Film Reviews

Film Review: The new ‘The Boys in the Band’ is a strikingly familiar tune played by a great new band

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Film Review: The new ‘The Boys in the Band’ is a strikingly familiar tune played by a great new band

Jack King September 25, 2020

A towering white birthday cake, with cute pink frosting piped around its edges, melts away in vociferous downpour. Only a small wound is carved into... Read More

Film Review: ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ favors sensationalism over social impact

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Film Review: ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ favors sensationalism over social impact

Rubin Safaya September 24, 2020

“The Democratic Convention is about to begin in a police state.” – Walter Cronkite 1968 was a year of global social upheaval.  Mass student protest erupted... Read More

NYFF Review: ‘Isabella’ doesn’t sink or swim—it just floats

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• New York Film Festival
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NYFF Review: ‘Isabella’ doesn’t sink or swim—it just floats

Amelia Merrill September 23, 2020

Filmmaker Matías Piñeiro has added to his Shakespearean-inspired filmography with Isabella, which is as much a meditation on Measure for Measure as it as an... Read More

Film Review: Tell me, tell me, how to be, how to be a ‘Kajillionaire’

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Film Review: Tell me, tell me, how to be, how to be a ‘Kajillionaire’

Jason Adams September 23, 2020

Certain movies make you think a new way. Something like Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth aggressively owns that idea outright — it turns language itself against its viewers, reorganizing... Read More

TIFF Review: ‘Beginning’ knows where to start but no idea how to end

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: ‘Beginning’ knows where to start but no idea how to end

Mina Takla September 22, 2020

Plot: When a mysterious attack takes place on a church in one of Georgia’s remote villages, a game of power ensues between a woman and... Read More

NYFF Review: A humble pig gets her time in the spotlight in gripping nature doc ‘Gunda’

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• New York Film Festival
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NYFF Review: A humble pig gets her time in the spotlight in gripping nature doc ‘Gunda’

Clint Worthington September 21, 2020

Victor Kossokofsky loves to prod at the boundaries of what he can do with documentary cinema — 2018’s Aquarela, for instance, asked its audience to... Read More

TIFF Review: Naomi Kawase gets maternal with ‘True Mothers,’ her best film in years

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: Naomi Kawase gets maternal with ‘True Mothers,’ her best film in years

Mina Takla September 21, 2020

Plot: In Japan, a couple who are unable to give birth to a child of their own decide to adopt. Years later, their child’s true... Read More

TIFF Review: ‘Summer of 85’ leaves the viewer out in the cold

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: ‘Summer of 85’ leaves the viewer out in the cold

Mina Takla September 21, 2020

Plot: In 1985, a young man falls in love with an adventurous, free-spirited man. Over a brief yet intense period of time, they experience love... Read More

TIFF Review: What ’76 Days’ lacks in scope it makes up for as a timely look at the small beginnings of a worldwide pandemic

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: What ’76 Days’ lacks in scope it makes up for as a timely look at the small beginnings of a worldwide pandemic

Diego Andaluz September 20, 2020

Before it became a global issue, and long before it began to affect each and every one of us, on January 23, 2020, the city... Read More

TIFF Review: ‘Gaza Mon Amour’ is one of the best Middle Eastern films of the year

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: ‘Gaza Mon Amour’ is one of the best Middle Eastern films of the year

Mina Takla September 20, 2020

Plot: A 40-something fisherman in Gaza who has never been married catches an Apollo statue by pure chance. The statue, of this Greek God who... Read More