Cannes Film Festival Review: Roman Polanski’s ‘Based on a True Story’
“The title is, of course, a knowing joke. ‘Based on a True Story’ couldn’t be further from reality.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Sergei Loznitsa’s ‘A Gentle Creature’
“Sergei Loznitsa goes for absurdist satire, but, unfortunately, the joke’s on him.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Ben and Joshua Safdie’s ‘Good Time’
“‘Good Time’ plays like little more than a direct-to-video thriller.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Noah Baumbach’s ‘The Meyerowitz Stories’
“Like a classic stand-up comedian, Baumbach is far more interested in observation than hot button provocation.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Sofia Coppola’s ‘The Beguiled’
“‘The Beguiled’ plays out exactly as one might expect and never really stretches beyond its contained premise.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: John Cameron Mitchell’s ‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’
“‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’ is spirited but doesn’t have anything new to say.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Laurent Cantet’s ‘The Workshop’
“Like ‘Visages, villages’ and ‘Claire’s Camera,’ ‘The Workshop’ continues a Cannes 2017 trend for the unmatched power of creation and artistic expression, and this film reaches to darker depths than those tales.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s ‘Before We Vanish’
“More than a stage play, the high concept and tonal spasms make ‘Before We Vanish’ feel like an adaptation of a cult manga.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Kaouther Ben Hania’s ‘Beauty and the Dogs’
“The technical achievement here is considerable, though there is nothing that can match the surprise, and resultant thrill, of watching the opening scene play out.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Agnès Varda and JR’s ‘Visages, villages’
“Between the enlightened creators, the immensely intimate artwork and the fabulous people they meet, there is never a dull moment in this beautiful piece of cinema.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Vanessa Redgrave’s ‘Sea Sorrow’
“While ‘Sea Sorrow’ is cinematically stunted, it is clearly made with great passion and belief.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Bill Arceneaux on Woody Allen’s ‘Bananas’
“Maybe the best way to counter ridiculousness is with ridiculousness.”
Review: Azazel Jacobs’ ‘The Lovers’
“According to Jacobs, romantic love is a negative equation wherein passion plus time equals complacency.”
‘Twin Peaks’ and Beyond the Alphabet
“The failure of language permeates ‘Twin Peaks,’
an abundance of verbiage disintegrating under the looming and ageless presence in the woods.”
‘Stardust Memories’: Woody Allen’s Comic Catharsis
“He may be suggesting that emotional and social anxiety is widespread and prevalent, but the key distinction is that not everyone can translate these uncertainties into comedy gold.”
The Joke Is on Us: Rick Alverson’s ‘The Comedy’
“Audiences aren’t meant to hate Swanson, but to understand him and people like him, along with ourselves.”
Devious Dialogues: Anya Stanley and Mike Thorn on the ‘Alien’ Franchise
Devious Dialogues: A Horror-Themed Column by A.M. Novak and Mike Thorn
Cyberflunk 2017: Rupert Sanders’ ‘Ghost in the Shell’
“One of the hallmarks of good cyberpunk is the exploration of humanity in a post-modern world where technology is the dominant force. This philosophical probe falls short in Rupert Sanders’ ‘Ghost in the Shell.'”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jeremy Carr on Jean Vigo’s ‘L’Atalante’
“‘L’Atalante’ is a movie defined by it moments, images and emotive strength, not its ostensible plot.”
Tribeca Film Festival Review: Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán’s ‘Sambá’
“‘Sambá’ succeeds most when it draws inspiration from its setting and hooks the audiences with hard questions about crime and responsibility.”