Telluride Dispatch #1: ‘La Grazia,’ ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ ‘Ballad of a Small Player’
The 52nd Telluride Film Festival began yesterday, August 29, and my ninth journey to this cinematic mecca started with a drive that felt like plunging... Read More
Film Reviews
‘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
‘No Other Choice’ Review: Park Chan-wook’s Jet Black Comedy Reminds Us Why He’s One of the Best in the Game [B+] Venice
The first sign of violence in No Other Choice comes when our protagonist, paper factory manager You Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) explains the difference between losing... Read More
‘After the Hunt’ Review: Despite a Stellar Julia Roberts, Luca Guadagnino’s Latest is a #MeToo Misfire [C-] Venice
A lot has changed since 2017, when the first accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced. One after one, the women who were sexually harassed... Read More
‘Hijra’ Review: Shahad Ameen Crafts a Moving Story of Self-Empowerment and Discovery [A-] Venice
In her second outing as a feature-length filmmaker, Saudi Arabian director Shahad Ameen goes bolder and deeper with Hijra, a quietly devastating film that is... Read More
‘Bugonia’ Review: Jesse Plemons Gives a Masterful Performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Plea for Eco-Empathy [A-] Venice
Yorgos Lanthimos is back at the Lido with one of his most fascinating, multi-layered and daring films. In Bugonia, the subversive filmmaker manages to tackle... Read More
‘Ghost Elephants’ Review: Werner Herzog Adds Characteristic Existential Poignancy to Entertaining Nature Doc [B] Venice
Werner Herzog’s irreverent stoicism, which seems to get an ounce cheekier every year, does some heavy lifting in a documentary which might otherwise border on... Read More
‘Father’ Review: Tereza Nvotová’s Examination of a Life Barely Scratches the Surface [C] Venice
Selected as the Opening Film of this year’s Venice International Film Festival’s Orizzonti section, Tereza Nvotová’s Father features an interesting premise, rarely discussed in film,... Read More
‘La Grazia’ Review: Paolo Sorrentino’s Richly Drawn Political Drama of a Leader Who’s Lost his Purpose is One of His Best Films [A] Venice
If we think about politics in this day and age, our first reaction is probably disgust, disappointment, disillusionment, or outright fear. In a crucial age... Read More
‘The Roses’ Review: By Any Other Name it Would Still Stink [C-]
At the opening of Jay Roach’s new film The Roses, with Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, the married pair are in therapy, asked to read... Read More
2026 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED FEATURE (December) 
New Jersey Film Critics Circle (NJFCC) Nominations; ‘Sinners,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ Lead 
Interview: Production Designer Jack Fisk on Recreating 1950s New York and Building a Ping Pong Playground in ‘Marty Supreme’ 
Interview: Cinematographer Darius Khondji on Shooting on Film and Finding the Light and the Darkness of ‘Marty Supreme’