Reviews

One of the first notable visuals in Laura Poitras’s landmark documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, is an excerpt slideshow from Nan Goldin’s legendary photography collection, “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” — as good a time…

Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, Mark Jenkin will be the name on everyone’s lips when it comes to talking about British films. Bait will be included on film schools’ syllabi along with the likes of…

“It wasn’t easy, but it’s worth it”. These words from co-writer and star of Bros, Billy Eichner, in his Q&A after its Melbourne premiere screening resonated with a thundering echo. Not just in terms of…

LEVINE. To those even decently well-versed in the classical music world, the name James Levine is likely to bring forth a slew of contradicting reactions. On one end is a sense of deep reverence: Levine…

When you envision the legacy of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, you’re probably familiar with his distinct improvisation style — his winding melodies, harmonies, techniques, and dissonances that have since gone down as hallmarks in jazz…

An expansive, white-walled studio. A camera crew helmed by director Ruth Beckermann. A lavish, pink-red sofa that’s previously been used for erotic films. And 100 men, aged from 16 all the way to 99, who…

The legacy of South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo seems largely separated from the stylized and dramatized sensibilities of his Korean New Wave contemporaries — the more minimalistic and theatrically conversational mise-en-scéne of his films seems…

While it’s easy to look at the repertoire of films about COVID and deem them redundant, oftentimes incredibly lazy ways to artistically reflect a universal experience, perhaps the most distinctive among them have been the…

They say all publicity is good publicity, and Olivia Wilde’s much-anticipated directorial follow-up to Booksmart has brought with it a cascading deluge of behind-the-scenes gossip. From conflicting reports on Shia LaBeouf’s departure from the project, Wilde’s affair…

Florian Zeller surprised the film world two years ago with his debut feature film, The Father. That film is one of the masterpieces of the 2020s, and it features what may be the best performance…

Steven Spielberg has offered plenty of magical dreams over the years. It’s redundant to list his filmography as his repertoire speaks for itself. Steven Spielberg is a name synonymous with film. His iconic status is…

“It’s a whodunnit. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all,” is a line heard more than once in Tom George’s directorial debut, See How They Run. Perhaps there is some truth to that, but that doesn’t…

I will always have a soft spot for Kevin Smith. Even if you aren’t fond of his dick jokes, any cineaste will admire his ascent as a filmmaker. He’s one of the great examples of…

There’s a scene towards the middle of Abi Damaris Corbin’s Breaking (originally titled 892 at its Sundance 2022 premiere) in which former Marine Lance Corporal Brian Brown-Easley (played by John Boyega), after being withheld from his disability check for…

The self-described “dark fairy tale,” Squeal (also known as Samuel’s Travels) is a truly international affair: the film comes from Latvia, has an Armenian writer/director, the lead actor is from Belgium, and the narrator sounds…

January 9th, 1997. David Bowie stands before a massive crowd at Madison Square Garden at a special concert event for his 50th birthday and exclaims, “I don’t know where I am going from here, but…

It may be an obvious sentiment at this point, but it’s become genuinely difficult to look at the world around us and not think that something’s gone completely, ineffably, and gradually wrong. In the midst…

It seems that a fair portion of Film Twitter has turned on A24. I make this observation because I pretty consistently see people mocking it as a brand, or more specifically, the specific type of fan associated…

Leave it to Claire Denis to create the best representation of the pandemic onscreen yet. There are no Karens yelling over masks, no contagion spreading like wildfire. Instead, masks are a visual motif for the…

I had my come-to-Jesus moment with the MCU while watching Hawkeye a few months back. I had liked WandaVision and Loki enough, so why not try it out, I thought. Ten minutes in, the phone…

If you were to ask me for a list of the most exciting directors working today, Jordan Peele would be very high on my list, if not at the very top. In 2017, Peele burst…

I’ll admit it, when Neon announced that Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new film, Memoria, would embark on a never-ending, roadshow-style film tour across the country forever — meaning there will never be a streaming or Blu-ray release…

There is something quintessential American about the story of Jerry and Marge Selbee, two retirees who exploited a loophole in the lottery system and made themselves rich. A story like this can only become truly…

Most musical biopics are forgettable, generic fare. They rarely resemble nothing more than a fond tribute to the artists, but as historical films or character studies, they are extremely lacking. They usually take a simplified…

It brings me no joy to report that an indie comedy film evidently made in earnest did not resonate or connect with me, but Parker Seaman and Devin Das’s debut feature, Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying, is…

There’s a certain type of fascination in watching a film where you can immediately tell that other people’s enjoyment of it will be almost entirely predicated on how much they’re able to live with its…

Expanding on the thematic foundation established by his previous feature, The Killing of Two Lovers — a film in which a father of four, emasculated by his wife’s relationship with a new partner in the midst of a…

Hot off the heels of winning the SXSW Audience Award with his charming, witty, and near-universally loved directorial debut, Saint Frances, writer-director Alex Thompson’s return to the silver screen appears to be a complete tonal shift,…

A devious recipe of psychological manipulation, profoundly unsettling family dynamics, and grisly horror that never quite feels like it coalesces into a full meal, Peter Hengl’s Family Dinner is certainly one of the more interesting horror…

Warning: this review contains unabashed adoration for Tom Cruise.  So leave your shit at the door, no one wants any part of it. Cowards couch their praise of Cruise behind opening statements like, “We all…