Festivals: New York Film Fest
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?
New York 2021 Review: BERGMAN ISLAND, A Meta-Contemplation on an Artist's Creative Process
Tim Roth, Mia Wasikowska and Vicky Krieps star in a new film by Mia Hansen-Løve.
Friday One Sheet: SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE
This minimalist key art for Jia Zhang-Ke's latest documentary on Chinese culture, Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue, has almost a screen-printed look and feel to it. Although it may look to be a prosaic respresntation of the lengthy...
New York 2020 Review: UNDINE, Folklore Gets Fresh Makeover in Beguiling Christian Petzold Romance
Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski star in director Christian Petzold's reinvention of a mythical water creature story that parallels the history of the city of Berlin.
New York 2020 Review: THE WOMAN WHO RAN, Hong Sang-soo Again Explores Monotony vs. Chaos
Kim Min-hee, Lee Eun-mi, and Kwon Hae-hyo star in director Hong Sang-soo's deceptively simple yet deliciously playful film.
New York 2020 Review: NOTTURNO, Legacy of Colonialism in the Middle East
Directed by Gianfranco Rosi ('Sacro GRA,' 'Fire at Sea'), the documentary is biting and enormously affecting.
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