By Thomas M. Puhr. Not unlike the rough cut of a certain sci-fi epic, 5-25-77 exhibits a scrappy charm. Still, I’d leave this one to superfans and nostalgia junkies only.” “Most of this is true. The rest is even truer,” the opening text to Patrick Read Johnson’s 5-25-77 (2022) declares. […]
May the (Weird Floating) Quartz Be With You – Something in the Dirt
By Elias Savada. With Moorhead&Benson’s latest feature, they’re back in front of the camera, playing the two neighborly leads in this satirical, self-parodying Hollywood Hills nightmare of their own making.” The “intergalactic geniuses” Moorhead&Benson, a.k.a. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, are back to their deviously genre-bending antics for their fifth […]
Jack of All Trades – Louis Malle: Interviews
A Book Review by Thomas M. Puhr. The cumulative effect of this collection, therefore, is nothing short of revelatory. All the more reason to revisit the director’s wildly unpredictable – and consistently exceptional – body of work.” Louis Malle is hard to pin down. The French director’s genre-hopping – film […]
Childhood Bumps on Memory Lane: Armageddon Time
By Elias Savada. Takes a lot of effort to make a memorable, brooding statement; the solutions offered aren’t as satisfying as you might hope. The taste may be somewhat off-putting.” Memories comes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors, although director-writer James Gray cooks them up in with intimate, nostalgic, and […]
Refuge of the Roads: Michał Chmielewski’s Roving Woman
By Alex Ramon. The mix of the gritty and the romantic here feels fresh. Ultimately, the film is tender in tone, with unexpected humorous flashes that don’t feel forced.” Premiering at Tribeca, and featured in the Polonica strand of Polish Film Festival in Gdynia and at Raindance 2022, Michał Chmielewski’s […]
Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin
By Elias Savada. Pain, grief, disorientation, and a dash of violence are soulfully plotted together by McDonagh, with his vision so wonderfully conveyed through the expressive chemistry of Farrell and Gleeson.” Martin McDonagh makes marvelous, crazy, fiercely creative movies filled with wildly inventive characters. He also writes lots of plays […]
One Family’s Dirty, Drunken Laundry: For I Know My Weakness
By Elias Savada. A raw journey into immersive filmmaking, asking for a wide berth when it comes to social ethics.” With over half-a-million homeless people in the United States today, most folks treat them as a plague. Some toss a few coins or dollars their way when they’re panhandling at […]
Victims Performing the Victimized: Houman Seyyedi’s World War Three
By Ali Moosavi. With the rather unsure state of the Iranian cinema at the moment, it remains to be seen what the future holds for WWIII and its talented director.” I have been a fan of the young Iranian filmmaker Houman Seyyedi ever since I saw his sophomore directing feature […]
Mad Love: Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave (2022)
By James Slaymaker. Decision to Leave builds a sense of tragic weight more potent than anything else in Chan-wook’s oeuvre.” Park Chan-wook’s new film, Decision to Leave, may appear at first glance to be an uncharacteristically straight police procedural drama. Its set-up is pure pulp: Hae-jun (Park Hae-il) is a […]
A Quality Melodramatic Framework: The Americans (FX, 2013-2018) by Linda Mizejewski
By Ken Hall. A key to the innovative nature of this series, according to Mizejewski, is its presentation of espionage thriller elements within ‘domestic melodrama.’” The compelling television series The Americans (FX, 2013-18) is presented as a landmark example of “quality” television production in this fine study. In her new […]