Category: Film Festivals

2026 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 22 to February 1, 2026 in Park City, Utah for one last time before moving to Boulder, Colorado next year. You can also stream some of the selections online from January 29 to February 1. Here are some of the highlights of this year’s lineup: THE INVITE, Olivia […]

David Michôd’s Christy is one of the strongest conventional dramas I’ve seen this year. There’s nothing conventional about boxer Christy Martin however, a trailblazer in female boxing.  Sydney Sweeney and Ben Foster transform into Martin and her coach Jim, a genuinely abhorrent character that would rival any other screen villain in recent memory. Merritt Wever […]

Kristen Stewart goes for the poetic in the harrowing The Chronology of Water with mixed results.  The highly fragmented non-linear editing used in depicting the deeply traumatic upbringing of the teenage character and her resulting toxic behavior towards others made the first half of the film a tough sit for me.  It later finds its […]

Is This Thing On? is dramatically satisfying while providing plenty of laughs, some of which come from the standup material. Bradley Cooper is working on a smaller scale than his previous two films, achieving excellent results.  Will Arnett and Laura Dern complement one another wonderfully as a couple on the rocks. It is strange to have […]

Marty Supreme is a loud, wild, and chaotic hustler story that is a distant relative of Uncut Gems with shocking, stressful, and riotously funny Safdie moments throughout.  Timothée Chalamet continues his streak of performances where he completely inhabits his character. Odessa A’zion is exceptional, and Abel Ferrara has a couple of insane scenes.  The way […]

Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value is the most compelling drama of the year so far. He is able to bring out career-best performances from the talented ensemble cast of Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Stellan Skarsgård, and Elle Fanning.  He and his writing partner Eskil Vogt have crafted a tight, pitch-perfect script, containing little details such […]

In a career full of noteworthy performances, Ethan Hawke’s turn as lyricist Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon still stands out. It is one of his most remarkable yet.  The single location narrative by Robert Kaplow is something you’d expect to see on stage, but Linklater transforms it into a talky, funny, and melancholic […]

Jay Kelly will likely be Noah Baumbach’s most widely appealing film to date. It is full of laughs and is often touching without being overly sentimental.  George Clooney and Adam Sandler’s characters fit them like a glove, with Sandler impressing once again in a role that deviates from his broadly comedic onscreen persona.  The traditional […]

Kleber Mendonça Filho directs The Secret Agent as if he’s conducting a symphony. There are numerous moving parts that blend together perfectly.  Wagner Moura is charming and spellbinding and stands out among a cast of many remarkable characters. At a time when stories of oppression under dictatorships are as relevant as ever, KMF constructs one of […]

Winner of the Best Director and Screenplay awards at this year’s San Sebastián Film Festival, Joachim Lafosse’s SIX DAYS IN SPRING is a breezy drama capturing divorced mother Sana (Eye Haïdara) and her two sons on vacation in Saint-Tropez.  After her original plan of staying with her boyfriend Jules (Jules Waringo) falls apart and she […]