‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ Turns Snow White Into Keyser Söze
“Considering how little ‘Winter’s War’ really has to do with its predecessor and subject, they might as well just make her the lead for a third film.”
Review: Robert Budreau’s ‘Born to Be Blue’
“Budreau is smart enough to illuminate the non-existent divide between the master performer and the man who sticks a needle in his arms, as Baker knows that he needs to stay clean to keep working, but only heroin can numb the pain.”
Review: Alice Winocour’s ‘Disorder’
“It is rare for a film to look objectively at war’s after effects and the violence it instills on its participants, and yet Alice Winocour’s Disorder is not concerned with pity or ferocity.”
Review: Kirk Jones’ ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2’
“MBFGW2 is like going to a Greek restaurant and ordering a sleeve of unsalted saltines.”
The Insular Visions of ‘Krisha’
“It’s too late to force her way back to a seat at the table. She should have never tried to get closer.”
Review: Zoe Cassavetes’ ‘Day Out of Days’
“An unquestionably personal work, Day Out of Days exposes the inequity of Hollywood’s interior while highlighting just how important female voices are in telling the story of human existence.”
Jacques Tardi Adaptation ‘April and the Extraordinary World’ Offers a Thrilling Alternate History
“The extraordinary world of April and the Extraordinary World is no simple one, and it’s welcome that its worldview veers away from the simplistic.”
Review: Gavin Hood’s ‘Eye in the Sky’
“Eventually, Hood can’t avoid the chance to step up to the pulpit and offer a stance. But even as the film orchestrates its grandly emotional and proudly manipulative climax, it means nothing and everything.”
Review: Dan Trachtenberg’s ’10 Cloverfield Lane’
“True to form, the narrative beats of 10 Cloverfield Lane do unspool more than progress, but the difference is that they’re always based in character.”
Review: Kent Jones’ ‘Hitchcock/Truffaut’
“Although it contains very little new material, Hitchcock/Truffaut will undoubtedly find a home within the film education community and could become an important tool in introducing Hitchcock’s immense body of work to hoards of “uninitiated” cinema devotees.”
‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’: Empty Empowerment
“It’s not a bad movie, but no matter how long it spends in the war zone, it still feels like a tourist.”
Review: Grímur Hákonarson’s ‘Rams’
“A great director can make us a care for characters wildly outside our realm of understanding, and Grímur Hákonarson may have proven himself such a director with his latest film, Rams.”
With ‘The Mermaid’, Stephen Chow Fully Utilizes the Camera as Comedic Tool
“Stephen Chow’s invigorating, irreverent, slapstick, but occasionally serious, comedy The Mermaid is an odd beast to pin down.”
Review: Luca Guadagnino’s ‘A Bigger Splash’
“A vivid and lavish feast for the eyes, A Bigger Splash takes an assemblage of indescribably talented actors and puts them in a pressure cooker of sex and vice.”
Review: John Hillcoat’s ‘Triple 9’
“Triple 9 probably won’t go down as one of the great heist films on par with Die Hard or The Italian Job, but it might.”
Glasgow Film Festival Review: Stephen Ringer’s ‘Weepah Way for Now’
“It’s a touching depiction of a bond between sisters, but it doesn’t really create such a bond with viewers.”
Berlinale 2016 Review: Sara Jordenö’s ‘Kiki’
“Kiki is not the documentary that will prompt mass change or acceptance of fringe LGBTQ culture, but it doesn’t have to be.”
Review: Robert Eggers’ ‘The Witch’
“The Witch does for the woods what Jaws did for the ocean. They’re ruined for you.”
Berlinale 2016 Review: Robert Greene’s ‘Kate Plays Christine’
“Kate Plays Christine finds itself at the at intersection of reality and performance art, but no matter how fabricated the precursor, the emotional core remains intact and exceptionally powerful.”
Berlinale 2016 Review: The Terrifying Future of War – Alex Gibney’s ‘Zero Days’
“Like a drunken boxer shoving people outside of a nightclub, Gibney’s loud mouth is supported by his ability to knock you out.”