“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 ›
Germany
Open Dialogue with “The Secret Agent” actor Wagner Moura.
In this Meet me at the Movies/Screen Scene spotlight interview, Noel T. Manning II talks with Oscar nominee Wagner Moura about his acclaimed performance as Marcelo/Armando in The Secret Agent. Moura discusses the atmospheric impact of this 1970’s infused international… Read More ›
Wagner Moura gives an outstanding performance in “The Secret Agent,” an otherwise bogged-down thriller. [TIFF]
Writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau) is back with The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto) starring Wagner Moura (Civil War). A harrowing story of escape and refugee sanctuary, it feels more like a less comedic version of a serious take on… Read More ›
“Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi)” drops audiences into the middle of a complex daughters/father relationship complete with Hollywood drama. [TIFF]
Audiences connected with the last outing by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt as writers and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) in a lead role in a meaningful way. Back again in the same roles, the trio brings… Read More ›
Hunter Schafer is extraordinary in surreal body horror “Cuckoo,” a fierce commentary on bodily autonomy on home video now.
Body horror is a fascinating subgenre and one that tends to make a lot of people particularly squeamish. With films like The Fly (1986), about a scientist who becomes a human fly hybrid, and Crimes of the Future (2022), where… Read More ›
Coming-of-age film “Bird” captures the drama of needing to grow up too soon. [TIFF]
In what could be described as a movie that lives in the same spiritual world as Daina Oniunas-Pusić’s Tuesday (2023), Andrea Arnold’s Bird, similar in vibes and tonal elements in storytelling, focuses on coming-of-age and growing up faster than needed… Read More ›
Apocalyptic musical “The End” is both chaotic and balanced to mixed results. [TIFF]
Musicals about the apocalypse or the end of the world are certainly not new territory, but they all succeed to various mileage. While there is no world where a Mad Max-type movie is going to put to song, Joshua Oppenheimer’s… 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 ›
“Cuckoo” loudly calls its shot and still hooks its audience with mystery and plagues them with horror. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
In 2019, writer/director Tilman Singer made an enormous splash with his possession thriller Luz. It’s as much an homage to the horror films of the ‘60s and ‘70s, evoking the look via cinematography and art direction, while telling a unique… Read More ›
The Criterion Collection captures those “Perfect Days” in its 4K UHD release.
Perfect Days (2023) is the title of Wim Wender’s (Paris, Texas) newest film, which has entered the illustrious Criterion Collection, but, at the same time, it almost perfectly describes the ambiance and sentiments of the movie, as well. Perfection is… 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 ›
Brett Morgen’s exciting and cerebral journey with the Star Man, David Bowie, “Moonage Daydream,” joins The Criterion Collection.
David Bowie was one of the music industry’s most eclectic voices. Songs such as “Life on Mars,” “Starman,” and the classic “Moonage Daydream,” let the musician craft a unique voice for himself. His unique style would prove challenging to adapt… 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 ›
“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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
Sam Green’s experimental documentary “32 Sounds” is something you listen with, not to. [SXSW Film Festival]
What does it mean to sit in a moment? For some, it means to be present, to actively engage in the “now.” It implies an action, a movement made in order to seize what’s before you. It’s the difference between… Read More ›