Review: James Franco’s ‘The Disaster Artist’
“The Hollywood dream lives on proudly in ‘The Disaster Artist.’”
The Uninhibited Spirit of Hope: Rima Das’ ‘Village Rockstars’
“‘Village Rockstars’ represents a cultural category that is largely ignored by mainstream cinema and heralds a new chapter in the contemporary practice of serious filmmaking in India.”
Review: Martin McDonagh’s ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’
“McDonagh’s film is as much of a message movie as summiting Mount Kilimanjaro is a relaxing family-friendly vacation.”
Review: Feng Xiaogang’s ‘Youth’
“Achieving a vibrant mix of swooning sincerity and bitter irony, Feng Xiaogang’s ‘Youth’ walks the tightrope of Chinese history with a showman’s flair and a subversive wit, channelling its conflicting perceptions of the past into a single cohesive, ultimately jaded vision.”
Review: Joachim Trier’s ‘Thelma’
“It’s an odd little film, more melancholy and plaintive than outright scary or troubling, that slowly crawls under your skin.”
Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ Saves the Earth but Not the DC Extended Universe
“The DC Extended Universe is not doomed, but it needs its own clear identity and purpose. Rebranding ‘The Avengers’ is not the answer.”
Review: Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Call Me by Your Name’
“‘Call Me by Your Name’ skips through time like a dream, or a calcified, powerful memory.”
Of Elephants, Daughters and Rebels: Bobby Sarma Baruah’s ‘Sonar Baran Pakhi’
“In its thorough research and extensive reconstructing of the artist’s life, ‘Sonar Baran Pakhi’ is a document of celebration. Of the artist, the daughter, the mother. And the effortless rebel.”
Gabe Klinger’s ‘Porto’: A Middling, Moody Romance
“‘Porto’ aims for atmosphere but merely achieves it with convention.”
Review: Maysaloun Hamoud’s ‘Bar Bahar’
“‘Bar Bahar’ is an unmissable dramedy that puts women at the heart of a hypocritical world in flux.”
CIFF After Dark Review: Patrick Brice’s ‘Creep 2’
“Horror fans may need to adjust their expectations if they’re looking for more frights than laughs.”
New York Film Festival Review: Paul Schrader’s ‘First Reformed’
“The multi-hyphenate filmmaker’s latest seems to anticipate dissection: its formal austerity belies a haphazard, literary-minded indulgence.”
CIFF After Dark Review: Oliver Kienle’s ‘Four Hands’
“‘Four Hands’ is sublime and arresting in its imagery.”
CIFF After Dark Review: Giddens Ko’s ‘Mon Mon Mon Monsters’
“‘Mon Mon Mon Monsters’ actually inspires and entertains while pointedly dealing with a subject that hits close to home for many.”
Review: Kazik Radwanski’s ‘Scaffold’
“Out of a fractured, tentative world, Kazik Radwanski created a strong and whole short film.”
London Film Festival Review: Léonor Serraille’s ‘Jeune femme’
“Dare I say it, but ‘Jeune Femme’ is as ripe for an American remake as any film I’ve seen on this year’s festival circuit.”
London Film Festival Review: Rungano Nyoni’s ‘I Am Not a Witch’
“Shot beautifully, with an imposing yet wholly appropriate classical soundtrack to match, ‘I Am Not a Witch’ is worth the watch.”
London Film Festival Review: Andrey Zvyagintsev’s ‘Loveless’
“Much like ‘Leviathan,’ the film is oppressively bleak.”
London Film Festival Review: Vivian Qu’s ‘Angels Wear White’
“Vivian Qu’s ‘Angels Wear White’ is another realist, slow cinema meditation on the social troubles in China.”
London Film Festival Review: Dee Rees’ ‘Mudbound’
“‘Mudbound’ plays the game and begins with a white man, but, throughout the course of an epic tale, it arrives at a moving destination.”