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 ›
Portuguese
“Magellan:” Everything is Magellan now.
In the opening shot of Magellan (2025), an Indigenous Malaysian woman walks into a stream, filling a vessel. Suddenly, she spots a white man past the fourth wall of the proscenium and takes off running. She shouts through her village… 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 ›
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 ›
“Manas” turns years of research into a sobering drama with intimate and powerful storytelling. [SFFILM]
Manas is a sweeping and emotionally resonant film that lingers long after the credits roll. With breakthrough performances and a poignant human feel that permeates every frame, it is not only a must-watch but also a strong contender for awards… Read More ›
“I’m Still Here” tells a narrative as relevant today as in 1970 Brazil.
Oscar hopeful I’m Still Here (2024) opens with where, when, who, and what’s it like. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1970. Eunice Paiva, the wife of a retired left-wing senator is on a beach as armored personnel carriers drive down the… Read More ›
Filmmaker Fábio Powers’s “The Old Man and the Demon Sword” asks its audience to consider the value of a soul. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Every day, someone picks up a camera — 8 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm, iPhone, iPad, Android, whatever they can find — and they tell a story with it. They combine image with sound to inspire, delight, terrify, or simply… Read More ›
Past is prologue in Vera Egito’s historical drama “The Battle (A Batalha da Rua Maria Antônia).” [Atlanta Film Festival]
Photosensitivity Warning: The opening title/credit sequence before the film begins and all of the breaks between scenes are accompanied by bright flashes of white light. Viewers with photosensitivity issues should watch with caution. College campuses across the U.S. have been… Read More ›
Filmmaker Rafael Toledo is set to make an explosive impression with his short film “Blockbuster.” [Slamdance Film Festival]
In an era where it seems like most major studio releases are one giant computer-generated sequence after another, there’s something desirable about watching a film with practical effects. Realism is overrated when there’s something tangible before us, even if it… Read More ›
“Toll (Pedágio)” explores the cost of individual actions and societal pressures. [Toronto International Film Festival]
Life has grown far more absurd in reality than any other satire could possibly conceive. We have states where the governor actively lobbies for (and signed into law) a reduction in the age to work so that adolescents and teenagers… Read More ›
Writer/director Caroline Fioratti’s “Meu Casulo de Drywall (My Drywall Cocoon)” explores the conflicting ideas between security and safety. [SXSW]
What does security look like? Is it the absence of threat or the protection from them? Does security form from an abundance of safety or a dearth of individuality? Can one be secure and therefore free to share their concerns,… Read More ›
Anita Rocha da Silveira’s “Medusa” ensnares you with an exploration of potent ideas and themes in a rich home release.
The story of Medusa the Gorgon is fairly well known. She was one of three sisters and her tale ends with a slash of the hero Perseus’s sword across her neck. He was sent to slay her and was rewarded… Read More ›
Iuli Gerbase’s “The Pink Cloud” utilizes a fictional global crisis as a means of exploring gender roles in a microcosm.
“Written in 2017, shot in 2019, Official Selection Sundance 2021” — these words find themselves repeated often when promoting writer/director Iuli Gerbase’s feature-length directorial debut, the science fiction drama A Nuvem Rose, now more widely known as The Pink Cloud…. Read More ›
By the time folk horror doc “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror” ends, you’ll want even more. [SXSW Film Festival]
Folk horror is something that, for a while, I didn’t know was genuinely one of my favorite forms in the horror genre. It’s difficult to categorize it as its own separate sub-genre as its products can be widespread and incredibly… Read More ›
Director Tali Yankelevich’s “My Darling Supermarket (Meu Querido Supermercado)” explores the macro and micro elements of a fractal existence. [Indie Memphis Film Festival]
Much of our lives are mundane. We wake, we eat, we work, we eat, we sleep, we wake. In a way, life is a recursive action, predictable and endless. Where many would see a paralyzing dread, director Tali Yankelevich sees… Read More ›