By James Slaymaker. A glacially paced revenge-thriller which deliberately denies the audience any sense of tension, excitement or catharsis.” It’s remarkable to think that a scant decade ago, Nicolas Winding Refn was tipped to be the next major player in international art cinema. The rapturous reception of Drive (2011) represented […]
Stirring, if Incomplete: Patricio Guzman’s My Imaginary Country
By Anees Aref. Even if doesn’t quite cover the full breadth of recent Chilean history, Patricio Guzman’s My Imaginary Country does powerfully capture the yearning and communal passion that drives the revolution to this day.” Released in the fall of 2022 and now available on DVD, My Imaginary Country is […]
“Starting with a Lie to Gather Unity” – Abbas Kiarostami: Interviews
A Book Review by Ali Moosavi. The collection, edited by Monika Raesch, is really two books under one cover – an extensive critical introduction to Kiarostami, authored by Raesch, and roughly 100 pages of interviews in which the filmmaker proves to be surprisingly open and eminently quotable.” Though the renowned […]
Horror and Feminist Reconstruction – An Interview with Michelle Garza Cevera on Huesera: The Bone Woman
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. It was very important to start the film as one that portrayed how big motherhood feels in society, how sacred and untouchable it is, and in certain ways, how it rules our lives – as women we’re trying to feed that unreachable goal of becoming this perfect caring […]
Gentle Mary: Michelle Garza Cervera’s Huesera: The Bone Woman (2022)
By Thomas M. Puhr. The scariest thing in Huesera is not the ghostly bone woman, but the all-too-real fear that one may choose the wrong path when faced with one of life’s many forked roads.” Among a throng of worshippers, a young woman climbs the stone steps leading to a […]
Family Dynamics: Corey Deshon’s Daughter (2022)
By Jeremy Carr. It’s a pressure cooker scenario executed by debuting writer-director Corey Deshon with an acute tonal balance, and Vivien Ngô’s performance, in the title role, is the obvious catalyst for Daughter’s swift narrative momentum.” A young woman flees through a desolate landscape, pursued by two individuals. They’re first […]
Terror and the Family: An Interview with Brad Anderson on Blood
By Ali Moosavi. What drew me to Blood was that I could play the family drama aspect of it, the torment that this mother is going through, her struggle to keep her kids healthy and safe, along with the darker supernatural subtext.” Director Brad Anderson may not be as well […]
Hell is Other People’s Kids: Roxanne Benjamin’s There’s Something Wrong with the Children (2023)
By Thomas M. Puhr. [While] the narrative structure proves flimsy…. it’s an admirable effort, and the film’s underlying commentary on parenthood separates Benjamin’s film from some of its lazier competitors.” Children often seem to exist in a world few adults can access. They develop their own sort of language: a […]
Finding Humor in Tragedy: The Films of Iranian Director Reza Jamali
By Ali Moosavi. A new and original voice in the Iranian Cinemas whose films deserve to find a wider audience.” With only two feature films to his credit, Iranian writer-director Reza Jamali has emerged as a new and unique voice in the Iranian cinema. Both his films, Old Men Never […]
Adolescent Hell: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s Beautiful Beings (2022)
By Thomas M. Puhr. Different doesn’t always mean good, and while I admire the many risks Beautiful Beings takes, I walked away from it with a shrug of indifference.” Everyone at Balli’s school seems to have agreed he’s the designated punching bag. In class, the girl next to him skooches […]