By David Ryan. Aspires to explore important themes about perception and insight from a trauma-focused narrative but is often undone by its own scrimping of dramatic focus and coherence.” Uberto Pasolini’s The Return (2024) is a mature but disappointing adaptation of the last few books of Homer’s The Odyssey, centering […]
Images and Conditions: Mohammad Rasoulof on The Seed of the Sacred Fig
By Yun-hua Chen. All the value of images—particularly those from social networks—is deeply tied to the circumstances in which the films are created. A film like this would have been entirely different had it emerged under different conditions.” —Mohammad Rasoulof A gripping and intensely charged drama, The Seed of the […]
A Self-Defeating Genre Mashup: On Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025)
By Thomas M. Puhr. Coogler’s strong character work in the film’s first half undercuts his efforts to embrace pure horror in its second.” Spoiler Alert Ryan Coogler’s knack for bringing a humanist touch to a variety of genres—starting with social realism (Fruitvale Station), transitioning to crowd-pleasing sports sagas (Creed), and […]
You Can’t Stop a Wave: Lorcan Finnegan’s The Surfer
By Jonathan Monovich. For its Australian setting and premise of a man’s descent into insanity, The Surfer unsurprisingly has similarities to the late Ted Kotcheff’s Wake in Fright (1971), but the charm of The Surfer comes from its overt love for Frank Perry’s The Swimmer (1968)….” Though marketed as a […]
The Grotesque and the Sublime: Karan Kandhari’s Sister Midnight
By William Blick. Hysterical, soul-stirring, and bewildering…undefinable in the best sense of the word.” Occasionally, I will see a film wherein I do not know where it will lead me. It is at this time that there is often a leap of faith in putting my trust in the hands […]
Seventeen Now Isn’t What It Was: Durga Chew-Bose on Bonjour Tristesse (2024)
By Jonathan Monovich. I think going into anything with a deep respect for what came before is the best you can do.” –Durga Chew-Bose “Whatever happened to the teenage dream?” It’s a question attributed to a Marc Bolan song, though its sentiment remains eternal. Time fleets, as does youth, and […]
An Auteur’s High Points – The Greatest Gangster Movie You’ve Never Seen: Abel Ferrara’s The Funeral
A Book Review by William Blick. A candid and insightful look into Ferrara’s creative process….” The Greatest Gangster Movie You’ve Never Seen (BearManor Media, 2025) includes a candid and insightful look into Ferrara’s creative process with behind-the-scenes access to Ferrara’s collaboration with Director of Photography, Ken Kelsch whom Stewart has […]
Now Available – Becoming Nosferatu: Stories Inspired by Silent German Horror
A new collection featuring stories and poems in the tradition of Nosferatu and other silent expressionist classics….” Becoming Nosferatu: Stories Inspired by Silent German Horror, edited by Matthew Sorrento (editor, FilmInt Online) and Gary D. Rhodes (contributing editor) is out now from BearManor Media, featuring stories and poems in the tradition of Nosferatu and other silent expressionist […]
“Pain Creates Character Distortion”: David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds
By Jonathan Monovich. Conspiracies brew throughout the film and their legitimacy, though probable, becomes increasingly unbelievable, mirroring the mind’s desperation for answers….” In Dead Ringers (1988), the troubled Dr. Beverly Mantle (Jeremy Irons) says that “pain creates character distortion.” This quote encapsulates the essence of David Cronenberg’s oeuvre. Cronenberg has […]
Global Relations Right Now: Berlin International Film Festival 2025
By Ali Moosavi. Hysteria also has something to say about some people’s preconceived ideas of others of different race and religion, something that is fueling Germany and a few other Western countries now….” The Berlin International Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, like all other major film festivals, has […]