Working in a trade is a lot like parenting. Not the tantrums or conflict portions, necessarily, but the guidance and cultivation that comes from helping to develop something into its best self. In director/co-writer Pierre Pinaud’s (On Air) new film… Read More ›
It is not the destiny of every artist to be known beyond the reaches of their imagination. It’s a sad truth that sometimes, well past an artist’s prime or even after their life has ended, is when someone’s catalogue of… Read More ›
Harry Cleven’s Zeria is a wondrous and enlightening celebration of all the things that make us human. Using a combination of miniature sets, practical effects, and puppet-like masks, Cleven creates a breathtaking and unforgettable world that’s mesmerizing, comforting, and terrifying… Read More ›
In the current circumstances we live in, and have lived in for the last two years, we sometimes have to remind ourselves that everything will, in fact, be all right. We need that deep breath, that reconciliation with ourselves that… Read More ›
When it comes to parenting, there is no rule book, no grade scale, no metric which immediately determines if a child will grow up happy and healthy or feeling less-than. Despite all the books that have been written by countless… Read More ›
This is absolutely a safe space to admit that Paul Verhoeven is one of the most well-rounded, self-aware filmmakers to ever live. We’re all thinking it, so someone might as well say it. His filmography can sometimes read like a… Read More ›
Two years ago, even during the height of Parasite-mania, there was one film that stole the entirety of Film Fest 919 for me: that being Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire by a country mile. Presenting truly one… Read More ›
Do you know what Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) have in common? It’s ok if you struggle to work this out. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, Requiem is an exploration of addiction that stares, unblinking,… Read More ›
Director Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s (Apnée) Bloody Oranges (Oranges sanguines) mixes truth with fiction to create a concoction that’s as eager to amuse as it is to profoundly unsettle. Its premise is of three interwoven stories involving a dance competition, a finance… Read More ›
The premise is a simple one: three hired guns extract and protect a druglord but find themselves seeking shelter in a remote village in Saloum, Senegal, when their transport malfunctions, landing them in a situation they could never predict. With… Read More ›
Thanks to the recent release of James Wan’s Malignant (2021), there’s been a lot of talk within certain circles about the desire to see big swings in cinema that create vigorous division over something good but safe. Having not seen… Read More ›
There are many things about cinema that The Cine-Men co-host Darryl Mansel laments, but the one that he laments the most is the lack of swashbuckler films. Disney’s recent Jungle Cruise possesses traits of these films, though mostly due to… Read More ›
Vacations are meant to be an enjoyable time of rest, relaxation, and quality time with one’s family. Of course, when you get to a certain age, odds are that you will find yourself having gone through your fair share of… Read More ›
Fine, let’s just get it out of the way: I am not a very big fan of zombie films on the base level. There are many other things that can make a zombie film good, that I can identify with… Read More ›
Welcome to Fistful of Features, a celebration of film preservation through physical media and the discussion of cinematic treasures to maintain their relevance in the cultural lexicon. Today we’ll be discussing the director’s cut of Christophe Gans’s fantastical hodgepodge of… Read More ›
Storytelling is all about execution. You can have the most fascinating, compelling, edge-of-your-seat concept, but, if the execution flounders, nothing else matters. Take the story about the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo which saw the introduction of volleyball as an… Read More ›
Writer/director Olivier Assayas’s Irma Vep is many things at once. It’s a comedic look at the making of a film, capturing the swirling chaos as various departments and personalities come together to create art. It’s a dramatic piece exploring how… Read More ›
Since its inception, The Criterion Collection has become both preservationist and distributor of arthouse cinema (with a few exceptions for more populist material (what’s up, Armageddon?)). In keeping with this, they’ve partnered with Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project on three… Read More ›
Fantasia Festival has provided a bevy of opportunities to showcase some truly great genre films, primarily focusing into the sci-fi/horror route of things. The grisly, spooky, and downright weird have been on full display since the start of the festival,… Read More ›
Multi-talented writer and director Mathias Malzieu, who is known for his success as a novelist and musician as well as filmmaker, returns to this year’s virtual Fantasia Film Festival with a delightful grown-up fairytale. Malzieu’s previous animated film, Jack and… Read More ›