Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” will have some critics hailing it as an ambitious tackling of the caped crusader, which it is, by default.
Read more‘After Yang’: Glacially-Paced and Brainy Sci-Fi Can’t Overcome its Pretensions [Capsule]
Elusive video-essayist-turned-filmmaker Kogonada blew me away with his 2017 debut “Columbus.”
Read moreRoland Emmerich’s ‘Moonfall’ is a Bomb For the Ages [Review]
I caught up with Roland Emmerich’s “Moonfall,” which should absolutely sweep the 2023 Razzies, and if it doesn’t, that means that whatever film actually surpasses its mediocrity would have to be Ed Wood-like in stature. This is far worse than any Emmerich movie deserves to be. It’s inferior to his past nadirs, which include “Universal Soldier,” “Godzilla,” “The Thirteenth Floor,” “10,000 BC” and “2012.”
Read more‘Jackass Forever’: Johnny Knoxville and the Gang Haven’t Lost Their Joie de Vivre [Review]
“Jackass Forever” has everything dialled to 11. The stunts, the laughs, the pain, and, most crucially, the nostalgia and heart that made it a cultural phenomenon almost two decades ago.
Read more‘The Worst Person in the World’: Renate Reinsve’s Star-Making Performance Elevates Cannes Romcom [Review]
Following his last two mediocre efforts, director Joachim Trier tries to go back and complete the trilogy that started with his two strongest films (“Reprise” and “Oslo, August 31st”).
Read more‘Lingui, the Sacred Bonds’: Cannes Abortion Drama is Both Harrowing and Familiar [Capsule]
The only Cannes 2021 competition entry hailing from Africa, Chad-born director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s “Lingui, the Sacred Bonds” tries to use its exotic setting to infuse fresh blood into a familiar genre.
Read more‘Rifkin’s Festival’: Woody Allen’s Latest Trifle Goes Through the Motions [Review]
Shot in the summer of 2019, against the backdrop of San Sebastien, Woody Allen‘s “Rifkin’s Festival” feels like a waste of time if you’re not a Woody completist such as myself. It’s a bland, moanful, slight riff on what Allen seems to be doing these days — making light and ineffectual romcoms.
Read more‘The Pink Cloud’: Timely Film About A World in Lockdown [Capsule]
Sometimes, unintended timing is all it takes for a film to feel relevant. A part of last January’s 2021 Sundance Film Festival, “Pink Cloud” is a Brazilian film that eerily predicted a world in lockdown. Shot in 2019, its filmmaker, Luli Gerbase, could never predict what would happen to society a few months later.
Read more‘Italian Studies': Not Even Vanessa Kirby Can Save This Wandering Statement of Nothingness [Capsule]
In “Italian Studies,” the wonderful Vanessa Kirby is stranded in a sea of nothingness. This is the kind of pretentious independent film that gives the art form a bad name.
Read more‘Parallel Mothers’: Pedro Almodovar Tackles Spanish History, Motherhood and Genetics [Review]
The latest Almodovar isn’t a towering and personal achievement like his last film, “Pain and Glory,” but it encompasses everything we love about the legendary Spanish director with some added political subtleties.
Read more‘Don’t Look Up’ is Quite Bad; Toothless Satire
I don’t recall writing anything about Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up,” so here goes.
Read more‘France’: Bruno Dumont’s Nihilism Strikes Gold [Capsule]
Bruno Dumont’s darkly satirical ”France” received the first major boos of Cannes 2021. I dug it. A nihilistic portrayal of humanity through the eyes of a clinically depressed TV journalist. A Lynchian score by composer Christophe seems so out of place, but it only adds to the dramatic ambiguity of Dumont’s vision (his best since 2015’s “Li’l Quinquin”). The moral of this movie seems to be that life is shit. [B+]
‘Being the Ricardos’: Aaron Sorkin’s Bland Tackling of Lucille Ball [Review]
The reviews are in and “Being the Ricardos” is, quite frankly, getting terrible reviews. A 54 on Metacritic based on 21 reviews and a 50% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Read more‘West Side Story’ Spielberg’s Remake Sticks With the Formula and Doesn’t Reinvent [Review]
By all accounts, “West Side Story” is beautifully photographed, excitingly well-acted and brilliantly directed by Steven Spielberg. So, why was I left so cold when the credits rolled? One must ask the obvious question: why remake Robert Wise’s masterful 1961 classic?
Read more‘Flee’: Overpraised Animated Documentary Tackles an Immigrant’s Journey From Afghanistan to Sweden
‘Nightmare Alley’: Guillermo del Toro’s Highly-Stylized Film Noir Lacks Realism and Substance [Review]
Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” screened for press last night. This is not a crowd-pleaser by any stretch of the imagination.
Read more‘The Humans’: Overdirected Chamber Piece is All Style and No Substance [Review]
This stagey debut film from writer-director Stephen Karam, adapted from his Tony Award-winning play, explores the hidden secrets of a family and the love that keeps them intact.
Read more‘Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy’: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Anthology of Fate and Relationships [Review]
Aren’t we lucky to have two Ryusuke Hamaguchi films in the same year? The Japanese director has really come into his own this year.
Read more‘Introducing Selma Blair’: A Testament of Courage and Strength [Capsule]
Rachel Fleit’s “Introducing Selma Blair,” a doc on the titular actress, is what one might qualify as an uneasy watch. Blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018 and we can already see in the first scene the physical effects of the MS, as Blair’s speech slurs and her body breaks down during interviews.
Read more‘Bergman Island’: Mia Hansen-Løve’s Best Film to Date is Also Her Most Achingly Personal [Review]
“Bergman Island” is Mia Hansen-Løve’s best and most accomplished film. If she showed signs of brilliance in “Eden” and “Things to Come,” then here she’s found the perfect vehicle for her cinematic sensibilities — a dreamy and personal meta work that plays as joyously as a breezy summer day.
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The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.