“‘Raging Bull’ — a complex character study about methods and codes of conduct — all too often gets reductively tagged as Scorsese’s toxic masculinity sports movie that allowed De Niro to lose (and gain) weight in pursuit of an Oscar.”
“In Caravaggio and Scorsese’s art, the silent actions of male and female characters speak louder than words. We don’t need to hear Holofernes scream to understand what Judith has taken.”
“Under May’s stare in ‘The Heartbreak Kid,’ and through the provocations of scene partners, Grodin creates a character of rare stature: a horrifying, stone-dumb genius.”
“In my hatred for the Bond franchise, I feel I may have done a disservice to its star. I have always had a tendency to discount Sean Connery as an exquisitely sculpted statue, capable of filling out a tuxedo very nicely but little else.”
“One of the great joys in viewing the films amassed under the World Cinema Project banner is discovering the richness of a nation’s cultural and scenic backdrop.”
“As always, Spike Lee asks all the right questions, and it’s up to us to recognize that even though the answers may not be ones we want to hear, we need to grapple with them all the same.”
“In their conversations, Soderbergh and Nichols work together to dismantle the artificial dividing line between art and criticism, neatly moving between the two…”
“Hammer’s short length may feel like a detriment to some and seem too sparse, with its brevity making for some awkward moments. That said, it’s a refreshing change from the sprawling crime sagas of late…”
“‘Underground’ remains a controversial and wildly ambitious film, one that refuses to be pinned down. It’s a never-ending hall of mirrors that reveals more about the audience than the narrative itself.”
“Moss is nothing short of phenomenal in ‘Shirley,’ filling out her performance with a steady flow of poisonously perfect wisecracks, putdowns and insults…”
“Hardy provides something alien, both amusing and disgusting, a unique cross between Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance in ‘The Shining’ and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Bug in ‘Men in Black.'”
“‘True History of the Kelly Gang’ explodes like a Molotov cocktail, one that is fueled by punk spirit and more androgynous costuming than a New York Dolls album.”
“Filled with powerful female-led moments, laid on the backdrop of the Icelandic countryside, Hákonarson’s crowd-pleasing humanist creation strengthens Iceland’s reputation within the international film circuit.”