Review: Jimmy Warden’s ‘Borderline’
“Just like a Hollywood actor or actress who doesn’t quite know when to stop performing amongst family members and friends, ‘Borderline’ is frequently annoying yet always entertaining and unpredictable.”
Review: Racheal Cain’s ‘Somnium’
“‘Somnium’ is rather predictable, as first-time feature filmmakers like Cain tend to prioritize visual design over the nuts and bolts of their script.”
TIFF 2025 Review: Benny Safdie’s ‘The Smashing Machine’
“The biggest problem with ‘The Smashing Machine’ is that Safdie simply doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of style or ideas.”
TIFF 2025 Review: Gianfranco Rosi’s ‘Below the Clouds’
“With ‘Below the Clouds,” Rosi makes it clear that history and the present interact every day.”
TIFF 2025 Review: Óliver Laxe’s ‘Sirāt’
“What I really appreciate about ‘Sirāt’ is Laxe’s constant bucking of expectations.”
TIFF 2025 Review: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s ‘A Useful Ghost’
“As interesting as ‘A Useful Ghost’ is in concept, it’s a typical film by a talented debut artist and storyteller, one with a litany of ideas but no clear voice that brings them together.”
Review: Robert Schwartzman’s ‘Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary’
“Press play on ‘Hung Up on a Dream’ for the music, stay for the wild and interconnected industry stories that span seven decades.”
Review: Joe Begos’ ‘Jimmy and Stiggs’
“‘Jimmy and Stiggs’ is frenetic, metal AF and feels dangerous, which is something that’s sadly missing from a lot of modern horror movies.”
EIFF 2025 Review: Mas Bouzidi’s ‘Concessions’
“‘Concessions’ is essentially a collage, taking bits of other films and sticking them together to make something pretty. But it struggles when it comes to time to say something of its own.”
VV Double Review (2/2): Macon Blair’s ‘The Toxic Avenger’ (EIFF)
“‘The Toxic Avenger’ isn’t unpalatable to the mainstream, but it quickly becomes evident why the film was left on the shelf for a couple of years.”
VV Double Review (1/2): Macon Blair’s ‘The Toxic Avenger’
“Blair’s ‘The Toxic Avenger’ does what a great reboot should do — the film carves its own path, in every sense of the word, while paying homage to what came before and taking some big swings along the way.”
EIFF 2025 Review: Sepideh Farsi’s ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk’
“As a cinematic epitaph for an extraordinary young woman, ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk’ more than captures the spirit of Fatima Hassouna.”
EIFF 2025 Review: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne’s ‘The Young Mother’s Home’
“After a few missteps since ‘Two Days, One Night’ became an unlikely crossover success, the Dardennes brothers are back on track with ‘The Young Mother’s Home.’ It’s their simplest, most open hearted work to date…”
EIFF 2025 Review: Ondine Viñao’s ‘Two Neighbors’
“Sadly, ‘Two Neighbors’ turns out to be one of those parties where the people don’t really mix and the event seems to drag on forever.”
EIFF 2025 Review: Jan-Ole Gerster’s ‘Islands’
“‘Islands’ smoothly makes the transition from a romantic drama to an understated thriller, and it’s utterly intoxicating.”
Review: Zach Cregger’s ‘Weapons’
“Cregger is less interested in the ways in which his characters rise to the occasion in ‘Weapons’ and more concerned with how they fall short at the worst possible moment.”
Review: Audrey Lam’s ‘Us and the Night’
“Even when Lam’s dialogue falters in its poetic consistency, her down-to-earth editing and dedication to minimalism hits the mark, as ‘Us and the Night’ embodies true-blue independent filmmaking.”
Review: Sophie Brooks’ ‘Oh, Hi!’
“‘Oh, Hi!’ positions Gordon as the next Lena Dunham, Greta Gerwig or maybe — to quote Will Ferrell’s Frank from ‘Old School’ (2003) — ‘something really cool that I don’t even know about.'”
Review: Paul Etheredge’s ‘The Other’
“‘The Other’ is a massive technical achievement with some real heart, and Etheredge fortunately avoids bland metaphors about racism.”
Review: James Gunn’s ‘Superman’
“Gunn’s first ‘Superman’ outing makes the grade.”