Mark Duplass and Sterling K. brown at the IFC Center Q&A for Biosphere, a single location, two character sci-fi that is one of the most original films I have seen all year. It was surprisingly entertaining thanks in large part to the two leads. Watch it without reading a lot about it beforehand.
Afire is in theaters
Christian Petzold’s latest, Afire, reunites him one more time with the magnetic Paula Beer. Thomas Schubert is perfect as the grumpy Leon. Emotional and romantic with a strong Eric Rohmer influence, it is easily one of the best films of the year! In theaters now.
Favorites of 2023 so far
My personal favorites among the films I have watched in the first half of 2023: Past Lives Afire Slow Suitable Flesh Blue Jean Totem Scrapper Tori & Lokita Beyond Utopia John Wick: Chapter 4 Full Time Fair Play Last Night of Amore The Beasts Burning Days Blackberry
May December – NYFF Opening Night
Todd Haynes’ MAY DECEMBER with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore will open the New York Film Festival on September 29th. Can’t imagine a better way welcome the fall!
Amanda
Director Carolina Cavalli at the IFC Center Q&A for AMANDA, a comedy about desperate longing for companionship. The film’s editor is Babak Jalali, who wrote his Sundance 2023 film Fremont with Cavalli. They both have a knack for dry humor and the two films would make a great double feature. There will be another Q&A […]
Fantasia Festival 2023 Curtain Raiser
Fantasia’s 27th edition is currently in session and will continue until August 9, 2023. The beloved film festival focuses on genre films, but there are always some great dramas to be discovered alongside the horror and sci-fi standouts that people will be talking about in coming months. I will be covering the festival remotely this year […]
Nimona
Netflix’s new animated film NIMONA is action-filled, side-splittingly funny, affecting, and wonderfully animated. Chloë Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed give two of the best voice acting performances in recent memory as Nimona and Ballister. It delivers its message of inclusion in a simple, but effective manner. The screening I have attended at NYC’s Paris Theater […]
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed
Stephen Kijak’s ROCK HUDSON: ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWED, which premiered at Tribeca Festival last week, is a terrific documentary about the actor and the devastating AIDS crisis in the 80s. It is well researched and provides everything you want to know in under two well-edited hours with insight from individuals who knew him firsthand. It […]
Öte
Esra Saydam & Malik Isasis’ ÖTE stars Iman Artwell-Freeman as a NYC teacher backpacking through Turkey. It captures the experience of traveling alone as a woman in a foreign land and then steers into a direction I had not expected. This shift in storytelling might bother some viewers, but I thought it was carried out […]
Boca Chica
Gabriella A. Moses’ Dominican drama BOCA CHICA, which is currently streaming via Tribeca At Home, takes its time to arrive at its shattering revelations. The arresting visuals and young actress Scarlet Camilo, who can say a thousand words with a stare, keep us engaged until we get there.