‘Great Freedom’ review: Franz Rogowski is transformative in this sombre period prison drama [Grade: A-] (London Film Festival)
Take it from someone who has lived here for all of his twenty-five years: Englanders, for the most part, are so blinded by exceptionalism as... Read More
Film Reviews
‘The Tender Bar’ review: Ben Affleck raises the bar in George Clooney’s largely inept newest directorial outing [Grade: D+] (London Film Festival)
When you’re at a festival populated by indie slow-burners, a maudlin, easy-to-watch soap opera can be a wonderful, soupy balm. Just before the pandemic sent... Read More
NYFF Review: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s 3-hour ‘Drive My Car (ドライブ・マイ・カー)’ is a detailed and meticulous ride that will quietly reward your patience [Grade: B+]
There’s something inherently fascinating about taking a short story and extending it to a feature film that asks for a three-hour runtime. You can sit... Read More
‘The Humans’ review: Richard Jenkins and Jayne Houdyshell marvel in the year’s most haunting film – Nashville Film Festival [Grade: A]
Play to film adaptations have always been a thing, but it seems like over the past few years they have really started to become a... Read More
Review: Madonna’s ‘Madame X’ isn’t the concert film its tour—or star—deserves [Grade: B-]
In 2017, having literally moved to Lisbon in the name of soccer motherhood, superstar Madonna found herself a tad despondent. There was the fact that... Read More
‘South of Heaven’ review: A serious Jason Sudeikis can’t lasso up the dramatic chops to save contrived story [Grade: C]
While Jason Sudeikis was already an established actor in Hollywood, the mega-success of his Apple TV+ Emmy-winning comedy Ted Lasso has shot the SNL alum... Read More
NYFF Review: ‘Unclenching the Fists’ in an uncompromising tale of female resistance from Cannes winner Kira Kovalenko [Grade: B]
Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching of the Fists is set in North Ossetia, in the Russian Caucasus, the site of the horrific Beslan School attack of 2004.... Read More
NYFF Review: Radu Jude’s subversive ‘Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn’ is a sex tape satire with an explosive climax [Grade: A-]
Watching the beginning of Radu Jude’s new film, you have to remind yourself that it’s not really porn. There is actual sex on screen, but... Read More
NYFF Review: Not everything is black and white in ‘Passing,’ the feature directorial debut of Rebecca Hall [Grade: B-]
Passing, Rebecca Hall’s debut film as a writer-director, is a studied adaptation of Nellallitea “Nella” Larsen’s eponymous 1929 novel set in Harlem, New York. The... Read More
‘Mass’ review: Ann Dowd gives the performance of her career in Fran Kranz’s breathtaking and empathetic debut feature [Grade: A]
How do you find the words to speak about the unspeakable? That’s the question at the heart of Mass, and it’s the question every reviewer... Read More
‘Wishful Thinking,’ ‘Over Your Dead Body’ Among 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival Juried and Audience Award Winners 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 144 – ‘A Matter of Life and Death (Powell and Pressburger, 1946) with Special Guest Jesse Nussman 
Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS) Television and Nonfiction Nominations Announced: ‘Adolescence,’ ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Slow Horses’ and More 
Trailer Watch: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘Dune: Part Three,’ Disclosure Day,’ ‘Wild Horse Nine’