By Ali Moosavi. Despite the title and the grandiose nature of the film…[Makwa’s journey] was really a personal retelling of things that I’ve seen in my Ojibwe community and the different responses to trauma there.” Wild Indian is the feature film debut of Native American filmmaker Lyle Corbine Jr. Lyle. […]
Old Math, New Tricks: Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter
By Elias Savada. Some of you may be screaming at Schrader for his obsession with tormented souls in slow-burning, character-driven, and fiercely impulsive dramas. But if anyone’s going to tackle the style, I want him driving the car. And Isaac is his poker face chauffeur in The Card Counter.” In […]
Pervasive Effects: Zhao Liang’s I’m So Sorry
By Yun-hua Chen. With a rather comprehensive scope, the documentary’s subject matter spans from the mid of 20th century to recent past and ongoing present, and encompasses the full spectrum of nuclear weapons, nuclear plants, and the storage of high-level radioactive waste.” The director of the documentary I’m So Sorry, […]
Remembrance of Things to Come: M. Night Shyamalan’s Old
By James Slaymaker. Old reveals itself to be a deeply nuanced, emotionally resonant, structurally experimental and formally rigorous work of art. It’s also a work clearly informed by the collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic, even though it doesn’t make any explicit references….” This article contains spoilers for M. Night […]
Detectives and Androids, 2021: Filmmaker Andrew Baird on ZONE 414
By Ali Moosavi. Very much noir and very little sci-fi.” A detective let loose in a world full of androids. No, we’re not talking about Blade Runner. On the surface, Irish director Andrew Baird’s feature film debut, ZONE 414, bears some similarities to the Ridley Scott classic. They are, however, […]
Smiles in the World of Tiles: Lily Topples the World
By Elias Savada. A lovely little crowd pleaser, devoid of drama but filled with captivating artistry.” Like a leisurely afternoon watching fun YouTube videos, Lily Topples the World collects a bunch of those, and more, as it puts a smile on your face as worlds (of tile) tumble. No matter […]
Martyrs Lane and the World of Small Things: An Interview with Ruth Platt (Fantasia 2021)
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. It’s not a film of huge landscapes and unusual settings…. I wanted to build this world of small things, small truths, details, a sensory landscape that makes sense for this child.” Even for those of us with little connection to formal religion, especially as children when lost […]
‘She’s not my partner – we’re feminists’: Nikole Beckwith’s Together, Together
By Charlotte Daraio. By parodying its viewers expectations, Together, Together proves that relationships, and films about them, don’t need to fit into a preconceived box to be legitimate nor need to be directly relatable to be poignant.” A film poster with a man and woman sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, since the dawn […]
Terror and Slow Reveals in a Gallery: Nia DaCosta’s Candyman
“Candyman Ain’t Real!” Nia DaCosta Begs to Differ
Deconstructing Uncertainty – Ambiguity and Film Criticism: Reasonable Doubt
Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002) A Book Review by Thomas Puhr. Law’s selections are refreshingly diverse….Most importantly, his collection is a testament to the importance of active viewing, of entering a critical dialogue with a piece of art rather than taking it all in at face value.” “Ambiguity” is a go-to […]