“Whereas many Netflix acts are so clearly designed to address cultural topics A, B, and C — whether it’s politics, social media, or celebrity culture — Regan riffs away with evergreen observational humor that gives ‘On the Rocks’ a timeless quality…”
Dipankar Sarkar Interviews ‘Kaali Khuhi’ Director Terrie Samundra
“‘Mank’ probably spends more time than necessary defining the protagonist’s own crisis of conscience within a corrupt and decaying dream factory.”
“‘Mank’ is just the latest installment in Netflix’s self-concious branding strategy.”
“There’s a lot to admire about ‘Pieces of a Woman,’ but Mundruczó’s film loses its way as it continues to untether itself from the opening’s grounded realism.”
“‘Rebecca’ feels sanded out, erased of all imperfection, identity and mystery.”
Dipankar Sarkar Interviews ‘Dolly Kitty & Those Twinkling Stars’ Filmmaker Alankrita Shrivastava
Dipankar Sarkar Interviews ‘Class of ’83’ Director Atul Sabharwal
Dipankar Sarkar Interviews ‘Raat Akeli Hai’ Screenwriter Smita Singh
“Johnson brilliantly arranges and organizes the vignettes that account for her unique ‘living obituary.'”
“Point of view and selfhood have assumed for Kaufman a place of great consequence from ‘Being John Malkovich’ to ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ to ‘Anomalisa,’ and ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is a remarkable extension.”
Dipankar Sarkar Interviews ‘Choked’ Screenwriter Nihit Brave
“One of the most effective storytelling strategies in Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ is the application of the simple and elegant dichotomy.”
“As always, Spike Lee asks all the right questions, and it’s up to us to recognize that even though the answers may not be ones we want to hear, we need to grapple with them all the same.”
“‘Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045’ attempts to move the series into full octane action but pushes its philosophical roots to the side.”
“Schoonmaker’s contribution to ‘The Irishman’ may be her finest effort: she shapes an epic that masterfully controls pace — accelerating and decelerating it at will…”
“‘The Irishman’ may be the last film of an era. The banquet scene ranks among the most powerful sequences of Scorsese’s career because he allows it, following Visconti’s example, to linger.”
“What’s consistently left out of the ‘Cheer’ conversation is a discussion of the precarious tension of love and exploitation between coach Monica Aldama and the team.”
“At once riveting and entertaining, while inciting in the viewer visceral and arduous self-reflection, ‘Marriage Story’ is an uncompromising and deeply affectionate reflection on what pulls us apart and yet what keeps us bound together despite it all.”
“A great magician never reveals his tricks, and Soderbergh far too nakedly shows the craft in ‘The Laundromat,’ whereas a narrower focus, with the human consequence of the Panama Papers in clear sight, could have beguiled, incited and entertained in equal measure.”