“‘Richard Jewell’ is, for the most part, a captivating recreation of a man’s journey through hell and back. Its strong acting and character relationship dynamics are the main selling points, as Eastwood’s sense of direction and pacing are the best they have been in a long time.”
“Playing with of-the-moment vocabulary familiar on college campuses, the latest ‘Black Christmas’ upends several slasher conventions, even if the film is a step down from the director’s excellent ‘Always Shine.'”
“‘Prince of the City’ is a taxing, draining experience, but one that is ultimately rooted in very real despair; the system, it argues, has failed. If these characters are the products of the American criminal justice system, then it ought to be blown up.”
“‘QT8: The First Eight’ is a serviceable, well-edited survey of Tarantino’s filmography prior to ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.'”
“There’s no telling the story of Khodorkovsky without telling the story of Russia, and it’s for that reason that ‘Citizen K’ is rather invaluable to people like this writer, Americans of a certain age who perhaps aren’t well versed in Russian history.”
“Jennifer Kent’s ‘The Nightingale’ will not attract the same cult following or breadth of widespread fan devotion as ‘The Babadook,’ but her latest marks significant progress in the filmmaker’s command of story and cinematic language.”
“While a number of combat films released in 1943 focus almost exclusively on the male war effort, ‘So Proudly We Hail!’ finds nobility, heroism, anger, racism, sacrifice and camaraderie in its female characters.”
“With ‘Daniel Isn’t Real,’ Mortimer stands by his choices and doesn’t wobble. The result is a film that’s harmonious and undiluted, if prickly and divisive.”
“The desperate need to locate hope and light (and maybe even love where those things are in short supply) recommends ‘Queen & Slim,’ especially at a time of frustration and division.”
“During Rodrigo y Gabriela’s recent show at Minneapolis’ State Theatre, “Echoes” fell smack in the middle of their set, creating a sense of space that heightened the immediacy of the surrounding original tracks.”
“Lewton’s insights into both childhood and adult inner personal conflicts are legacies which deserve recognition in the foundational history of horror, both for psychological thrillers and fantasy films.”
“Who is going to argue with the casting of Tom Hanks? Even so, the reason I don’t care for most fictionalized biopics lies in the imitation of one well-known person by another.”
London Korean Film Festival: Serena Scateni on ‘Young-ju,’ ‘A Bedsore, ‘A Boy and Sungreen’ and ‘Yukiko’
“The Hancock persona tapped into a uniquely British strain of malaise, which manifests itself in a fractious fatalism, a dread of impotence which finds its expression in outlandish displays of petulance, pettiness and pomposity.”
“‘Dark Waters’ may have a downbeat climax, to the degree that may not be considered a climax at all, yet it’s a film made to inspire action, to underline the idea that this crisis is a modern one — it’s still happening, and it’s not resolved.”
“Like the Master of Suspense before him, Bong effortlessly blends the horrific and the comic en route to the icebox talk that has viewers questioning their own attitudes and beliefs through the unanswered mysteries of the story.”
“Kusama skillfully reinterprets the stylistics of classic film noir to explore the genre’s timeless and heady themes: obsession, loneliness, guilt and (most of all) identity…”
“Nicholas Brennan’s film makes a hugely convincing argument for following your dreams at all costs.”
“In retrospect, a film can seem so intentional, with every artistic choice so deliberate, that you can’t imagine it being any other way. But these movies that last for generations are often shaped by whims and circumstance.”
“By creating such a sympathetic, human subject, Lumet deepens the impact of his institutional critique of the justice system; its dehumanizing effect on American society seems all the more tragic when Sonny is its victim.”