Icon Is My Last Name: Andreas Horvath’s ‘Helmut Berger, Actor’
“We don’t who Helmut Berger is. Neither does he. Once a star, he will always be a star.”
EIFF 2016 Review: Zach Clark’s ‘Little Sister’
“‘Little Sister’ has a uniformly strong cast, but Addison Timlin gives one of those star-making turns that, if the universe is at all just, will be but the first prominent stepping stone for an extraordinary career.”
Review: Johnnie To’s ‘Three’
“To missteps when ‘Three’ hews too close to action clichés.”
EIFF 2016 Review: Christy Garland’s ‘Cheer Up’
“Garland’s structure with the film’s construction is part observational documentary, part techniques used more with fiction features.”
Provincetown International Film Festival Reviews: ‘Captain Fantastic’ and ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’
“Life and death, mere moments apart, catalyze the narratives of both Matt Ross’ ‘Captain Fantastic’ and Taika Waititi’s ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople.’
Provincetown International Film Festival Review: Andrew Neel’s ‘Goat’
“‘Even if Neel makes a lousy ‘Final Girl,’ ‘Goat’ is an excellent monster movie, where the monster is toxic masculinity itself.”
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Tatiana Huezo’s ‘Tempestad’
“Tatiana Huezo and cinematographer Ernesto Pardo have struck a balance between natural beauty and human squalor in a way that mirrors how Mexican citizens have had to live with the ever-present possibility of life-ending terror.”
Sheffield Doc/Fest Day Four: Sir David Attenborough Q and A
“At a festival dedicated to the documentary, the opportunity to meet a true giant of the field was an unmissable, and indeed, unforgettable experience.”
Review: Corbin Bernsen’s ‘Christian Mingle’
“Like a lot of reality television, ‘Christian Mingle’ is funny for hateful reasoning that displays damaging, scary facets of our culture.”
Review: Hong-jin Na’s ‘The Wailing’
“It’s a film that doesn’t so much scare as it harrows, boring deep into the psyche.”
Review: Laura Bispuri’s ‘Sworn Virgin’
“One problem with ‘Sworn Virgin’, particularly in its later stages, is a distinct lack of stakes.”
The Chicago Critics Film Festival Review: Patricia Rozema’s ‘Into the Forest’
“For a feminist attempt to show two women leaning on each other, ‘Into the Forest’ barely sketches them out.”
Review: Susanna White’s ‘Our Kind of Traitor’
“A solidly constructed sophomore feature from director Susanna White, ‘Our Kind of Traitor’ is a tight thriller that, while rarely excelling to any sort of transcendent heights, never really steps a foot wrong.”
Review: Jean-Marc Vallée’s ‘Demolition’
“Neatly tied resolutions and dime-a-dozen aphorisms feel as fleeting and immaterial as a television drama, while any lasting impression must be hard-fought and pried from between the lines of the script.”
Review: Jason Bateman’s ‘The Family Fang’
“Bateman brings the full force of his directorial ability to the film, finding beauty in every camera placement and character movement.”
IndieLisboa 2016 Review: José Barahona’s ‘I Was in Lisbon and Remembered You’
“Sometimes the most difficult kind of review to write is one for a film that’s full of good intentions; a film that’s never outright hateful or anything like that, but lacking or floundering when it comes to certain decisions at a script or direction level.”
Review: László Nemes’ ‘Son of Saul’
“Grappling with themes of self-preservation and mental stability amongst abject barbarity, ‘Son of Saul’ packs an emotional punch all its own, while seeking to convey the essence of an individual living in abhorrent chaos.”
Stranger With My Face Festival 2016: ‘Evolution’ and ‘The Love Witch’
“Horror and femininity run hand in hand.”
Review: Don Cheadle’s ‘Miles Ahead’
“In keeping with the tempo and improvisational flair of his subject, Don Cheadle has succeeded in breaking through the standard tediums of biographical film.”
Review: Ben Wheatley’s ‘High-Rise’
“‘High-Rise’ gazes without flinching at a cavalcade of violence without ever feeling like it’s truly stepped into the muck.”