The Limits of Freedom in Makoto Shinkai’s ‘Your Name’
“While lush animation and detailed backdrops make Shinkai’s films visually stunning, without character depth, it’s a beauty which rings hollow.”
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Toby Paton’s ‘Jo Cox: Death of an MP’
“‘Jo Cox: Death of an MP’ is a difficult film that resonates now more than ever with a minority Tory government, the knock-on effects of Brexit felt.”
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Josh Homme and Andreas Neumann’s ‘American Valhalla’
“There is a sense of bearing witness to history-in-the-making and of the unlikely melding of soulmates.”
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Nick Broomfield’s ‘Whitney: Can I Be Me’
“‘Whitney: Can I Be Me’ plays out like a tragedy of the most cinematic kind.”
Oak Cliff Film Festival Review: Dustin Guy Defa’s ‘Person to Person’
“‘Person to Person’ posits a world where forgiveness, kindness and neighborliness are actualized by a recognition of the innate goodness of humanity.”
Oak Cliff Film Festival Review: Alex Ross Perry’s ‘Golden Exits’
“In ‘Golden Exits,’ the miserable find company in the spaces they inhabit. Nothing is shared; nothing is collective.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2017 – Andrea De Sica’s ‘Children of the Night’
“De Sica has mentioned ‘The Shining’ and ‘Dead Poets Society’ as influences, and ‘Children of the Night’ is at its best when it favors the former.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2017 – Roberto Andò’s ‘The Confessions’
“Sleek visuals and cryptic dialogue aren’t enough to save a film that’s essentially a truncated season of ‘House of Cards.'”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2017 – Edoardo De Angelis’ ‘Indivisible’
“‘Indivisible’ is a fantastically imaginative coming-of-age tale, an opera of sweeping creativity and a universal human love story.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jeremy Carr on Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ‘Mamma Roma’
“The compassion Magnani and Pasolini elicit from this affectionate portrait is manifestly sympathetic — she just tries so hard.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Wind River’
“‘Wind River’ is a well crafted, but straightforward, thriller with an interesting setting and social context.”
The Bottom Line: Q.V. Hough, Jeremy Carr and Bill Arceneaux on ‘Cobra’
Vague Visages Chat Transcript
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.”
Interview with Eleanor Coppola, Director of ‘Paris Can Wait’
Interview by Marshall Shaffer
Album Review: Animal Youth ‘Animal’
“There are few things more frustrating to a music critic than wanting desperately to love an album but never quite getting there.”
‘Take Me’: Director-Actor Pat Healy and Editor Brian Scofield on Comedic Kinks and Cinematic Hijinks
Interview by Demi Kampakis
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.”