It was December 16th, 2023, when I received the text “Do u want soup tonight?” to which I replied, “Yeah I can do a soup.” The dinner invitation came from fellow film buff Scott Rogers, who, along with his partner… Read More ›
French
Wrestling doc “The Death Tour” is more than about heels, faces, or even the pop – but why the audience matters. [Slamdance Film Festival]
In the United States, names like World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Assault Championship Wrestling (ACW), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) may come to mind when bringing up sports entertainment. But wrestling isn’t a U.S.-based sport, with countries… Read More ›
Criterion brings French cinema to the children with “The Red Balloon and Other Stories: Five Films by Albert Lamorisse” collector’s set.
Albert Lamorisse’s The Red Balloon (1956) is a contender for the greatest short film of all time. Lamorisse is often overlooked in discussions of the French New Wave, including by his peers, and his other, sparse works, Bim, the Little… Read More ›
Director Xavier Gens’s revenge actioner “Mayhem!” brings all of that and plenty of carnage with it.
After premiering in France in June 2023 and screening at a variety of genre film festivals like Fantasia International Film Festival, Slash Film Festival, and FrightFest under the name Farang (a Thai term meaning “foreigner”), IFC Films snagged director Xavier… Read More ›
Director Frant Gwo’s “The Wandering Earth II” embarks on a physical release via Well Go USA.
Memory is a strange thing. It doesn’t work like I thought it did. We are so bound by time, by its order. But now I am not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings. – Arrival (2016) In 2019,… Read More ›
“Unrest (Unrueh)” is the hot labor movie for Hot Labor Fall, and a Best of 2023.
Even though practically no one has seen it, Unrest (Unrueh) is certainly the film of 2023. The best film? Easily a top 10. The most relevant? Absolutely. 2023, the year of Hot Labor Summer, now Hot Labor Fall. The WGA… Read More ›
Writer/director Pierre Creton’s “A Prince (Un prince)” utilizes an observatory documentary-like approach that disconnects the audience from his coming-of-age tale. [New York Film Festival]
When we think of coming-of-age tales, there are certain staples that come to mind: youth, love, introspection, heartbreak, and maybe a little absolution. Writer/director Pierre Creton (A Beautiful Summer (Le bel été)) disregards almost all of these in his recent… Read More ›
Rosine Mbakam’s “Mambar Pierrette” elevates with an observation approach over tropes. [New York Film Festival]
Despite what stories tell us, our lives don’t end when we achieve the dream, overcome the adversity, or, worse yet, get taken down by the corporate monster trying to rip down the community center. Until we cease to function, the… Read More ›
Explore writer/director Michel Hazanavicius’s wonderful satirization of cinematic remakes via horror/comedy “Final Cut” via home video.
Of the complaints from audiences swirling around regarding Hollywood, the big ones usually refer to the lack of original ideas and the reliance on remakes, reboots, and sequels. Yes, movie-making is a business, so studios look for reliable intellectual property… Read More ›
“Megalomaniac” tells an over-played story in the most violent way possible.
Content warning: I’m not even going to list the triggers that Megalomaniac touches upon so extremely. Basically, if you have a content trigger of any kind, Megalomaniac probably exploits it for you. I can’t say I actually have any, but… Read More ›
Friends Ernest and Celestine return to theaters in “A Trip to Gibberitia,” an adventure against tyranny for all ages.
Created by Belgian author Gabrielle Vincent, the characters of Ernest the bear and Celestine the mouse have been the center of several books, adapted into an award-winning 2012 film, Ernest & Celestine, and a 52-episode television series called Ernest &… Read More ›
West African film “Mami Wata” is a contender for Best Looking Film of 2023. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
As the ocean rises and falls, and the tide is the guarantor of its own return, so too does the astonishing black and white photography of Mami Wata step return a bygone style to modern folklore for a modern moment…. Read More ›
Can we still live with ourselves when “Vincent Must Die (Vincent doit mourir).” [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage… “Butter with Butterfly Wings,” The Smashing Pumpkins There are terms and conditions within a society that we all agree to, whether consciously or not. This social contract… Read More ›
Sneaky link with Jean Grémillon’s “Lady Killer” at Metrograph NYC.
Originally premiering at this year’s Canne Film Festival, the new 4k restoration of Jean Grémillon’s Lady Killer (1937), aka Gueule d’amour (1937), is headed for the US, opening August 4th at Metrograph NYC where it will screen for a one-week… Read More ›
“Final Cut” stumbles in attempting to recapture the magic of the original.
When a movie comes out that somehow brings something new and different to the genre and gets hailed as something interesting and innovative, of course there are going to be copycats and remakes and the like. That is exactly what… Read More ›
Criterion resurrects “The Rules of the Game” in a beautiful 4K UHD presentation.
There is something to be noted about Criterion and Janus films; while some of their slate of films and releases can be defined as questionable, they certainly release undeniably important films and always have. Especially as someone who went to… Read More ›
“Scarlet” soars on red romantic wings.
The hope found in love is the only hope we have, or at least, that’s what Pietro Marcello‘s Scarlet (2023) seems to be saying. This French period piece is firmly rooted in the cynical positivity of the meta-modernist era. Everything… Read More ›
Léa Mysius’s fantasy thriller “The Five Devils (Les Cinq diables)” explores familial discord through an adolescent lens. [The Overlook Film Festival]
Who are you? This is a simple question that precedes an overly complex answer. You are not merely your thoughts, your feelings, your experiences, the sum total of everything you have encountered up until this moment, you are also everything… Read More ›
Restoration of extreme film “Calvaire” offers little more than access to the film.
Fabrice du Welz’s Calvaire (titled The Ordeal in some English-speaking regions, but not here), premiering at Cannes in 2004, is a strange, but valid entry into the canon of “New French Extremity” that gripped French-language horror/thrillers from the mid-‘90s to… Read More ›
Social thriller “The Sixth Child (Le sixième enfant)” will challenge you to reconsider the complex notion of conception. [Santa Barbara International Film Festival]
In modern society there are a number of presumptions that enable and empower those who have to look down upon those who have not. Aspects of health, wealth, occupation, and hobbies are all treated as aspects of one’s morality. Don’t… Read More ›