Review: Chris Nash’s ‘In a Violent Nature’
“The package may be pretty, but there’s nothing of note inside, and what is there has been done better elsewhere.”
Review: Guillaume Campanacci and Vesper Egon’s ‘Whenever I’m Alone with You’
“‘Whenever I’m Alone with You’ often feels pretentious, albeit in the best way possible.”
Review: Isaac Hirotsu Woofter’s ‘Bound’
“‘Bound,’ the feature directorial debut from actor Isaac Hirotsu Woofter, spotlights the struggles of fringe society characters but falls apart with its confusing editing and narrative structure.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Jonathan Millet’s ‘Ghost Trail’
“‘Ghost Trail’ is never boring — a testament to Millet’s laser-focused and tightly-edited direction.”
‘Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever’ Review: Borrowed Nostalgia for the Unremembered 90s
“‘Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever’ is formulaic to a fault… however, keep an eye on Fanny Bornedal. It won’t be long until she headlines (or co-headlines) a high-profile TV series or film on a major streaming service.”
Small Screen Sanctuary: The Rise of Auteur TV
“It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when television’s so-called Second Golden Age began; however, by the 2010s, it was understood that Prestige TV had begun to fill the gap left by the demise of cinema’s mid-budget tier.”
Review: Bertrand Bonello’s ‘Coma’
“‘Coma’Â conjures up the spirit of 2020 like no other movie thus far. Through its unwieldy structure and genre delineation, Bonello’s film often feels every bit as disorienting as it was to scroll through social media timelines during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
1980s TV Revisited: ‘Moonlighting’ Never Went Downhill Because It Never Set Foot on Earth
“In a lot of ways, ‘Moonlighting’ now seems like a 1990s premium cable show that happened to run on a traditional broadcast network. It carried itself as if it was smarter and wilder and more interesting than anything else on television.”
Review: Everybody Needs to See John Rosman’s ‘New Life’
“Rosman builds to a powerful resolution and ideal ending moment in ‘New Life,’ using gore and traditional methods to escalate the tension, and then pulls the rug away from the audience — a reminder of who’s in control, a tease of what’s to come.”
Crime Scene #15: ‘Strangler vs. Strangler’ – Belgrade Is Not a Serious City
“‘Strangler vs. Strangler’ is somewhere between the avant-garde and the absurd: a perfect description of Belgrade itself.”
Review: Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Challengers’ Is a Highbrow Music Video Experience That Doesn’t Owe You Anything
“A film designed as a long-form music video doesn’t need heavy exposition to reach its ultimate truth, as ‘Challengers’ communicates the most important facts through sound design, reaction shots and shared character moments.”
TV Review: ‘The Veil’
“Despite the contemporary references to ISIS and the ongoing refugee crisis, there’s nothing particularly timely about ‘The Veil,’ and any relevant social commentary is incidental.”
Review: Tynan DeLong’s ‘Dad & Step-Dad’
“Tynan DeLong’s ‘Dad & Step-Dad’ finds comedic gold in awkward silence and silly stare-downs.”
Review: Louise Archambault’s ‘Irena’s Vow’
“Unfortunately, it takes about 90 minutes for ‘Irena’s Vow’ to find its aesthetic and narrative groove.”
Review: Alice Rohrwacher’s ‘La Chimera’
“‘La Chimera’ will hopefully inspire movie lovers of all ages to learn more about not only Italian cinema, but also the specificities of regional (and rural) Italian culture.”
Review: Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’
“‘Civil War’ is a lot smarter than meets the eye, and the film is far more incisive in its cultural critique than its director’s simplistic interview comments may make it seem.”
Review: ‘Parish’ Season 1
“At six episodes, ‘Parish’ isn’t quite satisfying. It’s hard to say if it’s too long or not long enough. Maybe it’s the muggy American gothic New Orleans locations that made me err on the side of wishing it were longer.”
Review: Robert Lorenz’s ‘In the Land of Saints and Sinners’
“‘In the Land of Saints and Sinners’ truly sings during its quietest moments.”
Review: Arkasha Stevenson’s ‘The First Omen’
“What ‘The First Omen’ lacks in innovation it makes up for in boldness, pushing familiar supernatural genre tropes about the secret relationship between the Church and the Devil to ideological extremes.”
Review: George Henry Horton’s ‘Project Dorothy’
“‘Project Dorothy’ has nothing meaningful to say about the lingering AI threat to humanity.”