Review: Adam Egypt Mortimer’s ‘Daniel Isn’t Real’
“With ‘Daniel Isn’t Real,’ Mortimer stands by his choices and doesn’t wobble. The result is a film that’s harmonious and undiluted, if prickly and divisive.”
Who Was That Masked Man: ‘The Mandalorian’ and Westerns
“A lot can be said about the aesthetics of ‘The Mandalorian’ as they relate to Westerns, but even more so can be said of the thematic elements that comprise the new series.”
Love on the Run: Melina Matsoukas Makes Convincing Debut with ‘Queen & Slim’
“The desperate need to locate hope and light (and maybe even love where those things are in short supply) recommends ‘Queen & Slim,’ especially at a time of frustration and division.”
Photo Essay by Andy Witchger: Rodrigo y Gabriela at Minneapolis’ State Theatre
“During Rodrigo y Gabriela’s recent show at Minneapolis’ State Theatre, “Echoes” fell smack in the middle of their set, creating a sense of space that heightened the immediacy of the surrounding original tracks.”
‘The Curse of the Cat People’: Val Lewton’s Groundbreaking Introduction of Childhood Fantasy
“Lewton’s insights into both childhood and adult inner personal conflicts are legacies which deserve recognition in the foundational history of horror, both for psychological thrillers and fantasy films.”
Review: Marielle Heller’s ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’
“Who is going to argue with the casting of Tom Hanks? Even so, the reason I don’t care for most fictionalized biopics lies in the imitation of one well-known person by another.”
London Korean Film Festival: Seeking Family and Identity in Four Female-Directed Debuts
London Korean Film Festival: Serena Scateni on ‘Young-ju,’ ‘A Bedsore, ‘A Boy and Sungreen’ and ‘Yukiko’
Things Go Wrong: Tony Hancock’s Cinema of Despair
“The Hancock persona tapped into a uniquely British strain of malaise, which manifests itself in a fractious fatalism, a dread of impotence which finds its expression in outlandish displays of petulance, pettiness and pomposity.”
Review: Todd Haynes’ ‘Dark Waters’
“‘Dark Waters’ may have a downbeat climax, to the degree that may not be considered a climax at all, yet it’s a film made to inspire action, to underline the idea that this crisis is a modern one — it’s still happening, and it’s not resolved.”
Bong Joon-Ho’s ‘Parasite’ Infiltrates Year-End Best Movies Lists
“Like the Master of Suspense before him, Bong effortlessly blends the horrific and the comic en route to the icebox talk that has viewers questioning their own attitudes and beliefs through the unanswered mysteries of the story.”
Karyn Kusama’s ‘Destroyer’: The Question of Identity
“Kusama skillfully reinterprets the stylistics of classic film noir to explore the genre’s timeless and heady themes: obsession, loneliness, guilt and (most of all) identity…”
Review: Nicholas Brennan’s ‘Los Últimos Frikis’
“Nicholas Brennan’s film makes a hugely convincing argument for following your dreams at all costs.”
Sharing the Cinematic Bathwater: From Wim to Jim
“In retrospect, a film can seem so intentional, with every artistic choice so deliberate, that you can’t imagine it being any other way. But these movies that last for generations are often shaped by whims and circumstance.”
12 Angry Films: Sidney Lumet on Justice #5 – ‘Dog Day Afternoon’
“By creating such a sympathetic, human subject, Lumet deepens the impact of his institutional critique of the justice system; its dehumanizing effect on American society seems all the more tragic when Sonny is its victim.”
Photo Essay by Andy Witchger: Kindness at Minneapolis’ 7th Street Entry
“Bainbridge navigated the stage gracefully, curating what felt like an intimate house party with an impeccable playlist.”
Review: Mike Flanagan’s ‘Doctor Sleep’
“In a weird way, Flanagan might have inadvertently made the best X-Men movie to date.”
Photographic Memory in Frank Beauvais’ ‘Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream’
“Beauvais does what the essay filmmaker ought do: he appropriates film to his own ends. The combination of words and pictures rings nary a false note.”
Review: Noah Baumbach’s ‘Marriage Story’
“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.”
The Absent Presence in ‘Klute’
“In dramatizing themes of absence and presence so thoroughly, ‘Klute’ embodies a central feature of neo-noir; as a self-conscious revision of a classic film cycle, noir is always both absent and present in neo-noir films.”
I Sing for Myself: Renée and Judy on Judy Garland
“Judy the Actress and Judy the Icon may have been one in the same after all.”