“‘Yellow Bus’ tries to manufacture misunderstandings that may naturally exist in a country that has a diverse immigrant population, but Bednarz’s heavy-handed sociology lesson ultimately aligns with the pseudo-intellectual drivel of ‘Crash’ and ‘Babel.'”
“‘The Holdovers’ tries a little too hard to swerve melancholic moments into a hokey optimism, as it’s indebted to a screenwriters’ seminar-style narrative.”
“The bleak and restless nature of ‘R.M.N.’ is manifest in Tudor Vladimir Panduru’s cinematography.”
“Fraser keeps Charlie’s fully formed humanity at the forefront of ‘The Whale,’ despite various filmmaking decisions that could flatten his character into a saccharine pity case.”
“‘Once Upon a Time in Calcutta’ speaks to West Bengal’s eroding cultural and artistic history in the face of modernization, due to greed and a capitalist attitude of advancement at all costs.”
“The same way our minds shift under the influence of drugs, so too do they shift under the influence of new information, new truths. The higher the walls, the taller the ladders people will build to overcome them.”
Berlin Critics’ Week: Soham Gadre on the Losing Transmissions Program (‘Notes for a Déjà Vu’, ‘The Dream and the Radio’)
“The magic of Hadzihalilovic’s ‘Earwig’ comes in the form of its suggestion that viewers abandon their expectations and preconceptions about what cinema should be and what a story can be.”
“Romero’s movies have a workshop feel to them, which elevates the horror to a startlingly realistic terror as if it was being documented live.”
“Sound of Violence’s nonchalant depictions of violence, which occur with such obfuscation due to uncoordinated quick-cut editing and color filters, render it a fangless drama with un-engaging sequences of killing and torture.”
“There are many ways that Gaia’s concepts can be expounded into more interesting discussions, yet Bouwer is fine with maintaining a simplistic if metaphorically informed tale about Mother Nature’s revenge.”
VVoices #2: Film Critics Discuss Gatekeeping
“‘Rebecca’ feels sanded out, erased of all imperfection, identity and mystery.”
“Santa Sangre’s themes of empathy and hope are uniquely personal for Jodorowsky, and they help bring the film’s horrors and bloodshed into perspective…”
“As much as I love a good story, the best movies always transport me, in an intangible sense, through the base elements.”
“Hardy provides something alien, both amusing and disgusting, a unique cross between Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance in ‘The Shining’ and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Bug in ‘Men in Black.'”
“‘Echoes of the Invisible’ is both calming and exhilarating in equal measure.”
“‘Finding Yingying’ doesn’t try to offer answers that it can’t manifest in reality, and instead allows the legacy of its subject to lead the way, through intimate diary entries, by pondering the important questions of who we want to be, for each other and for our communities.”
“Over time, a film critic should be able to engage with cinema in an all-encompassing manner, acknowledging the interior and exterior forces of what makes a movie…”
“What allows Cattet and Forzani’s films to flourish is that they modify cinematic influences to accommodate today’s instant gratification culture.”
