‘One Battle After Another’ Review: Paul Thomas Anderson’s Satirical Saga is the Defining American Film of the Decade [A]
When reviewing Thomas Pynchon’s postmodern tale of American transformation, “Vineland,” Frank McConnell of the LA Times described the book as, “Quite simply, one of those... Read More
Film Reviews
‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ Review: Kogonada’s Grounded Perspective Is at Odds with Flighty and Sentimental Metaphysical Romance [C]
The only thing more ridiculous than the title A Big Bold Beautiful Journey may be the fact that the title is said out loud in... Read More
‘Normal’ Review: Bob Odenkirk is a Nobody Sheriff Pushed Too Far in Ben Wheatley’s Sisyphean, Odyssean Modern Western [B-] TIFF
No city is too small to hide a secret too large. The latest rendition of this popular trope takes a jab at small town America... Read More
‘Motor City’ Review: The Best Possible Case for a Dialogue-Free Action Flick [B] TIFF
Do movies need dialogue? It’s not a silly question. After all, film is a visual medium. And the visual existed quite a while before synchronized... Read More
‘Poetic License’ Review: Maude Apatow’s Delightful Directorial Debut is a New Coming-of-Age Classic [B+] TIFF
Maude Apatow is no stranger to cross-generational coming-of-age stories. Growing up, she had minor roles in her father Judd Apatow’s comedic films (The 40-Year-Old Virgin,... Read More
‘Sk+te’kmujue’katik (At the Place of Ghosts)’ Review: A Narratively Ambitious Genre-Bending Tale of Familial Trauma [B] TIFF
After their extraordinary sophomore feature Wildhood, Bretten Hannem crafts another demonstration of being in touch with one’s own Indigenous heritage. One that is even more... Read More
‘Christy’ Review: Sydney Sweeney’s Boxer Biopic Has Familiar Filmmaking Genes but a Captivating Central Story of Perseverance [B] TIFF
It’s easy to look at Christy, the new boxing biopic from journeyman director David Michôd, and expect the most formulaic story: a scrappy fighter from... Read More
‘Dust Bunny’ Review: Bryan Fuller’s Hybrid Fantasy-Action-Horror Fable Has an Endearingly Childlike Sense of Enchantment [B] TIFF
There’s not much talking at the beginning of Dust Bunny. The opening 15 minutes of the long-awaited feature-length film from cult favorite TV writer Bryan... Read More
‘Scarlet’ Review: Mana Ashida’s Vocal Performance Highlights Mamoru Hosoda’s Animated Fantasy [B] TIFF
Minutes into Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet, we are thrust into a world that thematically plays with elements of his past works – films like Digimon, Summer... Read More
‘The President’s Cake’ Review: Hasan Hadi’s Layered Drama is as Entertaining as it is Compelling [A-] TIFF
There exists a spectrum of sad movies that are about kids but not for kids. On the lowest end of the spectrum, something like Spike... 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