Tag: World Cinema review
The Banishing | Review
The Vicar Man: Smith Returns to Period with Bustling Slow Burn
If you’re familiar with the filmography of British filmmaker Christopher Smith, you know you’re...
Moffie [Video Review]
Call Me by Your Shame: Hermanus Mines Historical Trauma in Coming-of-Age Drama
It’s difficult to reconcile the messiness of the past with potential issues of...
In the Earth | Review
Middling Earth: Wheatley Explores Favored Motifs in Pensive Pandemic Exercise
If we’ve gleaned anything about circumventing Mother Nature, perhaps those 1970s Chiffon margarine commercials featuring...
The Power | Review
Night Nurse: Faith Finds the Night the Lights Went Out on the Patriarchy in Moody Debt
Director Corinna Faith makes fine use of period and...
The Salt of Tears | Review
Love Means Never Having to Say: Garrel Continues Exploration of Love and Lust
“Love ain’t nothin’ but sex misspelled,” Harlon Ellison astutely wrote, for too...
Violation [Video Review]
Crime & Punishment: Sims-Fewer & Mancinelli Serve a Cold Dish
Neither redemption nor revenge are at the complete behest of the individual, at least not...
Enforcement [Video Review]
Cop(s) Out: Hviid & Olholm Provide Neutral Portrait Prizing Familiar Perspectives
Cinema can certainly successfully exist as both a statement and a sentiment, and...
Slaxx [Video Review]
You Fit Me Better Than My Favorite Sweater: Kephart Gets Hemmed in by Killer Jeans
Who doesn’t like a pair of perfectly fitted blue jeans?...
The Courier [Video Review]
You’ve Got Mail: Cooke Leaves the Cold War on Ice in Sluggish Spy Thriller
Director Dominic Cooke, revered for his stage work before commencing on...
Come True [Video Review]
The Science of Sleep: Burns Roars into Your REM Cycle with Broody Thriller
“To sleep, perchance to scream” might be a takeaway impression from Come...
Albatros (Drift Away) | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Bye Bye Birdie: Beauvois Bears Burdens in Old-Fashioned Melodrama
The albatross, a large white seabird with a significant wingspan, has been a symbol of a...
Petite Maman | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Going Home Again: Sciamma Delivers a Slight, Eloquent Slice of Novel Sci-fi
Céline Sciamma has built a formidable filmography on tenuous stages of women’s developmental...
Quo Vadis, Aïda? | Review
And Who Shall Be Able to Stand?: Žbanić Returns to Srebrenica in Harrowing Account of Bosniak Genocide
If cinema has any responsibility as an artform,...
My Salinger Year | Review
Raise High the Roofbeams, Cinema: Falardeau’s Warm Homage Clangs Carpe Diem
“I think that one of these days…you’re going to find out where you want...
Next Door | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Neighbor Labor: Brühl Gruels Through Interesting Scenario, Banal Characters in Debut
Gentrification is supposedly the thrust of Next Door, Daniel Brühl’s directorial debut which showcases...
Introduction | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Prelude Mood: Sangsoo Explores Familiar Themes with Droll Snippets
What might one make of Hong Sang-soo if Introduction was their first experience with the perennial...
I’m Your Man | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
The Girl and the Robot: Schrader Wows with Exceptional Exploration of Love, or Something Like It
Harlan Ellison memorably titled a collection of short stories,...
Natural Light | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
In the Fog: No Light at the End of the War Tunnel in Nagy’s Grim Debut
Following in the well-grooved footsteps of many notable Euro...
Memory Box | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Analogue Chronicles: The Past is Present in the Latest Memory Exercise from Hadjithomas & Joreige
A veritable remembrance of things past catalyzes the semi-autobiographical narrative...
Night of the Kings | Review
The Grift of Gab: Lacote Walks the Line of Escapism vs. Survival in Magical Sophomore Film
“You look like someone who should be condemned,” remarks...
The Father | Review
Bend It Like Beckett: Zellers Adapts His Masterful Play into Exploratory Film
In Paradise Lost, John Milton remarked “The mind is its own place, and...
Sin | Review
A Judgment in Stone: Konchalovsky Mines Michelangelo in Period Portrait
The mental state, rather than the persona of Michelangelo Buonarroti as he struggled to satisfy...
I Care A Lot | Review
Battle of the Bilk: Blakeson Returns with Topical Con Comedy
“There’s no such thing as good people,” croons the dulcet Rosamund Pike over the opening...
Jumbo | Review
Do Introverts Dream of Electric Carousels?: Wittock Waxes Fatuous in Debut
A finely wrought tradition of European cinema includes a bounty of infamous depictions of...
The North Wind | 2021 IFFR Review
Go for Baroque: Litvinova Invokes Her Muses in a Delicious Feast of Opulent Visuals
“Nobody loves anybody and no one is happy,” remarks the matriarchal...
