“Rowland’s direction throughout is clean and deliberate, rarely showy. He evokes the kind of barren small town where there is almost nothing to fight over, although some still find a way. There’s a bleakness to all of it, a greyness.”
“Sumptuously designed, elegantly appointed and spectacularly costumed and coiffed, de Wilde’s fresh rendition has a piquant flavor complemented as much by self-aware sexiness as the abundant pastel hues on display.”
“‘Jezebel’ is a rallying cry for all black girls trying to figure out who they see in the mirror and on the screen.”
“‘Miss & Mrs. Cops’ is a genuinely light-hearted movie which never strays into the emotional register of real life or real pain.”
“Roinsard is so preoccupied with setting up the next twist that ‘Les traducteurs’ does little to establish why viewers should care.”
Marshall Shaffer on Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2020: ‘On a Magical Night, ‘Perfect Nanny, ‘Deerskin,’ ‘Someone, Somewhere’ and ‘The Dazzled’
“Whannell’s ‘The Invisible Man’ is an absolute banger, and stands tall as the most spectacular evolution of the story to hit the big screen.”
“‘Fungus II’ is another reminder that not only is Segall one of the most hard-working and talented artists of the last decade, but also a genuine musical omnivore.”
“Mahnaz Mohammadi’s tale of an Iranian mother’s dilemma render the emotional highs and lows of its characters with a naturalistic clarity.”
“Why are we watching if the director’s gaze — and hence our own — makes us feel like we’re intruding spaces that should be left otherwise untouched?”
Swedish Film Critic Jakob Åsell on the Sounds of Berlinale 2020
“Great art has every piece in intimate communion with the art as a whole. ‘Gretel & Hansel’ takes an elemental approach to the folklore, gasping with the fears of the original material while exhaling a new mystique of its own.”
“Reichardt’s story has the mythic quality of a fable, but refrains from moralising or casting judgement on the misdeeds and mistakes of its characters.”
“Hong Sang-soo’s cinematic apparatus might seem limited to some, but it’s in the endless repetition of the same movements that perfection is achieved.”
“Similarly to its lead, ‘Mogul Mowgli’ indicates its awareness of the big themes tied to the experiences of young British-Pakistani men, but doesn’t quite do all the legwork required to properly manifest a thesis.”
“Franz and Fiala scale down Kubrick’s more expansive vision, and the result offers its own kind of skin-crawling satisfaction.”
“For those suffering from the same dissatisfactions depicted in ‘Touki Bouki’ and ‘Taipei Story’ — be they based on economics, vocation, familial and romantic relations or a broad national uncertainty — hope may be all there is. And that, at least, is something.”
“By addressing the dark realities of show business, ‘Cabaret Maxime’ spotlights the beauty of unconditional artistic love – for an individual creative pursuit, and for a shared belief system amongst peers.”
“‘The Snake Pit’ became the first Hollywood film to address mental health in such a raw way, and set a standard for future films that similarly explore the topic.”
“Stray’s expanded timeline, along with Bambara’s skill in conjuring a distinctly Southern kind of horror, feels akin to True Detective’s spectacular first season.”