AwardsWatch

‘The Smashing Machine’ Review: Benny Safdie’s Cautious Fighter Drama Pulls its Punches [C] Venice

Mina Takla September 1, 2025

Some films don’t know what they want to be – and that’s certainly the case with Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, a film that continuously... Read More

‘Jay Kelly’ Review: Fame Comes at a Reflective, Personal Price in Noah Baumbach’s Newest Masterpiece [A-] Telluride

Ryan McQuade September 1, 2025

“All my memories are movies” says the titular Jay Kelly (George Clooney) to his mentor, veteran director Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent) as they stand in... Read More

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 114 – ‘Late Spring’ (Yasujirō Ozu, 1949)

Ryan McQuade September 1, 2025

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of... Read More

Telluride Dispatch #3: Dad Mode with ‘Sentimental Value,’ ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Frankenstein’

Mark Johnson September 1, 2025

Day three of the 52nd Telluride Film Festival has revealed a striking theme woven through its lineup: imperfect fathers. Across many of the films I... Read More

‘Rose of Nevada’ Review: George MacKay and Callum Turner Get Spooked in Mark Jenkin’s Ghostly Fisherman Fable [A-] Venice

Yasmine Kandil September 1, 2025

In Rose of Nevada, the sea does not simply serve as a backdrop but as a force of memory and fate. Mark Jenkin returns to... Read More

‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ Review: Amanda Seyfried is Mother (Ann) in Mona Fastvold’s Miraculous Musical Drama [A] Venice

Roberto Ruggio September 1, 2025

Religious dramas are not really my cup of tea, to use a British expression. I’m a big fan of Ingmar Bergman, but I’m not really... Read More

‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ Review: Scott Cooper’s Uneven Snapshot at The Boss’ Crucial Album Features an Astonishing Jeremy Allen White [C+] Telluride

Ryan McQuade August 31, 2025

This musical biopic can be a tricky thing to get right, especially for a fan of the artist being portrayed in the film. The growing... Read More

‘Below the Clouds’ Review: Gianfranco Rosi’s Volcano Doc Erupts with Humanity [B+] Venice

Roberto Ruggio August 31, 2025

Since the start of humanity, mankind has always been fascinated with the concept of time. The notion of past, present, future has often been analyzed... Read More

‘Hamnet’ Review: Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal Will Break Your Heart in Chloé Zhao’s Timeless Tale of Profound Loss and Boundless Love [A] Telluride

Sophia Ciminello August 31, 2025

“All that lives must die,/Passing through nature to eternity.” -Hamlet Act One, Scene 2 Early in Chloé Zhao’s staggering Shakespearean fairytale, Hamnet, Agnes (Jessie Buckley)... Read More

‘Tuner’ Review: Dustin Hoffman’s Piano Lesson is so Tightly Wound it Plays Entirely Off Key [D] Telluride

J Don Birnam August 31, 2025

In the new film Tuner, an aging piano tuner and his young apprentice and assistant trapeze around the Tri-State area fine tuning pianos mostly for... Read More

2026 Oscar Predictions

In case you missed it