‘The Secret Agent’ Review: Kleber Mendonça Filho Returns with a Timely Tale of Brazilian Corruption and Persecution [A-]
One year after over-performing at the Oscars with the sleeper hit I’m Still Here, Brazil is poised to potentially do it again with another film analyzing... Read More
J Don Birnam
J. Don Birnam has been a NYC-based freelance film critic since 2014 and an obsessive Oscars fan since Titanic took the top prize in 1997. He is a member of various critics groups, including GALECA, and is a founding member of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association. His favorite film is They Shoot Horses, Don't They, which mostly describes his mood, particularly when he posts from @jdonbirnam on X or @awards_predix on Instagram
‘The Captive’ Review: Alejandro Amenábar’s Account of Cervantes as a Teller of Tales is Itself a Powerful Lesson in Storytelling [A] TIFF
After Miguel de Cervantes wrote the most famous novel of all time—El Quijote— in the early 1600s, it became so instantly popular that apocryphal sequels... Read More
‘Train Dreams’ Review: Joel Edgerton Shines in Contemplative Drama About Life and Technological Progress [A-] TIFF
“Timeless” is a word that gets thrown around a lot, particularly by movie critics to describe films that have lasting power because they are enjoyed... Read More
‘Sacrifice’ Review: Romain Gavras’ Environmentalism Parody Self-Immolates at the Altar of Absurdity [B-] TIFF
Satire and farce make for appealing cinema because they give additional room to directors willing to exercise that creative license. Such is the case with... Read More
‘The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo’ Review: Chilean LGBTQ Western is a Haunting, Lyrical Fable About Love and Loss [A-] TIFF
Chile’s selection to this year’s Best International Feature Oscar race, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, continues that country’s remarkable string of featuring poignant films... Read More
‘Maddie’s Secret’ Review: John Early’s Directorial Debut Isn’t Quite the Gag-Worthy Parody It Should Be [C+] TIFF
Once upon the 1980s there was a little NBCmovie about Kate, a seemingly perfect, beautiful housewife who harbored a dark and disturbing secret—she furtively ate... Read More
Telluride Silver Medallion and Tribute to Iranian Filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Reflecting on ‘It Was Just an Accident’ and Lifelong Political Filmography
The Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, Colorado has seen legendary, subversive non-American filmmakers celebrated by the Telluride Film Festival over the past 52 years. From... Read More
‘Tuner’ Review: Dustin Hoffman’s Piano Lesson is so Tightly Wound it Plays Entirely Off Key [D] Telluride
In the new film Tuner, an aging piano tuner and his young apprentice and assistant trapeze around the Tri-State area fine tuning pianos mostly for... Read More
‘The Secret Agent’ Review: Kleber Mendonça Filho Returns with a Timely Tale of Brazilian Corruption and Persecution [A-] Telluride
One year after over-performing at the Oscars with the sleeper hit I’m Still Here, Brazil is poised to potentially do it again with another film... Read More
Interview: ‘Emilia Pérez’ Breakthrough Karla Sofía Gascón Discusses Her Soul-Bearing Performance and Historic Potential Oscar Nod
In Jacques Audiard latest film, Emilia Pérez, a fearsome drug lord in Mexico hires an overworked attorney to assist in a convoluted plot aimed at... Read More
‘Frankenstein’ to Receive Visionary Honor from Palm Springs International Film Awards 
Robert Yeoman to be Honored with American Society of Cinematographers’ Lifetime Achievement Award 
National Board of Review: ‘One Battle After Another’ Tops in Film, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor; Netflix Lands Four in Top 10 
41st Spirit Awards Nominations: ‘Peter Hujar’s Day,’ ‘Lurker,’ ‘Train Dreams’ Lead