NYFF Review: ‘Belle’ (竜とそばかすの姫) will make your heart sing [Grade: A-]
The virtual world in Belle is called “U,” as in it specializes in “you” and what makes each and every person distinctively them. Though the... Read More
Film Reviews
NYFF Review: Cinema just took a huge dose of adrenaline with ‘Titane’ and gasped for air [Grade: A]
It’s probably better for you as a moviegoer to just take my word for it and go see Titane as blind as possible. There are... Read More
‘The Starling’ review: Theodore Melfi’s breakup dramedy flies on a broken wing [Grade: C-]
Melissa McCarthy and Theodore Melfi have shared similarities in their bodies of work. Both getting their names and work known through comedic roots, both would... Read More
NYFF Review: Engrossing ‘Prism’ doc examines how photographic technologies favor white skin, questions the “neutral camera” [Grade: A]
Eléonore Yameogo, An van Dienderen, Rosine Mbakam’s Prism may spark an entirely new conversation about racial bias in filmmaking, namely the “problem” of calibrating non-white skin tones.... Read More
‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ NYFF review: A beautiful film, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing [Grade: B]
Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth premiered at the New York Film Festival with little fanfare—a morning screening, a press conference with COVID-induced microphone restrictions,... Read More
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ review: The renowned Broadway musical becomes a tone deaf examination of teenage anxiety [Grade: D-]
From the moment the Dear Evan Hansen trailer debuted a couple of months ago, it was marred with controversy. Fans of the show and casual... Read More
TIFF Review : Zhang Yimou’s ‘One Second’ offers a charming, if compromised, love letter to cinema [Grade: B]
Even before it reached Western shores for its premiere as the closing night film of the Toronto International Film Festival, Zhang Yimou’s One Second was... Read More
TIFF Review: With ‘Julia,’ Julie Cohen and Betsy West whip up a charming confit of cooking’s most fearless and unlikely personality [Grade: A]
Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s Julia opens with a clip of Julia Child introducing her TV audience to “the chicken sisters,” the six headless fowl... Read More
TIFF Review: ‘The Falls’ (瀑布) is a tense, touching portrait of love and empathy [Grade: A]
At the center of our story stands an apartment building, fully wrapped in blue tarp. We see many buildings of identical structure, but only this... Read More
TIFF Review: Alexandre Moratto’s ‘7 Prisoners’ is a compelling and harrowing look at modern-day slave trade [Grade: B+]
Brazilian filmmaker Alexandre Moratto creates a highly effective, if uneven, picture on the devastating working conditions in his homeland, capturing both the dreams crushed by... Read More
Interview: Cinematographer Darius Khondji on Shooting on Film and Finding the Light and the Darkness of ‘Marty Supreme’ 
Writer/Director Charlie Polinger Tackles Teenage Boy Body Horror in his Debut Feature ‘The Plague’ [VIDEO INTERVIEW] 
‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ Review: Amanda Seyfried is Mother (Ann) in Mona Fastvold’s Miraculous Musical Drama [A] 
With ‘Song Sung Blue,’ Craig Brewer Pays Tribute to Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman, Joy Amongst Sadness, and the Creation of Art [VIDEO INTERVIEW]