Review: Ivan Ayr’s ‘Soni’
“Despite being a well-intentioned art house film, ‘Soni’ somehow fails to create an impressionistic effect and often feels cliched. But what’s commendable is the character treatment by the debutant director, Ayr.”
Dancing Through the Unease: An Interview with ‘Madeline’s Madeline’ Cinematographer Ashley Connor
Pablo Staricco Cadenazzi Interviews ‘Madeline’s Madeline’ Cinematographer Ashley Connor
‘Napoleon Dynamite’ Turns 15: An Interview with Actor Efren Ramirez
Greg Carlson Interviews ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ Actor Efren Ramirez
Clermont-Ferrand 2019 Short Film Review: Chien-Yu Lin’s ‘The Sound of Falling’
“‘The Sound of Falling’ is beguiling and a handsome work by a promising filmmaker. Whether Chien-Yu Lin’s future work lands on either writing, directing or production design, she’s one to keep an eye on.”
Clermont-Ferrand 2019 Short Film Review: Carlos Abascal Peiro’s ‘Jupiter!’
“Oftentimes, shorts will hammer home their endings, but Peiro executes his conclusion quickly, and with full confidence.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Naomi Kawase’s ‘Vision’
“It’s commendable that Kawase tries to bridge the gap between the West and the East by writing a story that attempts to transcend both time and any kind of racial differences.”
Review: A.T. White’s ‘Starfish’
“This is a moody, thoughtful and impressively weird debut feature from White.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Radu Jude’s ‘I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians’
“‘I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History’ provides historical context of a brutal period not known to many, and facilitates a discussion of Romania’s pro-Nazi involvement in the Second World War. But narratively, Jude’s film achieves little.”
Clermont-Ferrand 2019 Short Film Review: Kitao Sakurai’s ‘The Passage’
“With a gorgeous vintage sheen across its 4:3 aspect ratio, Sakurai’s short establishes a magical realist land that magnifies the burgeoning diversity of America today – along with all the confusion, preposterousness and sudden violence that comes with it.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Peter Hedges’ ‘Ben Is Back’
“Even if ‘Ben is Back’ tries a little too hard to ramp up the stakes, the fact remains that Hedges and Roberts’ performances make for an incredibly powerful on-screen relationship.”
Vague Visages Short Stories: Bunk Bed by Georgia Luckhurst
Vague Visages Short Stories #14: Bunk Bed by Georgia Luckhurst
Attack the Headlines: How Joe Cornish’s Films Subvert Gloomy British News Stories
“That Cornish has managed to make two films that can easily be viewed as thoughtful ruminations on the state of Britain in the centre of two national crises should be applauded.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Kei Chikaura’s ‘Complicity’
“A rare co-production between China and Japan, ‘Complicity’ is a timely feature that fits perfectly in our current political climate, especially as Chikaura urges viewers to lend a helping hand despite the most unfavourable circumstances.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Li Cheng’s ‘José’
“‘José’ depicts a toxic environment where no one can love freely, where relationships are doomed to sink and where looking at the sky can only offer a fickle joy lasting as briefly as fireworks during a hot summer night.”
Review: Frant Gwo’s ‘The Wandering Earth’
“If ‘The Wandering Earth’ is China’s first step in big budget space adventure, it promises a giant leap not far down the line.”
An Exploration of Bonds, Losses and Resilience in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Family Dramas
“Kore-eda has the caring, loving eyes of a father who cannot help but follow all his children walking hand in hand towards the horizon.”
A Distinct Vision: On Naoko Yamada’s ‘Liz and the Blue Bird’ and ‘A Silent Voice’
“Few animated films look like Yamada productions, fewer still feel like them.”
Review: Camille Vidal-Naquet’s ‘Sauvage / Wild’
“‘Sauvage’ emerges in the context of ‘BPM (Beats Per Minute)’ as a darker, grittier cousin. Both tell physically intimate stories, but where ‘BPM (Beats Per Minute)’ brims with romance, anger and sheer joy, ‘Sauvage’ has a harder edge and leaves more of a bitter taste.”
The Kids Aren’t Alright: A Preview of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2019
Marshall Shaffer on Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2019
IFFR 2019 Bright Future Review: Virgil Vernier’s ‘Sophia Antipolis’
“‘Sophia Antipolis’ is not a movie that will be easily digested outside of movie theaters, as it goes mostly for an aesthetic experience rather than a plot-driven story.”