Review: Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’
“With ‘Tenet,’ Nolan evolves as a surrealist director, yet his writing style does not similarly advance.”
‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’: Charlie Kaufman Knows You Can’t Always Get What You Want
“Point of view and selfhood have assumed for Kaufman a place of great consequence from ‘Being John Malkovich’ to ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ to ‘Anomalisa,’ and ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is a remarkable extension.”
The Land of Yes: ‘Class Action Park’
“The appeal and popularity of the Action Park documentary and book, along with eager anticipation for the upcoming TV series, evidences a shared human proclivity to embellish one’s “street cred.”
Review: Arthur Jones’ ‘Feels Good Man’
“The manipulation of popular characters outside the control of original creators has existed for hundreds of years, but what makes ‘Feels Good Man’ especially significant is the entanglement with ‘fake news’ during the era of Trump…”
Fantasia 2020 Review: David Darg and Price James’ ‘You Cannot Kill David Arquette’
“‘You Cannot Kill David Arquette’ is an incredibly moving and life-affirming lesson in following your dreams at all costs.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Noah Hutton’s ‘Lapsis’
“‘Lapsis’ offers the intriguing and hopeful possibility that our technologically dependent future may not be so bad after all.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: John Hyams’ ‘Alone’
“Even seen without the lens of current events, ‘Alone’ is a harrowing experience that earns its power by being uncomfortably credible.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Sabrina Mertens’ ‘Time of Moulting’
“It may seem strange to qualify Mertens’ audaciously original production as ‘horror’ when it has no gory set pieces, jump scares, monsters or special effects. Yet, despite a lack of these things, ‘Time of Moulting’ is very much a horror film.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Natasha Kermani’s ‘Lucky’
“‘Lucky’ is a rallying cry for women everywhere to fight back, to keep speaking up and to go it alone when all else fails.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Brea Grant’s ’12 Hour Shift’
“As the debate rages on about whether strong female characters in movies should evoke admiration through heroism or just be flawed, human and sometimes downright unlikeable, it’s nice to see that Brea Grant created a film that’s full of different women.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Adam Rehmeier’s ‘Dinner in America’
“‘Dinner in America’ is a special movie with a genuinely punk rock feel and a charmingly odd couple at its heart. There are enough laughs and swoon-worthy moments to mark it out as the best, and weirdest, rom-com in years.”
‘She Dies Tomorrow’: Fear, Death and the Almighty Wrath of Mozart
“Through a graceful use of Mozart’s music, ‘She Dies Tomorrow’ urges the audience to question their lives and unavoidable deaths.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Steve Villeneuve’s ‘Hail to the Deadites’
“It may sound strange to call a documentary about fans of a gory horror franchise ‘sweet,’ but that’s exactly what ‘Hail to the Deadites’ is.”
Review: Peter Medak’s ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers’
“If failure is the greatest teacher, then Peter Medak has earned his doctorate with ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers.'”
Review: Egor Abramenko’s ‘Sputnik’
“‘Sputnik’ is a thoughtful, knotty sci-fi thriller that’s firmly character-driven and also boasts a horrifyingly beautiful creature.”
Review: Alison Ellwood’s ‘The Go-Go’s’
“‘The Go-Go’s’ boasts a treasure chest full of archival content in all shapes and sizes, and the imagery almost always complements the anecdotes told by the subjects with delightful detail.”
Review: Scott Crawford’s ‘CREEM: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine’
“There was nothing else like ‘CREEM’ back then, and there’s still nothing like it now. That’s not only a testament to the importance of the magazine, it’s also a sad commentary on what’s lacking in modern music criticism.”
Different Places: Jeffrey McHale’s ‘You Don’t Nomi’ Dances with the Legacy of ‘Showgirls’
“I was taken with You Don’t Nomi’s comfortable attitude toward the complexity and ambiguity of a text that can support and sustain such wildly opposite readings.”
Review: Lynne Ramsay’s ‘Brigitte’
“‘Brigitte’ is a slight and sweet addition to Ramsay’s catalogue, and it gently leaves its impressions.”
Review: Claire Oakley’s ‘Make Up’
“When ‘Make Up’ reaches the light at the end of its twisted tunnel, its culmination is gratifying and sumptuously-realised.”