Tightrope Walker: Dirk Bogarde’s Post-War Rebellion
“Rejection is the purest form of rebellion. Bogarde was never embraced by Hollywood in large part because ambivalence is not a bankable asset. He left too many questions unanswered.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Review – Francesca Comencini’s ‘The Time It Takes’
“Cinematic productions like ‘The Time It Takes’ show that theatrical movies can have a profound effect on people who want to know more about the medium and the craft of filmmaking.”
Building the New Queer Canon #4: Louise Weard’s ‘Castration Movie’
“Weard’s anthology series is shaping up to be one of the decade’s most impactful queer texts.”
Short Film Review: Laura Checkoway’s ‘The Cat Man Eshete’
“‘The Cat Man Eshete’ is more of a psychological character study — one worthy of repeat viewings, especially for immigrants — than a traditional documentary short about trauma and redemption.”
Review: Christopher Smith’s ‘Consecration’
“‘Consecration’ is a disjointed affair with sparks of interest scattered throughout that nonetheless ends up as a middling entry into the newly popular religious horror sub-genre.”
Saving Seconds of Time: On Rachel Elizabeth Seed’s ‘A Photographic Memory’
“Some minor continuity issues in ‘A Photographic Memory’ point to the first-time director’s lack of experience, yet they oddly work in favor of the established mood and tone via the (mostly) outstanding editing.”
Review: Sean Byrne’s ‘Dangerous Animals’
“Byrne paces ‘Dangerous Animals’ perfectly, hitting all the scariest beats with the requisite care and attention to detail…”
The Restoration of Marva Nabili’s ‘The Sealed Soil’ Unearths a Gem of Women-Centric Cinema in Iran
“Nabili’s ‘The Sealed Soil’ can be seen as a precursor of the minimalist styles that came to define so much of modern Iranian cinema.”
Review: Tom DeNucci, Seth Koch and Rick Lazes’ ‘Knock Out Blonde: The Kellie Maloney Story’
“‘Knock Out Blonde’ isn’t the kind of documentary that wants to paint a complicated picture of its subject — which, paradoxically, would be the kind of boundary-pushing representation we need now.”
‘All Happy Families’ Review – A Gently Chaotic Portrait of Multigenerational Family Life in Chicago
“‘All Happy Families’ is a warm family drama. What the film lacks in originality, it makes up for in sincerity.”
‘Pavements’ Review: Director Alex Ross Perry Innovates Rock Doc Cinema for the Future
“Perry fully (and successfully) commits to various comedic bits in ‘Pavements’ while documenting Pavement’s 1999 break-up and eventual 2022 reunion.”
Review: Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani’s ‘I Love You Forever’
“In ‘I Love You Forever,’ David and Kalani have their fingers firmly on the pulse of the current zeitgeist, injecting a much-needed youthful zest into a well-worn genre with an artful eye and incisive wit.”
Review: Mickey Keating’s ‘Invader’
“What sets ‘Invader’ apart from more conventional stalker horror films is its feverish aesthetic that owes more to the manic energy of 1970s and 80s exploitation cinema than modern genre trends.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Kôji Fukada’s ‘Love on Trial’
“Love on Trial’s opening two acts integrate personal drama into a subtly scathing social critique, but Fukada’s narrative loses power when the heroine must contend with the dark price of fame.”
Review: Michael Casey and Paddy Murphy’s ‘Lulu and the Electric Dreamboat’
“Michael Casey and Paddy Murphy’s ‘Lulu and the Electric Dreamboat’ is a winsome coming-of-age film with surgical wit.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Pedro Pinho’s ‘I Only Rest in the Storm’
“‘I Only Rest in the Storm’ is a succinctly angry film in large part because Pinho knows it doesn’t offer a reassuring explanation about its myriad themes.”
Review: Ben Petrie’s ‘The Heirloom’
“‘The Heirloom’ doesn’t follow a conventional climactic structure, and its brittle, dry humor and abstract tone may not appeal to everyone. However, Petrie’s inventive vision is admirable…”
On Dark and Lonely Waters: PIFs and Rural Landscapes as Sites of Danger
“Public Information Films, once tools for instruction, became haunted reflections of a nation’s growing uncertainty and discontent…”
Review: Tom Carroll’s ‘The Stress Is Killing Me’
“By the end of Carroll’s frustrating and stylistically unambitious film, it seems that there was a deeper, more interesting story just out of reach.”
Review: Maurice O’Carroll’s ‘Swing Bout’
“‘Swing Bout’ doesn’t establish enough of a backstory for any of the key players for them to register beyond the individual performances…”