Novella Review: Jared Feldschreiber’s ‘Reckless Abandon’
“There’s a sense of magical realism that shines through in ‘Reckless Abandon,’ almost like the protagonist Duggan could be roaming about 1984 Manhattan in a dream state.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Sabrina Mertens’ ‘Time of Moulting’
“It may seem strange to qualify Mertens’ audaciously original production as ‘horror’ when it has no gory set pieces, jump scares, monsters or special effects. Yet, despite a lack of these things, ‘Time of Moulting’ is very much a horror film.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Natasha Kermani’s ‘Lucky’
“‘Lucky’ is a rallying cry for women everywhere to fight back, to keep speaking up and to go it alone when all else fails.”
Collecting Movies with ‘Black Sunday’ Author Matt Dreiling
Greg Carlson Interviews ‘Black Sunday’ Author Matt Dreiling About Movie Collecting
Fantasia 2020 Review: Brea Grant’s ’12 Hour Shift’
“As the debate rages on about whether strong female characters in movies should evoke admiration through heroism or just be flawed, human and sometimes downright unlikeable, it’s nice to see that Brea Grant created a film that’s full of different women.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Adam Rehmeier’s ‘Dinner in America’
“‘Dinner in America’ is a special movie with a genuinely punk rock feel and a charmingly odd couple at its heart. There are enough laughs and swoon-worthy moments to mark it out as the best, and weirdest, rom-com in years.”
Take This Leap: Revisiting the Optimism of ‘Joe Versus the Volcano’
“‘Joe Versus the Volcano’ is as thoughtful and sensitive as it is goofy. It brims with the sort of amazement that can reawaken forgotten feelings, and resuscitate a heart clogged by ennui.”
An Interview with ‘Choked’ Screenwriter Nihit Brave
Dipankar Sarkar Interviews ‘Choked’ Screenwriter Nihit Brave
Album Review: Bright Eyes ‘Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was’
“After a rough decade out in the wild, Oberst is home and doing what he knows best.”
‘She Dies Tomorrow’: Fear, Death and the Almighty Wrath of Mozart
“Through a graceful use of Mozart’s music, ‘She Dies Tomorrow’ urges the audience to question their lives and unavoidable deaths.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Steve Villeneuve’s ‘Hail to the Deadites’
“It may sound strange to call a documentary about fans of a gory horror franchise ‘sweet,’ but that’s exactly what ‘Hail to the Deadites’ is.”
Shorts Without Borders: Assessing the National Competition at Locarno 2020
“Given that documentaries are being pushed into hybrid spaces, and that many modern animators are covering morbid subject matter, these 12 short films give an example of contemporary moving image work pushing at cinema’s comfort zones.”
The Banality of Xenophobia in R.W. Fassbinder’s ‘Katzelmacher’
“The virility of the unwanted foreigner is a typical focal point for the average xenophobe.”
Review: Peter Medak’s ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers’
“If failure is the greatest teacher, then Peter Medak has earned his doctorate with ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers.'”
On ‘Brave New World’ and An Accidental Catalyst for Revolution
“This adaptation of ‘Brave New World’ has little new to say, largely because its source material did the job so effectively years ago.”
Why Criticism: A Guide to Making Up Your Own Mind
“Film criticism is so vital not because it’s a service, but because it’s a tool — a way for each person to arrive at the final word on each film they see from the critic that matters most: themselves.”
Album Review: Whitney ‘Candid’
“Whether enjoyed as a fresh musical offering or an affectionate archival excursion, ‘Candid’ is an easy album to appreciate. Its core interplay, a conversation between the old and the new, is the key to its success.”
Review: Egor Abramenko’s ‘Sputnik’
“‘Sputnik’ is a thoughtful, knotty sci-fi thriller that’s firmly character-driven and also boasts a horrifyingly beautiful creature.”
Sion Sono’s ‘Tokyo Vampire Hotel’ Is Trauma Porn, and Maybe That’s OK
“The most remarkable feature of ‘Tokyo Vampire Hotel’ is its timeliness. Though the series was released in 2017, it takes place in 2021, and something about it feels distinctly ‘2020s,’ distinctly of the cinema to come, if not distinctly of 2020 and the present moment.”
One Tough Nun: Spiritual Awakening in Isabel Sandoval’s ‘Aparisyon’
“It’s a fascinating experience to see ‘Aparisyon’ via Locarno’s ‘Open Doors’ strand, where it is presented as a key work in understanding contemporary Filipino cinema.”