“So many bright lights, they cast a shadow, but can I speak? Well, is it hard understanding, I’m incomplete? A life that’s so demanding I get so weak A love that’s so demanding I can’t speak …” – From “Famous… Read More ›
German
Criterion brings a third format of Jacques Tati’s “PlayTime” into the Collection.
The world of physical media is constantly changing and evolving, impacting the way collectors gather movies. Criterion is occasionally regarded as the benchmark of the crème of the crop for collectors, however, with them continuing to dip their toes into… Read More ›
A great documentary of one great filmmaker watching another, Les Blank’s “Burden of Dreams” gets a 4K re-release courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
In the rare event where game recognizes game or a filmmaker puts his camera on another filmmaker, there’s no telling what moments of unflinching honesty and remarkable ambition you will find. In his 1982 film Burden of Dreams, documentarian Les… Read More ›
“Dog of God” is horrific, bloody, and grotesque while strangely hot and provocative. [Tribeca]
Let all that you do be done in love. – 1 Corinthians 16:14 Love is a many splendored thing Love lifts us up where we belong All you need is love! – “Elephant Love Medley,” Moulin Rouge There are many… Read More ›
Johannes Grezfurthner’s latest body horror “Solvent” dissolves its cast and audience on several levels.
When it comes to horror, most modern audiences jump to places like Blumhouse with Paranormal Activity (2009) and Happy Death Day (2017), A24 with It Comes at Night (2017) and Talk to Me (2023), or even Lionsgate with Frailty (2001)… Read More ›
Sony Pictures Classics gives Tom Tykwer’s romantic thriller “Run Lola Run” its own 4K UHD release.
Before American audiences met Franka Potente as Marie, the accidental ally to amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) in 2002, she portrayed a different type of “on-the-run” character: Lola. Absent intrigue of the spy sort, Potente’s Lola is a strong… Read More ›
After multiple paused release dates, Hüller and Wolff make “Sisi & I (Sisi & Ich)” worth the wait.
Frauke Finsterwalder’s Sisi & I (Sisi & Ich) sat completed on the shelf for nearly two years after its initial shooting dates, and was even further delayed for release in America by almost an entire other year following its premiere… Read More ›
“The Devil’s Bath” is drawn with great performances but too much time between horrors. [Tribeca Film Festival]
There are movies that are slow-paced terrifying watches, and then there are terrifying slow-paced watches that just miss the mark and create a world of unease that just doesn’t deliver upon the promise until its too late. Unfortunately for Severin… Read More ›
“Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d’une chute)” releases a beautiful Criterion Blu-ray with special features.
Awards season has come and gone once again, like another overblown, overwrought, overlong thief in the night, spanning an impressive seven months from the beginning of the Venice Film Festival to that of the Academy Awards. Though, unlike other years,… Read More ›
Bertrand Mandico’s “She Is Conann” questions whether or not crushing your enemies is truly what’s best in life.
Photosensitivity Warning: There are multiple scenes in which either a character is using a camera with flash or a strobe is used (often at length). Proceed with absolute caution. In the realm of action fantasy, John Milius’s 1982 sword and… 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 ›
Radiance Films adds Rudolf Thome’s “Red Sun” to their collection in a first-time U.S. edition.
In its quest for cinema preservation, boutique distributor Radiance Films has released onto Blu-ray such films as Kōsaku Yamashita’s Big Time Gambling Boss (1968), Luigi Comencini’s The Sunday Woman (1975), Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Doll House (1995), and Amy… Read More ›
Director Edward Berger’s Oscar-winning adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front” is now available in a 4K UHD limited edition home release.
It is 2023 and the theatrical window is dangerously small now. Things that aren’t being made on $100 million budgets are barely seeing the theatrical window to begin with, and then a physical release is even less likely, and if… Read More ›
“Everybody Wants to be Loved (Alle wollen geliebt warden)” explores different types of love, the good and the bad/toxic. [Santa Barbara International Film Festival]
“Love is a many splendid thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love.” – Christian, Moulin Rouge! Generally speaking, there are four types of love: Eros (erotic), Philia (friends/family), Storge (parents for children), and Agape… Read More ›
Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck’s doc “And the king said, what a Fantastic Machine” will get you thinking about the relationship you possess with your camera. [Sundance Film Festival]
Part historical revue, part sociological examination, co-directors Axel Danielson (Kneg) and Maximilien Van Aertryck’s (Kneg) documentary And the king said, what a Fantastic Machine (also referred to simply as Fantastic Machine), premiering at Sundance Film Festival 2023, takes the audience… Read More ›
Johannes Grenzfurthner’s experimental supernatural horror “Razzennest” is a disquieting sensory experience that’ll leave you stunned.
Satire is a sticky wicket requiring expert balance to nail. Films like Paul Verhoven’s RoboCop (1987) and Starship Troopers (1997) are as frequently misunderstood for their analysis of corporate greed and nationalism as Fight Club is (film (1999) or novel)… Read More ›
Director Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” is hilariously over-the-top look at the life of Elisabeth of Austria. [Film Fest 919]
Costume dramas are far from rare, and because of that, there is a want from production companies to justify new costume dramas by taking a tried and true concept and twisting it on its head. This was made perhaps most… Read More ›
Writer/director Marie Alice Wolfszahn’s “Mother Superior (Mater Superior)” upends expectations in a tense cat-and-mouse chiller. [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival]
August 2017: A group of White Nationalists gathered at the University of Virginia, carrying torches and chanting “You Will Not Replace Us.” This slogan within White Nationalist beliefs that speaks to the fear of the White race being replaced. This… Read More ›
Somewhere between myth and reality, there is “A Pure Place.” [Chattanooga Film Festival]
One of the scariest things about cults is that they can form right under our noses. Cult leaders need to psychologically isolate their followers in order to maintain control, but they don’t have to keep everyone on a remote island… Read More ›
The choiceless choice of survival easily leads one to presume that “We Might As Well Be Dead (Wir könnten genauso gut tot sein).” [Tribeca Film Festival]
Perspective is everything. Without it, we have no way to measure one experience against another. However, the limitation of perspective is that we, as individuals, tend to forget that what we perceive exists within a narrow scope defined by our… Read More ›