“‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is a superhero movie with a lot to say and do, paced well for a film over 160 minutes long, but it still dumbs itself down at times because either the director or studio simply doesn’t trust the audience.”
“Acting coaches should take a look at Dylan & Zoey’s bathroom monologue scene… this is the type of cinema that I’m always looking for.”
“Dunham delivers the most polished and confident feature of the four she has made so far…”
“At just under 90 minutes, ‘Exposing Muybridge’ doesn’t wear out its welcome, but there are a few aspects of the subject’s colorful legacy that could have used more detail and consideration.”
“‘Meet Me in the Bathroom’ succeeds when viewed as a celebratory snapshot of the Big Apple’s pre-9/11 rock youth. Still, the overall approach feels off and somewhat uninspired.”
“‘Saint Omer’ isn’t a film that looks at gendered and racial dynamics in the courtroom; it’s a film that looks at the ideological puppet strings that define those gendered and racial dynamics beyond immediate visibility.”
“Be it film, novel, poem or song, the triangle is one of the most frequent tropes in storytelling. Denis is such a gifted moviemaker, though, that cliche is absent from the precise and specific moments inside her intelligently constructed universe.”
“At its best, Noah Baumbach’s impressive and thoroughly decent adaptation of ‘White Noise’ interestingly discusses people’s relatable ownership of secrets yet complete inability to internalize them.”
“Poitras avoids melodrama, catharsis and sensationalism in ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.’ The result is acutely devastating.”
“It is hard to partake in the self-congratulatory tone of She Said’s conclusion.”
“‘Halloween Ends’ succeeds or fails on the strength of Campbell’s performance, and the young, relatively new performer is a revelation.”
“‘Moonage Daydream’ is committed to art and artist. With few exceptions, like the acknowledgement of Bowie’s love for Iman, private life stays private.”
“‘One Fine Morning’ is an exercise in comparatively calm, delicate cinema. It balances serenity with pathos and never strays from realism, in contradistinction to Hansen-Løve’s previous film — the highly metafictional, altogether more playful ‘Bergman Island.'”
“Ferguson applies remarkable editorial skill to make judicious choices regarding what to keep in ‘Nothing Compares’ and what to omit.”
“Oakley constructs a landscape in ‘Blue Jean’ that responds to the cruelty of real society with a stark generosity. As a result, the audience is invited to sympathize with as many characters as possible.”
“A fatalist flick like ‘Blonde’ — which, importantly, is not a biopic — and serial killer documentaries like ‘The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes’ can at once be exploitative and insightful. Both things can be true.”
“‘Deadstream’ is an inventive, unpredictable and hugely charming found footage horror film, but it’s also a clever indictment of internet culture with a gripping, vanity-free lead performance from its co-writer/director.”
“In an instant, it is plain to see that Davis is superior to her material.”
“‘Searching for Ingmar Bergman’ is one of the better documentaries about a legendary filmmaker.”
“‘Blonde’ will entertain open-minded cinephiles who enjoy being dominated by bold and ambitious filmmaking.”