Review: Kit Zauhar’s ‘This Closeness’
“Zauhar gets to the heart of her characters’ deepest fears and desires, in a way that’s disarmingly funny and painfully relatable.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Review – Stefano Sollima’s ‘Adagio’
“Somewhat epic like Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’ (1995) and political in nature like Sollima’s underrated series ‘ZeroZeroZero’ (2020), ‘Adagio’ executes its brutal messaging through cinematographer Paolo Carnera’s observant visual language.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Andrea Arnold’s ‘Bird’
“Part coming-of-age drama, part quirky foray into magical realism, ‘Bird’ is a difficult film to nail down. Written and directed by Andrea Arnold, the 2024 movie sometimes doesn’t seem to know exactly what it’s trying to communicate.”
Review: Quarxx’s ‘Pandemonium’
“Quarxx guides the audience along through a French nightmare tale in ‘Pandemonium’ but doesn’t seem fully invested in what’s scary beyond the surface-level gore. He swings for the fences and falls on home plate in the process.”
Passion, Truth and Lillian Gish: The American Film Foundation Collection Releases Digitally on Vimeo
“Gish speaks confidently and passionately about acting in Sanders’ American Masters documentary, but perhaps the most intriguing moments emerge when she discusses her love for film preservation…”
Review: Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’
“In just her second film, Kapadia has become one of the most exciting directors working today. I doubt Cannes will be as quick to write off the cinema of India in her wake.”
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’ 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.”