Tag: top-stories
Marie’s Story | Review
Marie Huertin, 1885: Ameris Recreates Obscure Instance for Familiar Biopic
There’s no avoiding comparison to the famous story of deaf and blind Helen Keller with...
Top 3 Critics’ Picks: Thomas Cailley, Quentin Dupieux & Safdie Bros. In Theaters this May
IONCINEMA.com's Top 3 Critics' Picks offers a curated approach to the usual quandary: what would you recommend I see in theaters this month? All...
What’s Up Doc?: Kent Jones, Asif Kapadia & Luc Jacquet Head to Cannes
It should come as no surprise that Cannes Film Festival will play host to Kent Jones's doc on the touchstone of filmmaking interview tomes, Hitchcock/Truffaut (see...
Exclusive Clip: Pushing the Envelope in Everardo Gout’s Days of Grace (Dias De Gracia)
An official, Midnight Screening selection of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, Everardo Gout's award-winning (landed the Ariel Awards (a.k.a Mexican Oscar) for Best First...
Avengers: Age of Ultron | Review
The Wrath of Bland: Whedon’s Poo Poo Platter Continues
Mainstream event cinema continues to shackle box office glory and narrative familiarity to a creative deathbed...
Ride | Review
Ride of Passage: Hunt’s Belated Sophomore Effort Crests Waves of Cliché
Perhaps the most surprising element of note in Helen Hunt’s Ride is the fact...
Days of Grace | Review
Grace is Gone: Gout’s Aggressive Debut Charts Patterns of Criminality
Don’t let the poetic title fool you, as Everardo Gout’s directorial debut Days of Grace...
Welcome to Me | Review
Broadcast Blues: Wiig’s Amusing Portrait of Mental Illness
Mental illness collides with reality TV inspired media for Shira Piven’s generally pleasurable oddity, Welcome to Me,...
River of Fundament | Review
All that Glitters: Barney’s Operatic, Caterwauling Art-house Epic
Those familiar with the work of Matthew Barney, namely his impressive Cremaster Cycle (2003) and Drawing Restraint...
Criterion Collection: The Friends of Eddie Coyle | Blu-Ray Review
Those seeking a groove-tastic immersion in a gritty 1970s crime drama will want to pop Criterion’s new burn of The Friends of Eddie Coyle...
Criterion Collection: Le Silence de la Mer | Blu-ray Review
Available for the first time in the US on Blu-ray and DVD is Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterful directorial debut, 1949’s Le Silence de la Mer...
Inherent Vice | Blu-ray Review
Receiving a mixture of raves, polite applause, and a handful of outright naysayers, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest concoction Inherent Vice comes to Blu-ray for...
In the Name of My Daughter | 2015 COLCOA French Film Festival Review
Scene of the Crime: Techine's Overly Involved True Crime Saga
Too often, In the Name of the Daughter, the latest from auteur André Téchiné (and...
Far From the Madding Crowd | Review
It’s All About Love: Vinterberg Revamps Hardy’s Classic Romance
Inevitably, we would have seen some filmmaker tackle a revamp of Thomas Hardy’s classic 1874 novel...
Iris | Review
Summer Hours: In Life's Twilight, Maysles Looks at a Late Life Fashion Icon and Finds Love in Work, Marriage & Stuff
Watching Iris, a...
The Water Diviner | Review
Turkey Dressing: Crowe’s Well-Intentioned Debut Ultimately Mundane
In the comparable tradition of Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner, actor Russell Crowe makes a big budget, historically...
Blackbird | Review
The Boys in the Choir: Polk’s Antiquated Rendition of the Rural Gay Narrative
The blatant underrepresentation of black gay characters in film, whatever letter they’re...
24 Days | Review
Barbarian Invasion: Arcady Hits the Headlines for Procedural
Recounting a bizarre kidnapping case from 2006 that reflects the continuing cultural mutation of anti-Semitism and the...
Just Before I Go | Review
Drop in the Bucket: Cox’s Uneven Directorial Debut
Actress Courtney Cox makes her directorial debut with Just Before I Go, based on the first feature...
Oscilloscope Become Grounds & Gatekeepers for “Body”
A Slamdance Film Fest invitee and with a future Stanley Film Festival (3rd edition looks stellar) playdate locked up, Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s well-received directorial...
A Perfect Man | 2015 COLCOA Film Festival Review
Words With Friends: Gozlan’s Stylish Noir all Amalgamated Pulp
Enjoyably anxious, director Yann Gozlan’s sophomore feature A Perfect Man (Un homme idéal) would better recall suspense...
Criterion Collection: The River | Blu-ray Review
Criterion repackages Jean Renoir’s 1951 classic The River for Blu-ray, one of the master filmmaker’s several titles in the collection (fans may recall that...
Criterion Collection: Hoop Dreams | Blu-ray Review
"This is one of the best films about American life that I have ever seen", Roger Ebert famously stated during the first of many...
Adult Beginners | Review
Arrested Development: Katz’s Debut an Affectionate Familial Dramedy
A familiar yet generally charming vehicle that impressively utilizes a pair of actors known mostly from a...
