Joanna Hogg Directs a Dazzling Honor Swinton Byrne in ‘The Souvenir’
“‘The Souvenir’ is essential viewing for devoted cinephiles.”
London Film Festival Review: Marco Bellocchio’s ‘The Traitor’
“It wouldn’t be surprising to see ‘The Traitor’ filed in the Dad-canon of crime cinema alongside other European films like ‘Mesrine’ or ‘The Baader Meinhof Complex’ — films where the context is too wide to sufficiently cover…”
Review: Rob Grant’s ‘Harpoon’
“Rob Grant’s ‘Harpoon’ exudes all the sly confidence of a well-prepared and half-in-the-bag wedding table orator.”
Review: Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker’ Is Aggressively Decent
“‘Joker’ is what so many controversial films turn out to be: it’s fine — neither masterpiece nor trash fire, well-executed in some parts and poorly thought out in others.”
Lynn Shelton Goes South in ‘Sword of Trust’
“Shelton convincingly alternates between the absurd misadventures of the core quartet and the well-observed moments of confessional pathos during which the audience sees the characters as humans doing their best to get along in the world…”
Review: Henry Alex Rubin’s ‘Semper Fi’
“‘Semper Fi’ leans heavily on male codes of honor but doesn’t fully explore the motivations for the primary players, a group of Marines trying to re-acclimate to life in upstate New York. As a result, the final act suffers.”
Open City Docs Fest Review: Lei Lei’s ‘Breathless Animals’
“Despite the 68-minute duration, ‘Breathless Animals’ might feel occasionally redundant, especially when the animation creates psychedelic vibes, but its many sketches of a woman’s life make up for any minor flaws.”
Review: Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Laundromat’
“A great magician never reveals his tricks, and Soderbergh far too nakedly shows the craft in ‘The Laundromat,’ whereas a narrower focus, with the human consequence of the Panama Papers in clear sight, could have beguiled, incited and entertained in equal measure.”
Review: James Gray’s ‘Ad Astra’
“‘Ad Astra’ joins the likes of ‘Gravity’ and ‘Interstellar’ as one of Stanley Kubrick’s starchildren.”
Review: Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’
“‘Parasite’ takes a left turn that’s so hard yet so appropriate that it’s like watching a spectacularly executed high wire act.”
Live That Fantasy: Lorene Scafaria’s ‘Hustlers’
“Shaping the narrative around the complexities of female friendship and the pressures wrought by the financial crisis of 2008, Scafaria convincingly paints a psychologically resonant portrait that allows the viewer a seat on the inside looking out…”
TIFF 2019 Review: James Mangold’s ‘Ford v Ferrari’ Provides an Old-School Adult Drama
“Nothing about ‘Ford v Ferrari’ reeks of studio interference, perhaps owing to the fact that the script hews so closely to screenwriting conventions that worked well for decades.”
TIFF 2019 Review: Wayne Wang’s ‘Coming Home Again’
“A collaboration between a Chinese-American director and a Korean-American writer, ‘Coming Home Again’ is an exemplar of minimal styling that shows that what is essentially human surpasses the boundary of what is ethnic and cultural.”
TIFF 2019 Review: ‘Knives Out’ Shows Rian Johnson Sharp as Ever
“Johnson loves whodunits so much that he racked his brain to think 10 steps ahead of the audience so that he could hoodwink them to serve the goal of establishing the genre’s viability in the present day, all while staying true to its classic roots.”
‘It Chapter Two’ Sinks, Then Treads Water
“‘It Chapter Two’ ends up as a self-conscious adolescent that nervously giggles any time it’s on the verge of doing something profound; a cringe-inducing ‘no homo’ walk-back writ large to avoid accusations of nastiness or tenderness.”
TIFF 2019 Review: On the Spiritual Strivings of Trey Edward Shults’ ‘Waves’
“For a story that engages with tough, thorny questions of redemption and reconciliation, it’s a welcome development to have a filmmaker look upwards, not inwards.”
‘The Banana Splits Movie’: A Bloody Horror Take on a Saturday Morning Favorite
“Esterhazy’s direction is consistently flat and uninspired given the nonstop opportunities for twisted weirdness, but the failure of ‘The Banana Splits Movie’ can be pinned almost entirely on the sawdust-packed script…”
Radio Silence’s ‘Ready or Not’ Seeks Bloody Fun
“As a kind of grown-up ‘Clue’ in reverse, complete with the tribute appearance of a pepper-box revolver, ‘Ready or Not’ also lays out a motley assortment of Colonel Mustard and Mrs. Peacock-worthy opponents hell-bent on dispatching Grace prior to sun-up.”
Review: Mark Jenkin’s ‘Bait’
“The experimental nature of Jenkin’s production means it might take a few scenes to really get hooked. ‘Bait’ reels the audience in, however, by casting a uniquely strange line, capturing elements of old and new cinema.”
FrightFest Review: Abner Pastoll’s ‘A Good Woman Is Hard to Find’
“An efficient script and commanding central performance from Sarah Bolger produce a memorable film with mostly intelligently drawn characters.”