Category: Film Festivals

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 […]

Valentyn Vasyanovych’s To the Victory!, which won the Platform Award at TIFF 2025, looks at the war in Ukraine from a perspective that is not often talked about. It envisions a near future in which, despite the war’s end, the women and children who fled at the conflict’s onset do not return to their war-ravaged […]

Philippe Falardeau’s Lovely Day (Mille Secrets Mille Dangers) is a coming-of-age drama disguised as a wedding movie.  Neil Elias delivers a layered performance as Alain, who experiences a crisis of anxiety on his wedding day. The non-linear narrative tells his story effectively, alternating between different periods of his youth and the present day. However, the […]

Gianni Di Gregorio co-wrote, directed, and stars in Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t, a distinctly European comedy/drama about aging, family, and companionship.  After her husband Helmut cheats on her with one of his students, Sofia takes her children Olga and Tommaso to Rome to live with her retired father, affectionately called Professore […]