Crocodile Gennadiy | 2015 Tribeca Film Festival Review
Soviet Nostalgia: Hoover's Complex Portrait of a Ukrainian Vigilante Pastor Opens Cultural Can of Worms
Steve Hoover’s sophomore feature opens on a Ukrainian industrial landscape...
Video Interview: Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)
While some filmmakers only find out the night before, Cannes Film Festival's Thierry Frémaux informed Denis Villeneuve that he'd be part of the Main Comp...
Alex of Venice | Review
Touch of Venice: Messina’s Understated, Observational Debut
There’s much to admire in actor Chris Messina’s assured, astutely observed directorial debut, Alex of Venice. Namely its...
2014 TIFF: Maxime Giroux’s Félix et Meira
Following the Toronto International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema competition) world premiere (it would quickly move onto an Official Selection at the San Sebastian...
Monsters: Dark Continent | Review
This Time, It’s… Bore: Green’s Debut Piggybacks Indie Sci-Fi
Seeing as the cephalopod shaped extraterrestrials have only managed to move from conquering Mexico in Gareth...
The Reconstruction of William Zero | Review
Less Than Zero: Bush's Blend is a Well-intended but Exhaustive Piece
Drama stimulated by an identity crisis set against a science fiction backdrop poses for...
Child 44 | Review
Dirty Snow: Espinosa’s Ungainly Yet Enjoyable Soviet Era Mystery
Grazing lightly over the Soviet era politics of the period and featuring a handsome, gussied up...
The Dead Lands | Review
Dead and Buried: Fraser’s Sumptuously Filmed, Familiar Revenge Drama
Premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and snagging the distinction of representing New Zealand as the...
Roar (1981) | Review
We Bought a Zoo: Marshall’s Early Eighties Oddity Resurrected
In the annals of cinema, there are very few examples of entire film productions resulting in...
Tangerines | Review
Fruit of the Land: Urushadze’s Straightforward Anti-War Sentiment
The horrors of war are quietly examined in Tangerines, a period situational drama from Georgian director Zaza...
The Passionate Thief (1960) | Review
Miracolo!: Monicelli’s Exuberant, Digitally Restored Classic
There hasn’t been a performer that’s come close to equaling the vibrant energy of Italian actress Anna Magnani, that...
Criterion Collection: Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida | Blu-ray Review
Long before he developed the still controversial cinematic technique of utilizing reenactments in The Thin Blue Line or his confessional-esque straight-to-lens Interrotron which was...
True Story | Review
The Killer Beside Me: Goold’s Debut Warps Grisly Headline into Funereal Pallor
The rapidly fluctuating career of James Franco got a dramatic jumpstart with a...
Félix et Meira | Review
What’s Under the Hat?: Giroux Proposes Unorthodox Paradox
Confectioned with a what makes us different makes us the same counterargument, Maxime Giroux’s third feature is...
Broken Horses | Review
Goodbye Horses: Chopra’s Nonsensical English Language Debut
The point of Bollywood director Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s English debut Broken Horses seems lost, along with a whole...
2014 Cannes Film Festival: Ryan Gosling’s Lost River
In all my years attending the festival, the world premieres that take place in the mythic, film history-rich lieus such as the Lumiere (Main...
Kill Me Three Times | Review
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kill Me: Stenders’ Comedy Noir a Blend of Standard Tricks
Australian filmmaker Kriv Stenders lands his highest profile project yet with...
Black Souls | Review
Now I Lay Me Down to Kill: Munzi’s Enjoyably Reserved Mafia Film
Premiering last fall at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, where it picked up...
Farah Goes Bang | Review
Impeach My Bush: Menon’s Debut a Spirited Period Road Trip
Exploring a provocative dark chapter in the voting tendencies of the United States general public...
Video Interview: Olivier Assayas – Clouds of Sils Maria
Though director Olivier Assayas' latest project, Idol's Eye, looks to have been shelved due to funding issues, his film Clouds of Sils Maria is...
Ex Machina | Review
Imitation Game: Garland’ s Compelling Debut Explores Human’s Technological Hubris
Excitingly presented and intelligently written, screenwriter Alex Garland’s directorial debut Ex Machina is certainly one...
The Harvest | Review
Harvest Home: McNaughton’s Return Yields Blighted Crop
Fans of director John McNaughton, known for his gruesome cult classic Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990),...
Boychoir | Review
The Angels' Share: Girard’s Musical Drama a Conventional Return
Quebecois filmmaker Francois Girard returns from a near decade long hiatus with Boychoir, his first cinematic...
Cut Bank | Review
The Postman Always Dies Twice: Shakman’s Noir Infused Debut Underwhelms
Seasoned television director Matt Shakman (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) makes his narrative feature debut...
52 Tuesdays | Review
Tuesday’s Child: Hyde’s Attentive Examination of Transition
Belonging to a growing number of films taking place over real time, Australian director Sophie Hyde’s directorial debut,...
Effie Gray | Review
Portrait of a Lady: Laxton’s Mannered Version of Victoria Era Repression
There’s well-meaningness to Effie Gray that makes it worthy of discussion, at least for...
