness in Paranoia Escapade
Not unlike his more renowned yet equally studio inveigled colleague Christopher...
Manchester by the Sea | Blu-ray Review
Hailed as a masterpiece by many a major critical outlet immediately after it premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Kenneth Lonergan’s third title...
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk | Blu-ray Review
Whether due to its title, subject matter, pronounced formatting, or lackluster marketing campaign, Ang Lee’s latest, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk failed to inspire...
Dark Night | Review
Night of Your Life: Sutton Explores Tragedy as Intersecting Connective Tissue
The sentiment behind Paul Haggis’ 2005 Best Picture Winner Crash, in which various disparate...
The Lure | Review
They Could Go on Singing: Smoczynska’s Debut a Fairy Tale Grim
Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska crafts a memorable directorial debut with The Lure, a 1980s...
2017 Berlin Intl. Film Festival: Nicholas Bell’s Top 10 Most Anticipated Films
As the 67th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival kicks off, we run blazing into a new year of auteur worship. While the...
2017 Sundance Trading Card Series: #4. Ryland Aldrich (L.A. Times)
Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2016 discoveries”.
Ryland Aldrich: #1. They Call Me Jeeg. Gabrielle Mainetti’s Italian-language superhero crime actioner hit me...
Anatahan (1953)| Review
Island of Lost Souls: Von Sternberg’s Lost Post-Colonial Swan Song Resurrected
Best remembered for his indelible string of films starring Marlene Dietrich in the early...
The Salesman | Review
Dark but Full of Diamonds: Farhadi Incorporates Miller’s Tragic Theater for Gendered Revenge
In keeping with his string of tersely titled but searing domestic melodramas,...
Kitty Green’s Casting JonBenet Leads Eric Lavallee’s 2017 Sundance Film Fest Top Ten
With no shortage of first rate items from the likes of Campos, Reichardt, Stillman and Lonergan, Sundance's 2017 edition would comparably fall short in...
Detour | Review
Byway Bric-a-Brac: Smith Disappoints with Undistinguished Neo-noir
If the title sounds familiar, it’s because British director Christopher Smith is borrowing from the moniker from Edgar...
Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo | Review
The Night is Young: Ducastel & Martineau’s Procedural Queer Romance
For their seventh theatrical feature, Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo (also known for its more...
The Marseille Trilogy | Review
In 2017’s first major (and highly impressive) restoration, Janus films breathes new life into novelist/playwright/director Marcel Pagnol’s indelible Marseille Trilogy, a triptych of films...
Newness | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
Never Gonna Fall for Modern Love: Doremus Deftly Navigates the Hurtles of Millennial Romance
Acute technological advancement has proffered up new, albeit problematic conceptions as...
Where is Kyra? | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
Identification of a Woman: Dosunmu’s Exacting Arthouse Drama of Suffocation and Alienation
Nigerian born director Andrew Dosunmu branches out with an unexpectedly somber portrait of...
Call Me By Your Name | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
His Summer of Love: Guadagnino Returns with Perceptive, Tender Sketch of First Love
Presented with an intoxicating combination of old fashioned reticence with bold and...
Berlin Syndrome | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
He’s a Collector: Shortland Returns to Germany for Simmering Psychological Thriller
Australian director Cate Shortland, most revered for her 2013 sophomore feature Lore, returns once...
God’s Own Country | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
Gheorghe at the Farm: Lee’s Rustic Romantic Drama Hits the Requisite Notes
For those who have been yearning for a less angst-ridden and more contemporary...
Family Life | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
Strangers When We Meet: Scherson and Jimenez Present Sibling Identity Exercise
Two members of Chile’s contemporary cinema scene join forces in co-directing Family Life, an...
Dayveon | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
Thin Red Line: Abbasi Looks at Frame within the Portrait
While flesh lesions of the bullet wound type leave visible scares behind, within a certain...
Staying Vertical | Review
The Bipedal Advantage: Guiraudie Returns to Vaguely Pernicious Themes
After his 2013 breakout success with Stranger By the Lake, a nod to France’s Hitchcockian forefather...
2017 Sundance Film Festival: Eric Lavallee’s Top 5 Most Anticipated Films
Here's the deal. Sundance is chock full of offerings and we could easily line-up the ten days of the fest with a solid four-five...
We Are the Flesh | Review
Live Flesh: Minter’s Perverts the Shadows in the Cave with Delirious Debut
Director Emiliano Rocha Minter (who was the still photographer on Gerardo Naranjo’s 2011...
Top 25 Most Anticipated Studio Films of 2017: #1. Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Hampton Fancher, Michael Green
At this time last year, Denis Villeneuve was at the top of our most anticipated Studio...
Top 25 Most Anticipated Studio Films of 2017: #2. Tomas Alfredson’s The Snowman
The Snowman
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Writer: Hossein Amini, Matthew Michael Carnhan
Swedish auteur Tomas Alfredson became immediately of note following his superb vampire film Let the Right...
Top 25 Most Anticipated Studio Films of 2017: #3. Darren Aronofsky’s Mother
Mother
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writer: Darren Aronofsky
We’re excited to see this for several reasons, primarily for Darren Aronofsky’s return to a smaller scale, psychological drama palette...
Top 25 Most Anticipated Studio Films of 2017: #4. Nikolaj Arcel’s The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Writer: Nikolaj Arcel
It’s an undertaking years in the making, but 2017 will see the first cinematic adaptation of Stephen King’s...
Top 25 Most Anticipated Studio Films of 2017: #5. Kathryn Bigelow’s Untitled Detroit Project
Untitled Detroit Project
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Kathryn Bigelow breaks a five year hiatus with her latest, the as yet unnamed Untitled Detroit Project, her...
Top 25 Most Anticipated Studio Films of 2017: Picks #25 to #6
For our annual lineup of most anticipated studio films, our goal is to highlight auteurs (and other notable cinematic technicians) who have projects brewing...
Through the Looking-Glass…Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2018: #1. Lars Von Trier’s The House Jack Built
The House Jack Built
Director: Lars Von Trier
Writer: Lars Von Trier
Danish provocateur Lars Von Trier has been quiet for several years following his two part...
Son of Joseph | Review
Father Figure: Eugene Green’s Amusing Nature vs. Nurture Satire of the Holy Family
With his sixth feature film, Son of Joseph, New York born French-language...
Through the Looking-Glass…Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2018: #2. Claire Denis’ High Life
High Life
Director: Claire Denis
Writer: Claire Denis, Zadie Smith, Nick Laird, Jean-Pol Fargeau
Arguably the higher profile project from Claire Denis is her English language debut,...
Through the Looking-Glass…Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2018: #3. Claire Denis’ Black Glasses (Les Lunettes Noir)
Black Glasses (Les Lunettes Noir)
Director: Claire Denis
Writer: Claire Denis
Actress Juliette Binoche unveiled to the Hungarian press last October she was working on a new...
Through the Looking-Glass…Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2018: #4. Leos Carax’s Annette
Annette
Director: Leos Carax
Writer: Leos Carax
We’ve been following developments on this project for a while, as Leos Carax first mentioned an untitled musical project featuring...