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet | 2021 Sundance Film Festival Review
If We Shadows Have Offended: Katz Gives the Dogs Their Day in Curious Metaphorical Journey
Perhaps it will be difficult for some to makes heads...
Knocking | 2021 Sundance Film Festival Review
Only This and Nothing More: Kempff Explores Cultural Gaslighting in Parochial Thriller
As in the timeless singsong of Poe’s classic poem “The Raven,” ‘suddenly there...
Beginning | Review
Carpet Burn: Kulumbegashvili Unnerves with Exacting Debut of Violence and Veneration
For decades, the international presence of Georgian cinema was thanks (mostly) to the output...
True Mothers | Review
Mother Has Arrived: Kawase Returns with Intersecting Drama on Motherhood
Recently, Naomi Kawase, a staple amongst arthouse enthusiasts of Japanese cinema, has been drifting ever...
Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time | Review
Lover Come Back: Horvat Forges Queasy Love Connection with Projections and Perceptions
For her sophomore narrative feature, the intoxicatingly titled Preparations to Be Together for...
Hunted [Video Review]
Once Upon a Time in Belgium: Paronnaud Goes into the Woods for Violent Retro-Fairytale
The notion of the wolf in sheep’s clothing busts into blurred...
The Dig [Video Review]
Sutton Hoo! Sutton Hay!: Stone Goes Deep in Recuperation of Notable Excavation
Director Simon Stone returns to a particular place during a particular period in...
Shadow in the Cloud | Review
A Face in the Cloud: Liang Cruises on Kooky with WWII Sci-Fi
There’s something to be said for a bonkers mishmash of genre tones and...
Dear Comrades! | Review
24-Hour Party People: Konchalovsky Examines Propaganda and Protests in Reenactment of Infamous Massacre
Sporting one of the most fascinating filmographies of any Russian (or any...
Hunter Hunter [Video Review]
Sheep Thrills: Linden Gets Under Your Skin with Slow Burn Thriller
Canada’s Shawn Linden certainly leaves a lasting impression with his third outing, Hunter Hunter,...
Wild Mountain Thyme [Video Review]
Birds & Bees: Shanley Returns with Shopworn Romance
Director John Patrick Shanley returns with his third feature Wild Mountain Thyme, based on his own 2014...
The Weasels’ Tale [Video Review]
Pop Goes the Remake: Campanella Returns with Ghoulish Remake of Black Comedy
In the 2000s, the New Argentine Cinema gained international prominence thanks to a...
Education | Review
School of Crock: McQueen Turns His Eyes to the Stars in Final Anthology Installment
Across five films spanning a period of 1969 to 1982, Steve...
Luxor | Review
Hotel Spell: Durra Explores the Tenuousness of the Present Through Romance of the Past
She hasn’t quite lost that loving feeling, which seems to be...
Another Round | Review
The Libation Bearers: Vinterberg Explores a Collective Mid-life Crisis in Boozy Black Comedy
Thomas Vinterberg returns to his favored motifs, experimental behavioral portraits of Danish...
Alex Wheatle | Review
Odds Against Tomorrow: McQueen’s Anthology Explores Tribulations of Famed Novelist
For the fourth installment of his five-title Small Axe anthology series, director Steve McQueen recuperates...
Red, White and Blue | Review
A Bridge Too Far: McQueen Explores the Inherent Sacrifice of Community Service in Straightforward Drama
With Red, White and Blue, the third film in Steve...
The Life Ahead [Video Review]
In the Mood for Loren: Ponti Resurrects an Icon in Reticent Remake
It’s been over a decade since iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren appeared...
Stardust [Video Review]
Stars Are Blind: Range Paints a Portrait of the Bowie as a Young Man
The risk with creating a project about a major cultural icon...
Lovers Rock | Review
Joyful Noise: McQueen Makes the People Come Together in First “Small Axe” Segment
Director Steve McQueen surprises with Lovers Rock, the second leg of his...
Malina (1991) | Review
You Can’t Handle the Fugue: Schroeter Burns Bright with Infamous Bachmann Adaptation
What is it about Werner Schroeter’s Malina so seemingly repellant it resulted in...
Monsoon [Video Review]
Weathering Heights: Khaou Searches for Solace in Stodgy Travelogue
The adage born from Thomas Wolfe’s sentiment notwithstanding, the act of revisiting one’s origins through a...
Wolfwalkers | Review
The Call of the Wild: Moore Crafts Exceptional Animated Odyssey in Third Outing
Another example of how rich cultural subtexts can be reformatted for profound...
Mangrove | Review
All for Notting Hill: McQueen Paints the Power of Resistance in Period Courtroom Drama
The first of five installments from Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology,...
Sleepless Beauty [Video Review]
To Sleep, Perchance to Scream: Khvaleev Gets Re-creative with Mind Control
Mind control is the name of the game in Sleepless Beauty, the fourth feature...
