Review: Marielle Heller’s ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’
“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: Seeking Family and Identity in Four Female-Directed Debuts
London Korean Film Festival: Serena Scateni on ‘Young-ju,’ ‘A Bedsore, ‘A Boy and Sungreen’ and ‘Yukiko’
Review: Todd Haynes’ ‘Dark Waters’
“‘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.”
Bong Joon-Ho’s ‘Parasite’ Infiltrates Year-End Best Movies Lists
“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.”
Karyn Kusama’s ‘Destroyer’: The Question of Identity
“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…”
Sharing the Cinematic Bathwater: From Wim to Jim
“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.”
12 Angry Films: Sidney Lumet on Justice #5 – ‘Dog Day Afternoon’
“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.”
Review: Mike Flanagan’s ‘Doctor Sleep’
“In a weird way, Flanagan might have inadvertently made the best X-Men movie to date.”
Review: Noah Baumbach’s ‘Marriage Story’
“At once riveting and entertaining, while inciting in the viewer visceral and arduous self-reflection, ‘Marriage Story’ is an uncompromising and deeply affectionate reflection on what pulls us apart and yet what keeps us bound together despite it all.”
I Sing for Myself: Renée and Judy on Judy Garland
“Judy the Actress and Judy the Icon may have been one in the same after all.”
Robert Eggers Unlocks ‘The Lighthouse’
“‘The Witch’ may be the superior film, but ‘The Lighthouse’ shows Eggers growing by leaps and bounds as a storyteller and visual stylist.”
There’s No One Driving the Car: ‘Hustlers’ as Neo-Noir
“From the moment Ramona first appears, ‘Hustlers’ announces itself as a new addition to the neo-noir cannon — a film about bright lights in dark places.”
The Man Who Laughs: Richard Widmark’s Early Noirs
“Widmark offers a succession of performances in ‘Kiss of Death, ‘The Street with No Name’ and ‘Road House’ that show a young actor building, then resisting, and then reconciling his own burgeoning screen persona.”
Review: Ciro Guerra’s ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’
“‘Waiting for the Barbarians’ is utterly removed from anything of Italy, and yet echoes the most vulgar and despicable parts of film culture.”
Manic Lust in Neo-Giallo ‘Knife + Heart’
“As a love letter to a cinematic wave of films that were (and are) often dismissed as style devoid of substance, ‘Knife+Heart’ triumphs in both story and genre evolution.”
Review: Milena Lurie’s ‘Entangled’
“‘Entangled’ feels like a clunky ‘Love in New York’ story during the first hour, but ultimately transforms into a moving tale about self-love and acceptance.”
The Neorealist Connection: Italy’s Polizieschi
“Though the polizieschi may seem far away from the quiet nobility of the Neorealist films, with all their sober-minded social critique, they are bound together by the privileging of the real world.”
Review: Pietro Marcello’s ‘Martin Eden’
“In ‘Martin Eden,’ the games that Marcello plays with form and structure coalesce into an immensely moving film, which — grounded by the standout turn from Marinelli — offers a new direction for the stale “Great American Novel” adaptation.”
Penelope Spheeris’ ‘Suburbia’: Not Just a Teenage Wasteland
“‘Suburbia’ is a punk classic not just because it deeply understands and empathizes with its culture – the music, the violence, the clothes, the often-jarring lack of political sophistication – but because it understands something important about punk’s place in society at large…”
Julia Hart Powers Up with ‘Fast Color’
“‘Fast Color’ deserves a close look…”