Dawn Porter’s LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH is beautiful and sad. It has a treasure trove of great looking (and sounding) archival material. It starts with Vandross’ upbringing in NYC and covers his time as a backup singer and producer for the likes of David Bowie, Dionne Warwick, and Aretha Franklin and his tremendous solo career. […]
Thelma: Seattle International Film Festival Opening Night
50th edition of Seattle International Film Festival is kicking off with the delightful Opening Night film THELMA. June Squibb does not need any help from Jason Statham and is determined to get her money back from scammers. She is marvelous and Josh Margolin’s directing is slick. It is also great to watch Richard Roundtree one […]
2024 Tribeca Festival lineup
Tribeca Festival has announced their 2024 lineup including films with Kristen Stewart, Lily Gladstone, Christopher Abbott, Jenna Ortega, Michael Cera, Naomie Harris, Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Banks, Steve Buscemi, John Magaro, and Demián Bichir. 86 features will have their World Premieres at the festival. Among the Narrative Competition entries, there is Morrisa Maltz’s follow-up to The […]
Immaculate
Catholic horror Immaculate from South By Southwest Film Festival is director Michael Mohan’s second collaboration with Sydney Sweeney. From the great looking cinematography by Elisha Christian to Will Bates’ score, it wears its giallo influences on its sleeve. There are many effective jump scares. While the pace could use some improvement, the third act and […]
Realm of Satan
An artfully staged and nearly wordless observational documentary, Scott Cummings’ REALM OF SATAN takes the viewer into the rituals and everyday lives of Satanists. It does not seem to be that interested in making them understood and mainly provides captivating visuals. Sundance 2024 film was very well done for what it is, but it will […]
Exhibiting Forgiveness
Painter Titus Kaphar’s feature debut EXHIBITING FORGIVENESS deals with trauma and grief and is simply one of the best films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It has some unforgettable sequences and is a showcase for the extremely talented and underrated André Holland.
A Real Pain
Jesse Eisenberg’s wonderful A REAL PAIN from Sundance Film Festival manages to be both laugh out loud funny and moving. Kieran Culkin outdoes himself in a very nuanced role. With the aid of a Chopin soundtrack, we are truly along for the ride on the characters’ cathartic journey.
Love Me
Looking at the initially released still from Andrew & Sam Zuchero’s Sundance 2024 film Love Me, where Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun lovingly stare at one another in bed, it is hard not to get disappointed that for most of its running time the film uses only their voices over ordinary animation. It is a […]
In The Land of Brothers
One of my favorite Sundance 2024 watches so far, IN THE LAND OF BROTHERS, depicts the gritty realities facing Afghan refugees in Iran while avoiding sappy pitfalls. Some of the non-professional actors are actual refugees. Frédéric Alvarez’s score is lovely.
Sujo
Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero’s previous collaboration, the haunting Identifying Features, was one of the highlights of 2020 Sundance Film Festival. SUJO, which had its premiere at this year’s festival, is a more than worthy follow-up. If we get a better coming-of-age story this year, we will be lucky. The images, performances, and the score […]