Posted in: Review

The Hand of God

While lying awake one night in the bedroom they share, Fabietto faces a question from older brother, Marchino: Would he rather have sex with their gorgeous, flirtatious Aunt Patrizia or have soccer legend Diego Maradona play for their hometown team. Ah, a conundrum made for a teenager. What else would a young man in 1980s […]

Posted in: Commentary

The Top 10 Movies of 2020

In any recap of 2020, what can one say that hasn’t already been said? The ongoing global dissection of the year’s internal stresses, external vitriol, and painful events put escapism at a premium — the kind of mental getaway that movies often provide. But with theaters closed, or almost universally avoided, where does that attempt […]

Posted in: Review

The Work

I can’t recall seeing a film that rumbles with as much rage as The Work, an exceptional documentary that takes place over four days within the confines of a large room at Folsom Prison in California. The film’s participants have an anger that sits somewhere beneath the surface, waiting to erupt at the slightest provocation. […]

Posted in: Review

Dean

Stand-up comedy, by its very nature, is a self-involved activity, requiring the type of personality that doesn’t always translate well to narrative film. I’m thinking specifically of comedian Mike Birbiglia’s two films as a writer-director – the first about a comedian who sleepwalks (psst, Mike has), and the second about comic performers in a comedy […]

Posted in: Review

The Invitation

Sure, dinner parties can get awkward, but The Invitation takes it to all new levels of social discomfort. Small talk and big boozing are nothing compared to the paranoia suffered in this creepy genre-blender that mixes realistic emotional drama, haunted house basics, and California New Age cultishness. With tight direction from Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body) […]

Posted in: Review

April and the Extraordinary World

The ingenious, animated French film April and the Extraordinary World is what every adventure movie should be, an exciting journey with intelligent, creative surprises at nearly every turn. Adapted from work by graphic novelist Jacques Tardi, April combines alt-universe sci-fi, world history, and a fascinating collection of low-fi technology. It’s a steampunk fantasy minus the […]

Posted in: Review

Anomalisa

Consider the half-dozen or so screenplays Charlie Kaufman has written and there’s no disputing his boundless creativity, regardless of your taste for his eccentric, sometimes surreal, style. His stories may be about brain-erasing and body-swapping, but Kaufman has always put the desire for human connection – scratch that, the thirst for it – at the […]

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