Tag: top-stories
The Maze Runner | Review
Mazed and Confused: Ball’s Lusterless Debut Another Dystopic YA Derivative
Pretty teenagers that survive the apocalypse are sure going to have it tough. Or maybe...
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...
Space Station 76 | Review
Earth Below Us: Plotnick’s Debut a Sweet Space Soap Opera
Those familiar with the comedic genius of Jack Plotnick should be thrilled to see his...
The Guest | Review
Lone Survivor: Wingard’s Latest a Near Perfect Mix of Subtext, Comedy and Satisfying Thrills
After contributing to several anthology films, including the V/H/S films and...
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...
Tusk | 2014 TIFF Review
Another Tuskegee Experiment: Smith’s Latest Creation Odd But Not Audacious
Sure to garner all the WTF exclamatory delights that it’s had its grotesque little heart...
This is Where I Leave You | Review
This is Where I Judge You: In the Great Well of Family Drama, Levy Is Dry
Based on the acclaimed novel by Jonathan Tropper, who...
Kelly & Cal | Review
Shared Tendencies: McGowan’s Debut an Understated Navigation of Character
While she’s not treading uncharted territories with her directorial debut, Kelly & Cal, Jen McGowan manages...
’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...
At the Devil’s Door | Review
Devil in Disguise: McCarthy’s Latest an Unnerving Indie Horror Film
Every now and then, a horror film comes along that’s reminiscent of a certain heyday...
Tales of the Grim Sleeper | 2014 TIFF Review
In Broomfield We Trust: Docu-helmer Hits the Pavement on Decades Sprawling South Central Serial Murder Case
Harkening back to his fascination with the backwoods serial...
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...
Honeymoon | Review
Period of Adjustment: Janiak’s Eerie Relationship Chiller a Provocative Debut
Weirdly unsettling, Leigh Janiak’s directorial debut, Honeymoon, is one of those rarely effective offbeat psychological...
I Am Here | 2014 TIFF Review
Wherein We Learn that Both Money and Karaoke are the Real Roots of All Evil
Lixin Fan, director of the Chinese migrant worker doc, Last...
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...
My Old Lady | 2014 TIFF Review
Seeds of Yesterday: Horovitz’s Debut a Tonally Uncomfortable Adaptation
Playwright and screenwriter Israel Horovitz makes his directorial debut with My Old Lady, an adaptation of...
IONCINEPHILE of the Month: Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins)
IONCINEMA.com’s IONCINEPHILE of the Month feature focuses on an emerging filmmaker from the world of cinema. This September, we put the spotlight on the...
Craig Johnson’s Top Ten Films of All Time List
Have you ever wondered what are the films that inspire the next generation of visionary filmmakers? As part of our monthly IONCINEPHILE profile (read...
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,...
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...
The Drop | 2014 TIFF Review
Dog Day Afternoon: Roskam Sets Romance Amidst Insider Heist
Coming off the white hot success of his hard hitting, Oscar nominated debut, Bullhead, Michaël Roskam...
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;...
Memphis | Review
Riding on a Western Dream: Sutton’s Sophomore Film Drifts About a Drifter
To refer to Tim Sutton’s sophomore film, Memphis as understated would itself be...
The Longest Week | Review
Arrested Development: Glanz’s Debut an Affluent Vacuum
For the most part, it’s an ingenious trick to fabricate an aura of empathy around a pool of...
The Scribbler | Review
I’m Scribbling as Fast as I Can: Suits Unsuited for Comic Book Adaptation
Within minutes of its meager running time, which opens with a disorienting...
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...
National Gallery | Review
Museum Hours: Wiseman's Three-Hour Documentary Is a Riveting Essay About Narrative Construction
The latest entry in Frederick Wiseman's tireless career project, which attempts to capture...
Innocence | Review
The Vice of Virtue: Brougher’s Latest Achieves Varied Results
Those familiar with Hilary Brougher’s offbeat sensibilities, as showcased in her delightful 1997 debut The Sticky...
Interview: George MacKay (Duane Hopkins’ Bypass)
It has been a rather long, almost interminable wait, but finally, Duane Hopkins' sophomore feature will finally be making its world premiere debut at...
Queen Margot | Blu-Ray Review
Arguably the most prolific title in director Patrice Chereau’s three decades of filmmaking, Cohen Media Group releases a beautiful remastering of Queen Margot for...
As Above So Below | Review
Devil in Distress: The Dowdle Bros. Spelunk Their Way to Hell
Known as acolytes of fallen angel M. Night Shyamalan, the output of the Dowdle...
The November Man | Review
Sweet, Silly November: Donaldson’s Espionage Thriller is Overbaked
Starting out with a standard template of flourishes one can find in any number of garden variety...
The Calling | Review
Busy Signals: Stone’s Aptly Named Thriller Phones It In
There is not anything innately offensive about a really decent made-for-TV thriller, especially the type based...
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...
Life of Crime | Review
Criminal Intent: Leonard Done Light
What remains most enticing about Daniel Schechter’s Life of Crime is its connection to Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 masterwork, Jackie Brown....
Criterion Collection: Love Streams | Blu-ray Review
John Cassavetes’ magnificent swan song, Love Streams receives the Criterion treatment this month, an addendum to the previously released five-title collection from the auteur....
Interview: Carter Smith – Jamie Marks is Dead
At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, we sat down with director Carter Smith to discuss his new film, Jamie Marks is Dead, which played...
The Last of Robin Hood | Review
Beverly Center: Flynn’s Final Scandal Makes for Interesting Cinematic Footnote
It’s been eight years since Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s 2006 sophomore film, Quinceanera swept...
