Review: Tynan DeLong’s ‘Dad & Step-Dad’
“Tynan DeLong’s ‘Dad & Step-Dad’ finds comedic gold in awkward silence and silly stare-downs.”
An Interview with ‘Aattam’ Filmmaker Anand Ekarshi
‘Aattam’ Interview: Dipankar Sarkar discusses the 2023 movie with filmmaker Anand Ekarshi.
Review: Louise Archambault’s ‘Irena’s Vow’
“Unfortunately, it takes about 90 minutes for ‘Irena’s Vow’ to find its aesthetic and narrative groove.”
Review: Alice Rohrwacher’s ‘La Chimera’
“‘La Chimera’ will hopefully inspire movie lovers of all ages to learn more about not only Italian cinema, but also the specificities of regional (and rural) Italian culture.”
Crime Scene #14: ‘Five Deadly Venoms’ and Kung Fu Criminality
“The spatial detail in ‘Five Deadly Venoms,’ aided by Chang’s sharp sense of timing, helped the film become a surprisingly labyrinthine vision of camaraderie in the face of corruption and power.”
Review: Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’
“‘Civil War’ is a lot smarter than meets the eye, and the film is far more incisive in its cultural critique than its director’s simplistic interview comments may make it seem.”
Review: ‘Parish’ Season 1
“At six episodes, ‘Parish’ isn’t quite satisfying. It’s hard to say if it’s too long or not long enough. Maybe it’s the muggy American gothic New Orleans locations that made me err on the side of wishing it were longer.”
Review: Robert Lorenz’s ‘In the Land of Saints and Sinners’
“‘In the Land of Saints and Sinners’ truly sings during its quietest moments.”
Review: Arkasha Stevenson’s ‘The First Omen’
“What ‘The First Omen’ lacks in innovation it makes up for in boldness, pushing familiar supernatural genre tropes about the secret relationship between the Church and the Devil to ideological extremes.”
Review: George Henry Horton’s ‘Project Dorothy’
“‘Project Dorothy’ has nothing meaningful to say about the lingering AI threat to humanity.”
Review: Helena Coan’s ‘The Lie: The Murder of Grace Millane’
“Part of the film’s effectiveness lies in the iceberg-style storytelling, which respects the audience’s intelligence by showing and addressing crime scene evidence without detailing the grisly specifics.”
Manchester Film Festival Review: Matthew Butler-Hart’s ‘Dagr’
“‘Dagr’ isn’t a bad found footage movie, and it has its moments of fun, yet Butler-Hart’s film doesn’t sustain the promise of its opening scenes.”
BFI Flare Review: Sacha Polak’s ‘Silver Haze’
“Queerness that isn’t defined by its queerness is always a green flag, but what makes ‘Silver Haze’ an enriching addition to the lesbian canon of cinema is its rugged ties to the British working class.”
Manchester Film Festival Review: Dan Pringle’s ‘Die Before You Die’
“‘Die Before You Die’ is a solid independent horror film that, in its best moments, balances effective satire with claustrophobic terror.”
Review: Mike Cheslik’s ‘Hundreds of Beavers’
“‘Hundreds of Beavers’ stands on its own as one of the best rollercoaster-like films of the 2020s, but there’s also potential for a silent cinema-themed series starring Tews and Graves.”
BFI Flare Review: Luke Willis’ ‘Lady Like’
“A unique sense of intimacy arguably makes ‘Lady Like’ the strongest of all the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ documentaries produced so far, but that doesn’t mean it is flawless in the wider medium.”
Review: Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s ‘Femme’
“‘Femme’ is lean, mean, nasty, challenging, knotty, uncomfortable and disorientating — often all at once.”
An Interview with ‘Thadavu’ Filmmaker Fazil Razak
‘Thadavu’ Interview: Dipankar Sarkar discusses the 2023 movie with filmmaker Fazil Razak.
Review: Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy’s ‘Baltimore’
“Poots isn’t just good in ‘Baltimore’ — she’s breathtakingly brilliant.”
An Interview with ‘Riptide’ Filmmaker Afrad Vk
‘Riptide’ Interview: Dipankar Sarkar discusses the 2024 movie with filmmaker Afrad Vk.