Festivals: New York Film Fest

New York 2023 Review: FERRARI, A Testament of Craftsmanship

Adam Driver, Shailene Woodley and Penelope Cruz star in director Michael Mann's new film.

New York 2023 Review: Native American's Flight in EUREKA

Eureka is always a fascinating watch with full of ideas swimming around your head long after you leave the theater.

New York 2023 Review: PICTURES OF GHOSTS, Ephemeral Nature of Our Lives

Brazilian director Mendonça Filho serves as our expert guide to his beloved city of Recife, combining his own experience and his love of cinema.

New York 2023 Review: THE BEAST, Hefty Ideas Swirl Around, Stylized to Perfection

Léa Seydoux and George Mackay star in director Bertrand Bonello's new film, my frontrunner for the best film of 2023.

New York 2023 Review: TRAILER OF A FILM THAT WILL NEVER EXIST: PHONY WARS, Adieu Godard

The short film offers a rare glance into Jean-Luc Godard's process in constructing his essay films.

New York 2022 Review: R.M.N., Skillful But Heavy-Handed Xenophobia Drama

Cristian Mungiu uses a cudgel to examine xenophobia in Eastern Europe when a scalpel might have sufficed.

New York 2022 Review: WILL-O'-THE-WISP, Exuberant Gay Fantasia

João Pedro Rodrigues' Portuguese musical delivers the dance numbers along with a side of environmentalism.

New York 2022 Review: TRENQUE LAUQUEN, Binge-worthy South American Mystery Box

Director Laura Citarella's superb new opus, clocking in over four hours, strikes the balance between a Nicholas Sparks romance and a creature feature.

New York 2022 Review: Hong Sang-soo's THE NOVELIST'S FILM, Compulsion and Stagnation

Prolific as ever, Hong is not stagnating for sure. But I guess with the pandemic it crossed his mind. I hope his compulsion never stops.

New York 2022 Review: In SHOWING UP, Perseverance Pays Off

Michelle Williams stars in a new film directed by Kelly Reichardt, which continues to showcase her unique voice in American cinema.

New York 2021 Review: MEMORIA, Body Memories in Visual/Sonic Masterpiece

Tilda Swinton stars in a new film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. As with the Thai auteur's other films, watching it is like sleepwalking through unfamiliar territory.

New York 2021 Review: PETITE MAMAN, Like Mother, Like Daughter

Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, and Nina Meurisse star in a fairytale without fringes, directed by Céline Sciamma. It's one of the most touching films of the year.

New York 2021 Review: NEPTUNE FROST, Afrofuturist's Vision of Our Connected World

Cheryl Isheja, Bertrand Ninteretse, and Eliane Umuhire star in a spiritual, joyful lo-fi cousin of 'The Matrix' and 'Bacurau,' directed by Anisia Uzeyman and Saul Williams.The film's message might be the same here, but with more music and dancing. And it still manages to look like a badass cyberpunk film.

New York 2021 Review: IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE, Emotionally Resonant, Horny Dramedy

Directed by Hong Sang-soo, the film may lack his narrative and structural inventiveness but it has a nasty hook that gets you at the end, defying the conventional romance narrative. It's wickedly funny, too.

New York 2021 Review: INTRODUCTION, Lamentation on Young Love

Characters overlap in three chapters. Hong's cinematic playfulness is there. Loose structure and double takes are there too. But with black and white cinematography and blustery and cold winter landscape give way to the film's overall melancholic mood.

New York 2021 Review: WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY, A Delightful Triptych of Coincidences and Do-Overs

Maybe it's the Covid time thing, but there is a pleasure seeing characters just talking to each other at length in Hamaguchi's delicately written dialog. It's one of those films you want to see it again immediately after finishing it.

New York 2021 Review: DRIVE MY CAR, Surviver's Guilt, Loneliness and Human Connection

Based on a short story by famed Japanese author Murakami HarukI, from the collections Men Without Women, the film is a skillfully adapted and directed tale of human connection and redemption.

New York 2021 Review: THE SOUVENIR PART II, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman

Honor Swinton Byrne stars in a marvelously inventive, self-effacing film, directed by Joanna Hogg, that is also immensely affecting and moving.

New York 2021 Review: THE TSUGUA DIARIES, Coping with Covid Lockdown

Wryly reflecting the nature of 'expect the unexpected' in both life and filmmaking, Maureen Fazendeiro and Miguel Gomes create a delightful little summer movie.

New York 2021 Review: Joel Coen's THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Expectations Not Met

But there have been many famous screen adaptations of the Shakespeare's play before. The first question anyone would naturally ask is, is another adaptation of the famous Scottish play really necessary?