“In ‘A Private War,’ Rosamund Pike embodies a woman under the influence, a real-life war journalist in pursuit of truth. She establishes an authentic physical interpretation — high shoulders, low vocal tone, 90-degree arm posturing — and then improvises for a more in-depth character portrait.”
“…an energizing portrait of working class, mad-as-hell action — and the birth of a national celebrity.”
“‘Yesterday’ didn’t need to be a dry, emotionless sci-fi story, but in taking such a basic approach to the concept, it really lessens the impact and results in a watered-down, forgettable experience.”
“Featuring powerful lead performances, ‘Manta Ray’ is like a perfectly wrapped present that needs to be opened with care.”
“‘Late Night’ struggles to define almost all the characters in the ensemble beyond providing the majority with a single, instantly recognizable trait.”
“Playing almost like a self-eulogy, ‘Varda by Agnès’ resonates as both a manifesto to untamed creativity and a testament to future generations of artists.”
“While moments of grace and levity abound, Peralta remains clear-eyed about the difficulty of maintaining relationships – to people, to places, to the past – and rarely backs off from her stance.”
“Tip-toeing on the smudged edges between fiction and documentary, ‘So Pretty’ is an experiment in means of representation and ultimately a tender ode to an unjustly forgotten author.”
“Poe’s direction creates a heightened but never unrealistic frame in which her characters can maneuver. Her singular, assured vision avoids stilted dialogue or absurd scenes.”
“The rom-com isn’t dead. It was simply evolving into something more interesting, more modern and more accepting.”
“Not everyone, and not even every Dylan fan, will go along with the tall tales, but amidst the japes are several of the most riveting live performances of Dylan’s career.”
“Through sharp sound design and awkward moments of situational comedy, ‘Olla’ highlights the inner fire of a young woman; a charismatic vagabond. Like her frequent collaborator Yorgos Lanthimos, Labed uses tonally offbeat situations to hilariously explore perceptions of logical and illogical behavior.”
“There is seething, justified anger that underscores the plot of ‘Bhoga Khirikee’; an anger that could be used to create extremely radical female characters who pull the plot forward instead of becoming cardboard stand-ins for the filmmaker’s radical politics.”
“At least, ‘The Death of Dick Long’ is a homecoming for the Alabamian Scheinert that uses his warped view of the place to create a glowing nostalgia and a strong vision for American Indie cinema.”
“When everything aligns, ‘Share’ works brilliantly and feels like a true indie hit. Unfortunately, such moments are fleeting, and it ultimately feels like a glorified student film.”
“Through film, people can step outside the bounds of space and time to revisit the past, to see something old from a new vantage point.”
“Coppola’s recent work is not a ‘return to form,’ whatever that means, but rather part of an ongoing exploration of what the form can do, showing an artist increasingly interested in only trying things he hasn’t done before.”
“‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco’ soars, stretching gull wings as a poetic lament articulating longing and loss recognizable and accessible to all.”
“Many ‘Starfish’ reviews pick up on the film’s unmistakable exploration of grief, but just as many neglect to mention the other half of White’s semi-autobiographical work and its reckoning with guilt and regret.”
“Brice and company get too tied up in the character comedy for ‘Corporate Animals’ to work as a satire, and the televisual filmmaking isn’t helped by a plotline that could have been a single episode of ‘The Office.'”