AwardsWatch - Film Reviews

NYFF Review: Passion and performance shine in Chaitanya Tamhane’s ‘The Disciple’

Michael Frank September 30, 2020

Children think anything and everything is possible. Kids possess the ability to picture a future in which they are astronauts, professional athletes, presidents, rockstars, and... Read More

NYFF Review: Jia Zhangke takes an unfocused look at Chinese history and literature with ‘Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue’

Clint Worthington September 30, 2020

Jia Zhangke’s firmly established himself as one of China’s most exciting, innovative filmmakers, whether it’s in fiction (as 2018’s meditative Ash is Purest White can... Read More

NYFF Review: Steve McQueen’s ‘Mangrove’ is his most ambitious and exciting work to date

Diego Andaluz September 25, 2020

The second Steve McQueen film to premiere at this year’s edition of the New York Film Festival, Mangrove is the first segment of the Small... Read More

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

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

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’

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

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’

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