On Growing Up, First Love and Learning in ‘An Education’ and ‘Call Me by Your Name’
A Comparative Essay by Ellie Steiner
Berlinale 2018 Review: Laura Bispuri’s ‘Daughter of Mine’
“Messy and real, touching and convincingly brought to the screen, ‘Daughter of Mine’ is a joyous, heart and mind-expanding film.”
Hidden Gems of Soviet Cinema: On Sergei Loznitsa’s IDFA Top 10
“Now free to travel, these films now face the trouble of traveling well.”
Fantasia Film Festival 2017 Review: Federica Di Giacomo’s ‘Libera Nos’
“It’s an unconventional perspective, making ‘Libera Nos’ a riveting new lens on a familiar topic.”
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.”
Why Criticism: Defining New Cinema at FNC 2016
“In search of new worlds and experiences, this year’s FNC has been a journey from the physical world to the metaphysical.”
Recap: Hannibal ‘Contorno’
“As the plot of Hannibal continues to move forward, it also won’t stop looking back.”
Ambitious and Flawed: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s ‘Spring’
“At a certain point, and you’ll know when, the dialogue takes a dramatic turn; it’s almost as if Benson decided to use every pre-production joke centered around a most obvious plot point.”