Film Festival reviews, interviews, and podcast episodes.
TIFF 2023: The Umbrella Men: Escape from Robben Island
Written by Alexander Reams
“John Barker returns to direct and his continued passion and love for this community and these people is as evident as his direction in the first. He opens and closes both films with music and…”
TIFF 2023: 100 Yards
Written by Christopher Cross
“Influenced by the martial arts classics that came before it, Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng’s latest film, “100 Yards,” delivers some of the most engrossing and grounded fight sequences in recent…”
TIFF 2023: Working Class Goes to Hell
Written by Christopher Cross
“Money is the root of all evil, but if you’re not attentive, all roads will lead to capitalism in Mladen Đorđević’s “Working Class Goes to Hell.” A satire imbued with the power of Satan, Đorđević’s timely reflection on…”
NYAFF 2023: Vital Sign
Written by Patrick Hao
“At first glance, the Hong Kong thriller, “Vital Sign,” seems like a conventional thriller following a Hong Kong paramedic, Ma Chi-yip (Louis Koo), who does not like the bureaucracy that hinders him from…”
Fantasia 2023: Aporia
Written by Taylor Baker
““Aporia” is unnotable, it has little to say, and less to do. Its characters are unremarkable as are its consequences, which is a real pity for what is quite a nifty premise.”
Cannes 2023: All to Play For (Rien à perdre)
Written by Taylor Baker
“Virginie Efira stars in “All to Play For” a slice of life film depicting a single mother raising two boys on a low income. Efira’s Sylvie works at a local restaurant, and sometimes due to her schedule she has to leave…”
Tribeca 2023: Cinnamon (2023)
Written by Alexander Reams
“Blaxploitation is a genre that’s as synonymous with its crash zooms as it is memorable dialogue and sharply dressed characters who populate the traditionally sleazy setting. Since the movement lost steam there have been…”
Tribeca 2023: The Gullspång Miracle
Written by Christopher Cross
” The compelling element of “The Gullspång Miracle” is that its subjects don’t have to do anything they don’t want to. Fredriksson’s film explores a human reaction to suddenly knowing…”
Tribeca 2023: Chasing Chasing Amy
Written by Alexander Reams
“Within the first four minutes of Sav Rodger’s shockingly juvenile documentary on the so-called “problematic nature” of “Chasing Amy,” there are talking heads who go at 100 miles a minute just to…”
Tribeca 2023: A Strange Path
Written by Alexander Reams
“Parente has concocted a film that is reminiscent of southern culture in America while being a whole-heartedly Brazilian tale. The thematic arc between David and his father is one of…”
Tribeca 2023: Marinette
Written by Maria Athayde
“Remarkably inauthentic and caricatured at every turn, “Marinette” does not do justice to the struggles and triumphs Marinette Pichon had to overcome to become the person she is today. I was incredibly disappointed that…”
Tribeca 2023: Smoking Tigers
Written by Taylor Baker
“So Young Shelly Yo’s “Smoking Tigers” is a languid presentation in the teenager coming-of-age subgenre. The film is also Yo’s directorial debut, which at a tight 85 minutes doesn’t overstay its welcome. Instead…”
Tribeca 2023: Maggie Moore(s)
Written by Taylor Baker
“With entirely competent but never more than average filmmaking “Maggie Moore(s)” succeeds because of its triviality. The breeziness of the conversations of the townspeople, the smallness of problems that lead to macabre decisions, and the…”
SIFF 2023: Until Branches Bend
Written by Anna Harrison
“Like her protagonist, Jarvis also finds herself split between two impulses: there is the plainer, more domestic fare of her film, and the dreamlike paranoia that Robin finds herself slipping into…”
Cannes 2023: Légua
Written by Taylor Baker
“João Miller Guerra & Filipa Reis’s latest film “Légua” is a solemn piece of observational cinema that touches on transcendentalism through its depiction of three generations of women living in a house…”
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