TV Review: ‘Alien: Earth’ (Season 1 – Episodes 3, 4 and 5)
“It appears that Hawley mapped ‘Alien: Earth’ methodically, though the FX on Hulu series often feels worlds apart from writer Dan O’ Bannon’s original source material.”
Review: Robert Schwartzman’s ‘Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary’
“Press play on ‘Hung Up on a Dream’ for the music, stay for the wild and interconnected industry stories that span seven decades.”
Review: Joe Begos’ ‘Jimmy and Stiggs’
“‘Jimmy and Stiggs’ is frenetic, metal AF and feels dangerous, which is something that’s sadly missing from a lot of modern horror movies.”
EIFF 2025 Review: Mas Bouzidi’s ‘Concessions’
“‘Concessions’ is essentially a collage, taking bits of other films and sticking them together to make something pretty. But it struggles when it comes to time to say something of its own.”
VV Double Review (2/2): Macon Blair’s ‘The Toxic Avenger’ (EIFF)
“‘The Toxic Avenger’ isn’t unpalatable to the mainstream, but it quickly becomes evident why the film was left on the shelf for a couple of years.”
VV Double Review (1/2): Macon Blair’s ‘The Toxic Avenger’
“Blair’s ‘The Toxic Avenger’ does what a great reboot should do — the film carves its own path, in every sense of the word, while paying homage to what came before and taking some big swings along the way.”
EIFF 2025 Review: Sepideh Farsi’s ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk’
“As a cinematic epitaph for an extraordinary young woman, ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk’ more than captures the spirit of Fatima Hassouna.”
EIFF 2025 Review: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne’s ‘The Young Mother’s Home’
“After a few missteps since ‘Two Days, One Night’ became an unlikely crossover success, the Dardennes brothers are back on track with ‘The Young Mother’s Home.’ It’s their simplest, most open hearted work to date…”
EIFF 2025 Review: Ondine Viñao’s ‘Two Neighbors’
“Sadly, ‘Two Neighbors’ turns out to be one of those parties where the people don’t really mix and the event seems to drag on forever.”
TV Review: ‘Alien: Earth’ (Season 1, Episodes 1-2)
“‘Alien: Earth’ could become the unofficial Alien Apocrypha. The 46-year-old franchise might have some acidic bite left in it, but it doesn’t leave the same corrosive mark in the human psyche that it once did.”
EIFF 2025 Review: Jan-Ole Gerster’s ‘Islands’
“‘Islands’ smoothly makes the transition from a romantic drama to an understated thriller, and it’s utterly intoxicating.”
Review: Zach Cregger’s ‘Weapons’
“Cregger is less interested in the ways in which his characters rise to the occasion in ‘Weapons’ and more concerned with how they fall short at the worst possible moment.”
Review: Audrey Lam’s ‘Us and the Night’
“Even when Lam’s dialogue falters in its poetic consistency, her down-to-earth editing and dedication to minimalism hits the mark, as ‘Us and the Night’ embodies true-blue independent filmmaking.”
The ‘Night of the Juggler’ 4K Restoration Highlights Why We Love New York-Set Movies
“Robert Butler’s ‘Night of the Juggler’ isn’t the best New York City film ever made, but it might be the best cinematic representation of the location.”
Building the New Queer Canon #5: Dag Johan Haugerud’s Sex/Dreams/Love Trilogy
“Gradually, the Sex/Dreams/Love trilogy redefines queerness as a process of self-discovery which can always evolve, rather than an ill-fitting label you’re stuck with after a single formative experience.”
Review: Sophie Brooks’ ‘Oh, Hi!’
“‘Oh, Hi!’ positions Gordon as the next Lena Dunham, Greta Gerwig or maybe — to quote Will Ferrell’s Frank from ‘Old School’ (2003) — ‘something really cool that I don’t even know about.'”
Review: Paul Etheredge’s ‘The Other’
“‘The Other’ is a massive technical achievement with some real heart, and Etheredge fortunately avoids bland metaphors about racism.”
Review: James Gunn’s ‘Superman’
“Gunn’s first ‘Superman’ outing makes the grade.”
Review: Morihito Inoue’s ‘Hotspring Sharkattack’
“There’s a madcap charm to ‘Hotspring Sharkattack,’ a real sense of DIY ingenuity and, crucially, fun, which makes the film impossible to resist.”
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.”