International Reviews
Now Streaming: CITY HUNTER, Lighthearted Fanservice Adventure, Swamped By Blood
Ryohei Suzuki and Misato Morita star in the Netflix Original film, based on Tsukasa Hojo's manga series.
THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED Review: Comedic Discomfort in Millenial Ennui
While ennui and angst are common to many generations, I can imagine it could be much more accute among millenials - anything that might have been considered a 'normal' life gave up the ghost before they came of age. They're...
THE KING TIDE Review: The Fable of a Miracle Gone Wrong
Living in a harsh landscape, somewhat apart and isolated, means you make certain choices about how much assistance you will receive, and how much protection you will offer your community. It also means that legends can grow up around people...
Fantaspoa 2024 Review: THE COMPLEX FORMS, How Classic Auteur Cinema Would Be If It Had More Monsters
Strange things are happening at an ancient villa in the literal middle of nowhere. A bunch of men are gathered here, all of them with a peculiar contract. A middle-aged man named Christian (David White) is in the process of...
Calgary Underground 2024 Review: HUMANE, The Family That Slays Together Stays Together
Apocalypses in Canadian cinema tend to occur in slow motion, and have a subversive touch of quiet absurdity. The two undisputed classics of the genre are Don McKellar’s Last Night, and Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool. Caitlin Cronenberg aims for that lofty...
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK 4K Review: Wow. Wow. Wow.
Peter Weir's magical mystery tour from 1975 looks like it was released today in the incredible-looking Criterion Collection 4K edition. This is why Australia is called "Oz."
THE COFFEE TABLE Review: Wallowing in Its Own Original Mess
New parents Jesus and Maria, still in the nesting phase after moving into a new apartment, need a new coffee table. Engaging with, or rather enduring, one of the oiliest, least competent, salesmen imaginable, it quickly becomes clear that the...
Fantaspoa 2024 Review: MASTERGAME (Mesterjátszma), Visually Compelling Thriller with Chess, Trains and Bathroom Fights
It’s November 1956, and Russian tanks have just invaded Budapest, crushing the revolution. A young couple, István (Gergely Váradi) and Márta (Varga-Járó Sára), rushes for the last train that can get them out of the country. When aboard, they are...
IN FLAMES Review: The Supernatural Meets Patriarchal Conditioning
The term 'gaslighting' is now quite ubiquitous, and one which still remains scoffed at by many (usually those who hold power). But if you're a member of a marginalized group, that gaslighting could come not just from one person, but...
Panic Fest 2024: Spanish Shorts APOTEMNOFILIA and FACIES Wow With Extreme Violence and Exciting Ideas
Panic Fest offers up another fantastic selection of shorts this year, but two in particular have stuck with me. Facies and Apotemnofilia both deliver shocking, stomach-churning moments of extreme violence that are memorable enough for the bodily reactions they elicit....
HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS (Domakinstvo za Pocetnici) Review: Nobody Is Ever Home Alone in Modern Family Dramedy
In a house somewhere at the outskirts of North Macedonia’s capital Skopje lives social worker Dora (Anamaria Marinca from 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) with her partner Sauda (Alina Serban from Gypsy Queen), Sauda’s two daughters, their gay friend...
ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH Review: The Power of Song Will Devour You
Folk horror is often associated with a particular location, or perhaps a physical object that can be held in hands, something concretely tangible. But, especially in an age when the folkiness of this horror, the true human darkness from which...
THE BEAST Review: Lovers Beset By a Sense of Doom
Léa Seydoux and George MacKay star in a film by director Bertrand Bonello.
CHICKEN FOR LINDA! Review: Food As a Springboard to Delight
Directed by Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach, the animated film from France happily defies expectations.
WICKED LITTLE LETTERS Review: A Foxy-a••ed Clever Eruption of Suppressed Rage
I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has written - either in their head or possibly on virtual or real paper - a letter that they never sent; the kind of letter that lets out all the anger...
IN THE LAND OF SAINTS AND SINNERS Review: Liam Neeson Tries to Retire His Particular Skills Again
Liam Neeson, Colm Meaney, Ciaran Hinds, and Kerry Condon star in a film directed by Robert Lorenz.
STING Review: Kiah Roache-Turner's Monster Spider Movie Delivers Thrills, Chills And Shrills
On a cold, snowy, blustery winter night in New York a meteor pierces the sky, hurtling towards an apartment building in the city. The size of a walnut it punches through a window and then the roof of a dollhouse...
Now Streaming: NO BLADE OF GRASS, Anarchy in the U.K.
Cornel Wilde's post-apocalyptic vision of John Christopher's novel is heavy-handed, hyper-hysterical, and highly entertaining. Now streaming on Criterion Channel.
LA CHIMERA Review: Precious Things Left to Bury
Arthur (Josh O'Connor) is not having a good day. He's just got out of prison with nothing but the clothes on his back. His former criminal gang is eager to recruit him; the person to whom he plied his trade...
RENEGADE NELL Review: All About the Avatars
Sally Wainwright creates a new action-comedy-fantasy adventure series about the highwaymen era in England, starring Louisa Harland and Adrian Lester, debuting on Disney Plus.
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