Tag: top-stories
The Conversation: Producer Megan Ellison
Producer Megan Ellison quickly ascended the ranks as of the most notable and recognizable US film producers over the last decade, working with a...
Ghost in the Shell | Review
Dispirited Away: Sanders Succeeds with Somber Live-Action Remake of Cult Manga
The essence of Masamune Shirow’s 1989 cult manga Ghost in the Shell automatically lends...
Cezanne et Moi | Review
Their Brilliant Careers: Thompson’s Flavorless Exploration of Famed Friendship
Those hoping for an invigorating comeback from Daniele Thompson following her egregiously ludicrous It Happened in...
The Zookeeper’s Wife | Review
My Antonina: Chastain Saves the Day in Glossy Holocaust Drama
As a byproduct of commodifying historical based cinema, we’ve become numb and desensitized to depictions...
Criterion Collection: Blow-Up | Blu-ray Review
Italian auteur Michelangelo Antonioni ended the 1960s, his most consequential and revered cinematic period, with a legendary bang. Following his quartet of brooding treatments...
The Conversation: Producer Vincent Maraval
Since its inception in the late 1990s as a subsidiary of Studiocanal, before breaking off on its own in 2002, French distribution company Wild...
Life | Review
In Space No One Can See You Steal: Espinosa Imitates another Celluloid Form
The vastness of space and the limitlessness of the universe are abstract,...
I, Olga Hepnarova | Review
Gray is the Cruelest Color: Kazda and Weinreb Resurrect a Murderess
Unlike the hopeful social realism angle of the comparably titled Palme d’Or winning I,...
Metamorphoses | Review
Europa, Europa: Honore Eloquently Updates Ovid for Masterful, Playful Adaptation
There really isn’t a modern counterpart (even if Francois Ozon might come close) for the...
The Conversation: Producer Olivier Père
Since joining ARTE France Cinema in 2013, producer Olivier Père has become a prolific fixture on the Croisette. Making a bow in Un Certain...
Beauty and the Beast | Review
The Beast Must Die: Condon’s Expensive Rehash is Fairy Tale Facsimile
For a film with a budget of three hundred million claiming to be the...
After the Storm | Review
Together Again: Koreeda Unveils another Bittersweet Carefully Constructed Familial Melodrama
For the past decade or so, Japanese auteur has conquered the market on sharply observed...
Song to Song | Review
Music Makes the People: Malick Slathers Austin, Texas with Signature Emotional Ennui
Fragments of lovers drowning beneath the weight of their own expectations and stagnant...
Suntan | Review
Death in Greece: Papadimitropoulos Examines a Doctor and His Devils with Engrossing Character Portrait
An uncomfortable but prolific subset of the psychological drama would...
Kong: Skull Island | Review
Kong’s Crib: Vogt-Roberts Strains Weak Characters Through Special Effects Pageant
In the continuing tradition of flinging fledgling indie directors into studio tent pole franchise reboots,...
The Ottoman Lieutenant | Review
The Turkish Lieutenant’s Woman: Ruben Stumbles on Tedious War Time Romance
At one point, director Joseph Ruben was the go-to guy for glossy B-grade...
The Sense of an Ending | Review
Man of Letters: Batra Crafts Low-Key Adaptation with Handsome Ensemble
“The wine of youth does not always clear with advancing years; sometimes it grows turbid,”...
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...
