By Elias Savada. Old fashioned fun.” Seemingly frozen in chivalrous time, the ever-youthful 59-year-old Tom Cruise is back in fine form 35-plus years after he scored big box office bucks with the original Top Gun. History should repeat itself for this long overdue sequel (with an additional two years tacked […]
Beautiful Decay: Dwein Ruedas Baltazar’s Ode to Nothing (Kani Releasing)
By Thomas Puhr. It has non-diegetic music, a considerable amount of dialogue, some fairly complex camera movements, and even a few quick editing cuts. So why does my mind keep returning to that word: quiet? The less you know about Dwein Ruedas Baltazar’s Ode to Nothing (2018) going into it, […]
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Demon Fatigue
By Elias Savada. Sam Raimi follows the Marvel bible but still manages to have his own directorial flair…. Action is almost non-stop, and you might just be gasping for air as you stick it out through the final credits.” Note: Some spoilers follow relating to “character developments” in this film. […]
Quietly Radical Filmmaking: Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman
By Theresa Rodewald. Deceptively short but its impact and heart are huge. This is quietly radical filmmaking: Sciamma shows us that there is an alternative to narratives shaped by the patriarchy….” “You are often unhappy,” says 8-year old Nelly to Marion who is the same age as her but also […]
More Than Tradition: Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen
By Elias Savada. An affectionate tribute blending some behind-the-scenes material and mostly older (but still quite original) interviews with the film’s star Topol and others.” Harvesting a long-running infatuation with thrice Oscar-nominated director Norman Jewison, producer-director-editor Daniel Raim, an Oscar-nominated (for the 2001short subject The Man on Lincoln’s Nose) documentarian […]
Blood Brothers in Arms: Lino Brocka’s Cain and Abel (Kani Releasing)
By Thomas Puhr. A significant piece of Philippine cinematic history, given the royal treatment by Kani.” The biblical tale of Cain and Abel is fewer than 1,000 words long, with Abel biting the dust a mere eight verses in. “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to […]
The Brutality of Revenge: Robert Eggers The Northman
By Elias Savada. If you’re not having your senses bludgeoned by The Northman, you’ll admire all the historical detail and period madness. Fire and brimstone meet rot and decay, yet there’s ambition afoot here.” The dark intensity that has imbued director-writer Robert Eggers first two directorial features has matured with […]
Out-Cageing Himself: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
By Elias Savada. Two-thirds broad comedy, one part chase film, it’s also a gimmick and an enjoyable bromance. Yeah, this is one nutty film. Its premise revolves around a famous actor named Nick Cage, played by the real Nicolas Cage. Two-thirds broad comedy, one part chase film, it’s not the […]
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Missed Opportunities
By Elias Savada. Doesn’t rise to the heights it could. It’s a case of middle child syndrome, or someone’s just tired.” Even a lesser rate Harry Potter spin-off such as Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore — the latest in J.K. Rowling’s post-Harry Potter series — should be enough for […]
Gaggle of Spies: Jean-Louis Roy’s The Unknown Man of Shandigor (Deaf Crocodile Films)
By Thomas Puhr. Contemporary audiences will hear Roy’s sardonic message loud and clear. Whether they’ll laugh or cry (or both) is a matter of taste.: “Swiss director Jean-Louis Roy’s long-lost mid-1960s Cold War super-spy thriller is a marvelous and surreal hall of mirrors, part-Dr. Strangelove, part-Alphaville,” reads the press release […]