Tribeca Film Festival Review: Tanya Wexler’s ‘Buffaloed’
“No one in ‘Buffaloed’ shines brighter than Deutch, who gives a performance that will completely redefine her as an actress.”
Tribeca Film Festival Review: Christoph Waltz’s ‘Georgetown’
“‘Georgetown’ is far from an egregious festival bomb, but Waltz’s directorial craftsmanship lacks the flair of his performance work.”
Moshing Into Laughter: An Interview with ‘Heavy Trip’ Directors Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren
Pablo Staricco Cadenazzi Interviews ‘Heavy Trip’ Directors Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren
An Interview with ‘All These Small Moments’ Director Melissa Miller Costanzo
Pablo Staricco Cadenazzi Interviews Writer-Director Melissa Miller Costanzo
In Her Feature Directorial Debut, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre Tames ‘The Mustang’
“Not all of Clermont-Tonnerre’s story moves hold up under logical scrutiny, but ‘The Mustang’ succeeds despite its familiarity.”
The Sharp Pang of Growing Up: Rima Das’ ‘Bulbul Can Sing’
“Das’ direction examines one’s reluctance to imagine the future in any detail during childhood. She highlights the transformative power of nature, the way it allows one’s true self to shine through and thus inspires the pursuit of hidden passions.”
Review: Alex Ross Perry’s ‘Her Smell’
“Perry has written an anti-heroine who is wholly clued into her own mythology metaphor, referring to herself and the band’s circumstances using the self-aggrandizing language of conquests, lore and legacy.”
Artist Rashid Johnson Makes Feature Debut with ‘Native Son’
“Whether or not Johnson overcomes the arguments made by James Baldwin in essays contained within ‘Notes of a Native Son’ rests largely with the viewer’s sympathies with the objectives and sensibilities of Wright (and Johnson).”
A Romanticized Tale of Time: Jia Zhangke’s ‘Ash Is Purest White’
“‘Ash Is Purest White,’ Zhangke’s latest film, is another masterful chapter of the director’s artistic journey, one that works wonderfully as a point of entry into his oeuvre.”
Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ Tethers Audience to Gut-Check Self-Examination
“Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ cements the filmmaker’s reputation as a master craftsman and visual stylist. Creepy, funny and wicked sharp, the film’s genre is horror, the ideas are expansive and the execution is clean.”
Review: Harmony Korine’s ‘The Beach Bum’
“‘The Beach Bum’ is undoubtedly Harmony Korine’s friendliest movie, as the filmmaker tones down his Jean-Luc Godard meets John Waters envelope-pushing tendencies and alienating techniques, yet there’s still a lot of edge to be found in the film.”
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2019 Review: George Gounezos’ ‘Outer Space Kids’
“The film itself doesn’t have a clear narrative structure, but that’s not at all a detriment. ‘Outer Space Kids’ is more so an experience, a glimpse into a world of art that exists beyond socially constructed borders.”
‘And Breathe Normally’: An Incredibly Human Icelandic Story
“Uggadottir’s ‘And Breathe Normally’ evokes a whole new style of Icelandic cinema, one which is inseparable from the country’s physical existence.”
Fargo Proud: Northern Lights Films Debuts ‘To the Stars’ at Sundance
“The director handles all the confused attraction with enough sophistication that the plot’s actual direction sneaks up in a manner that smartly defies cliche, as well as the audience’s first likely guess.”
Clermont-Ferrand 2019 Short Film Review: Chien-Yu Lin’s ‘The Sound of Falling’
“‘The Sound of Falling’ is beguiling and a handsome work by a promising filmmaker. Whether Chien-Yu Lin’s future work lands on either writing, directing or production design, she’s one to keep an eye on.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Naomi Kawase’s ‘Vision’
“It’s commendable that Kawase tries to bridge the gap between the West and the East by writing a story that attempts to transcend both time and any kind of racial differences.”
Review: A.T. White’s ‘Starfish’
“This is a moody, thoughtful and impressively weird debut feature from White.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Radu Jude’s ‘I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians’
“‘I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History’ provides historical context of a brutal period not known to many, and facilitates a discussion of Romania’s pro-Nazi involvement in the Second World War. But narratively, Jude’s film achieves little.”
Clermont-Ferrand 2019 Short Film Review: Kitao Sakurai’s ‘The Passage’
“With a gorgeous vintage sheen across its 4:3 aspect ratio, Sakurai’s short establishes a magical realist land that magnifies the burgeoning diversity of America today – along with all the confusion, preposterousness and sudden violence that comes with it.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Peter Hedges’ ‘Ben Is Back’
“Even if ‘Ben is Back’ tries a little too hard to ramp up the stakes, the fact remains that Hedges and Roberts’ performances make for an incredibly powerful on-screen relationship.”