Cannes Film Festival Review: Matteo Garrone’s ‘Dogman’
“Garrone is more sorry for Marcello’s corruption than he is frustrated by his naivety.”
The Inside Is Now the Outside: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s ‘Cure’
“Memory and identity are inextricably linked.”
On Familiar Ground: Paul Schrader and the Death Impulse
Michael J. Casey on Paul Schrader’s thematic links in ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters’ and ‘First Reformed’
Cannes Film Festival Review: David Robert Mitchell’s ‘Under the Silver Lake’
“It’ll take more than a surface-level appreciation of ‘Under the Silver Lake’ to grasp what lies beneath real threats, instinctive desire and a swilling indebtment to the world that has shaped who we are.”
Review: Coralie Fargeat’s ‘Revenge’
“‘Revenge’ is not quietly revolutionary. It makes its message quite clear. Loud, brash, neon-colored and shot like a music video, the flick is unabashedly cool.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Asghar Farhadi’s ‘Everybody Knows’
“Though it’s not one of Farhadi’s best films, ‘Everybody Knows’ is still an effective, impactful thriller.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Panos Cosmatos’ ‘Mandy’
“It’s unconventional and provocative, but with such a powerfully invigorating narration and clear passion between the lines, ‘Mandy’ feels like an explosive liberation.”
‘Bullitt’ at 50: On Peter Yates’ Mastery of Visual Storytelling
“Yates delivers the message that our chosen professions and work environments define who we really are. One cannot successfully live a dual existence. Love requires the joining of oneself to another person as well as that person’s job.”
New York Indian Film Festival Review: Hansal Mehta’s ‘Omerta’
“What could’ve been an intense peeking into the mind of a terrorist ends up being a somewhat naive, clinical recording of his wrongdoings.”
Walking Contradiction: The Double Life of Cisco Pike
“‘Cisco Pike’ is a meditation on failure at all levels; defeat was in the air and no stratum of society was exempt.”
An Indictment of the Responsible Adult: Ruben Östlund’s ‘The Square’
“This isn’t simple hypocrisy. It’s a reversal of expected roles. Children in ‘The Square’ are equated with a moral courage that has been stripped from the film’s adults.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Wanuri Kahiu’s ‘Rafiki’
“Without being didactic or simplistic, Kahiu shows the widely different ways in which the people around the girls react to their affection to suggest that, although not all Kenyans are homophobic today, lives are still ruined by a pervasive intolerance.”
The Journey of Evolution and Liberation in ‘Disobedience’
“Through its moving journey of evolution, truth and desire, ‘Disobedience’ displays that liberation makes life richer, and that it’s necessary to feel truly alive.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s ‘Birds of Passage’
“Guerra and Gallego may not have reproduced the surreal images from ‘Embrace of the Serpent,’ but their determination to preserve the history of those who capitalism has destroyed remains as strong and necessary as ever.”
New York Indian Film Festival Review: Miransha Naik’s ‘Juze’
“‘Juze’ tells the story of an India we don’t often see in films, but an India that hurts, suffers and yet revolts and thrives.”
New York Indian Film Festival Review: Bornila Chatterjee’s ‘The Hungry’
“For a play that is so much about macho-ness and the male code of honor, it is refreshing to watch Chatterjee give it a somewhat feminist tweak.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Stefen Styrsky on John Huston’s ‘Reflections in a Golden Eye’
“Lending the story a rarefied patina is the cinematography.”
New York Indian Film Festival Review: Ravi Jadhav’s ‘Nude’
“‘Nude’ is a caveat to our times; a warning that we are driving arts education to a point of redundancy with our politics…”
Review: Anthony and Joe Russo’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
“‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is the apex of franchise movie-making, bringing together a plethora of heroes from a number of different franchises to form the blockbuster of blockbusters.”
A Community in the Dark: Dispatches from the TCM Classic Film Festival
Michael J. Casey on the TCM Classic Film Festival 2018