London Film Festival Review: Angela Schanelec’s ‘Music’
“The rhythms in ‘Music’ — the shift from one image to the next — make sense in ways that defy obvious explanation, much like the film itself.”
London Film Festival Review: Anh Hung Tran’s ‘The Taste of Things’
“There is no one better at channelling the multi-faceted force of joy than Binoche, whose entrancing performance grounds ‘The Taste of Things’ in its gentle tragedy.”
London Film Festival Review: Goran Stolevski’s ‘Housekeeping for Beginners’
“Stolevski’s work has air and breath to it, like someone in love with the energy of simply creating.”
London Film Festival Review: Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’
“A distinctly Ghibli feel pervades ‘The Boy and the Heron,’ which more comprehensively and ambitiously connects the studio’s interests than ever before — in whimsy and poignancy, struggle and adventure, the serious and the magical.”
London Film Festival Review: Warwick Thornton’s ‘The New Boy’
“‘The New Boy’ is a film of deep, mystical qualities, and I can’t wait to revisit it.”
London Film Festival Review: Andrew Haigh’s ‘All of Us Strangers’
“‘All of Us Strangers’ is a film that becomes all the more haunting the further from it you get.”
London Film Festival Review: Hirokazu Koreeda’s ‘Monster’
“Children and adults are complex; they behave differently depending on who they are with, performing various roles to survive. ‘Monster’ underlines this lesson by masterfully harmonizing writing, performance, cinematography, sound and more.”
London Film Festival Review: Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
“I much prefer DiCaprio’s more comedic performances to his dramatic ones, but ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ feels like career-best dramatic work from the actor…”
London Film Festival Review: Radu Jude’s ‘Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World’
“‘Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World’ is a jolt of energy, one that bounds forward — always a few leaps ahead of its audience.”
London Film Festival Review: Todd Haynes’ ‘May December’
“‘May December’ has the initial feel of a heightened, vaguely trashy soap opera, revealing new layers to its central figures the more they question their perceived roles.”
TIFF Review: Wendy Bednarz’s ‘Yellow Bus’
“‘Yellow Bus’ tries to manufacture misunderstandings that may naturally exist in a country that has a diverse immigrant population, but Bednarz’s heavy-handed sociology lesson ultimately aligns with the pseudo-intellectual drivel of ‘Crash’ and ‘Babel.'”
London Film Festival Review: Kitty Green’s ‘The Royal Hotel’
“The differences between the equally impressive ‘The Assistant’ and ‘The Royal Hotel’ prove that there is more room for subversive thrillers directed by Green.”
Review: Alex Kahuam’s ‘Failure!’
“‘Failure!’ is a failed experiment that grates more than it excites.”
Review: David Depesseville’s ‘Astrakan’
“‘Astrakan’ is most intriguing when not trying to explain everything away.”
TIFF Review: Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’
“‘The Holdovers’ tries a little too hard to swerve melancholic moments into a hokey optimism, as it’s indebted to a screenwriters’ seminar-style narrative.”
TIFF Review: Jonathan Glazer’s ‘The Zone of Interest’
“If one is willing to meet ‘The Zone of Interest’ on its own terms, Glazer’s film offers an uncompromising glimpse at the lengths people will go to avoid seeing the horrors around them…”
TIFF Review: Richard Linklater’s ‘Hit Man’
“‘Hit Man’ is easily one of Richard Linklater’s most entertaining and emotionally satisfying films.”
Review: Marcellus Cox’s ‘Mickey Hardaway’
“‘Mickey Hardaway’ is the real deal.”
Venice Film Festival Review: Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Poor Things’
“Lanthimos examines human emotion as a sort of mask that we wear, stripping his characters of time and place to observe the raw human animal. ‘Poor Things’ might be the purest distillation of this yet.”
Venice Film Festival Review: Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’
“There is so much to adore in ‘Maestro,’ as Cooper’s supremely controlled vision touches greatness and sustains it.”