TIFF 2018 Review: Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Roma’
“Anchored by a deeply sympathetic performance from Aparicio, ‘Roma’ is an empathetic, sentimental, stirring delight.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Neil Jordan’s ‘Greta’
“Greta’s biggest asset is that it’s a film that relishes in its own absurdity.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Jonah Hill’s ‘Mid90s’
“The influence of Larry Clark’s 1995 cult film ‘Kids’ may be all over ‘Mid90s,’ but Hill has a more tender and perhaps more realistic approach of his young subjects: they are smart enough to know when they’re going too far.”
TIFF 2018: The French Affair – A Review of Louis Garrel’s ‘A Faithful Man’
“Within the power plays of a self-aware love triangle, Garrel examines love, sex and companionship and tries to get to a point where everyone meets and exists in perfect harmony. It’s a tug of war between these three, and the final result is basically a test of which one outlives the others.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Xavier Dolan’s ‘The Death and Life of John F. Donovan’
“For a film revolving around an actor destroyed by a bad reputation, ‘The Death and Life of John F. Donovan’ remains frustratingly vague about the media’s indiscretions that bring John’s downfall.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Steve McQueen’s ‘Widows’
“‘Widows’ offers the thrills and the feelings, the political and the sentimental corruption, the men but also, and especially, the women behind them, who will do anything for love, but won’t do that.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Brady Corbet’s ‘Vox Lux’
“By being so lazy and aggressive with his judgment of pop culture, Corbet ends up making a film that is bland in its anger, annoying in its attacks and ridiculous in its contempt for its characters and audience.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Sara Colangelo’s ‘The Kindergarten Teacher’
“‘The Kindergarten Teacher’ is purposefully not a comfortable watch, but it satisfies in many ways. Not only is its central character an imperfect woman, but she also expresses her palpable rage in a strange and fascinating form of intellectual violence.”
TIFF 2018: Embracing the Oxymoronic – A Review of Jacques Audiard’s ‘The Sisters Brothers’
“Audiard finds the real drama of the film in how the seemingly boundless promise of the land collides with the very real limitations of the human imagination and body.”
Review: Joseph Kahn’s ‘Bodied’
“‘Bodied’ is a blisteringly urgent and inescapably topical meditation on race, class and identity; the kind of movie that could only be told with the panache and in-your-face directness of Kahn.”
TIFF 2018: The Never-Ending Ruminations of Olivier Assayas – A Review of ‘Non-Fiction’
“For a film about an eternal conflict, ‘Non-Fiction’ is a strangely calming film. It quietly assures you that while a fight for permanence is natural, the need to change is also equally natural.”
Arrow Video FrightFest Review: Franck Ribière’s ‘The Most Assassinated Woman in the World’
“‘The Most Assassinated Woman in the World’ is not, by my estimation, a horror film, but a film about horror spectatorship; the joy of discomfort.”
‘What Keeps You Alive’: A Gorgeous, Blood-Pumping Rumination on Betrayal
“Minihan’s tale is a moody, memorable work of art that dares its audience to meditate on the layers and anxieties of love and deceit.”
Arrow Video FrightFest Review: Pascal Laugier’s ‘Incident in a Ghostland’
“Both characters are lazy, ugly sketches of deviancy, leaning on ableist and transphobic stereotypes in the place of characterisation.”
Arrow Video FrightFest Review: Ezequiel Endelman and Leandro Montejano’s ‘Crystal Eyes’
“A loving tribute to the days of switchblades and shoulder pads, ‘Crystal Eyes’ gives credence to the giallo genre through its tongue-in-cheek absurdity and commitment to the transitory styles that defined its later years.”
‘Cocote’: A Shapeless, Ambitious Debut with Fits of Beauty
“Despite not having much to glom onto, narratively, ‘Cocote’ is a blunt film, and your mileage may vary based on how receptive you are to de Los Santos Arias’ formalistic provocations…”
An Undercooked Genre Stew: Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas’ ‘Good Manners’
“‘Good Manners’ isn’t without its share of redeeming factors, to be sure, but Dutra and Rojas are simply hamstrung by their chosen medium, which pits an overabundance of ideas to a constricting runtime.”
‘Crazy Rich Asians’: A Charming Rom-Com About Asian Affirmation
“Directed with sensitivity by Jon M. Chu, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ pokes fun at frivolity and the pretenses of the rich while letting loose with some lavish fun across vast picturesque landscapes.”
Diary of a Vagabond: João Dumans and Affonso Uchoa’s ‘Araby’
“Uchoa and Dumans’ distanced, matter-of-fact portrayal of their vagabond renders ‘Araby’ an elusive and open film. It’s particulars aren’t always announced, because — as with Bresson — the text ask viewers to meet it where it stands.”
An Expedient Portrait: Robert Mullan’s ‘Mad to Be Normal’
“As a primer on Laing, ‘Mad to be Normal’ offers nothing substantive; there is little attempt to explicate Laing’s ideas, or to pursue how he formulated those ideas while working in Glasgow’s mental hospitals…”