|
2.5/4
|
90%
|
Ahead of Time (2010) |
"
Richman's eye for talking-head cleanliness and spritely archival interpolation betrays the project's undeniable professionalism."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Sep 13, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
70%
|
Altiplano (Fragments of Grace) (2010) |
"
Hypnotically braids strands of Incan mythology, Catholic voodoo, and campesino outrage to style a sympathetic outsider's portrait of South American mysticism."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Sep 6, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
67%
|
Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies (2010) |
"
As a rambling rumination on turn-of-the-century aestheticism with brazen flourishes of apophenia, the documentary is strangely effective, but we're left aching for more specific piece-by-piece analysis."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted May 26, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
82%
|
Mademoiselle Chambon (2010) |
"
At its most gently successful, the movie is a character study with intensely baroque observations."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted May 26, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
81%
|
Anton Chekhov's The Duel (2010) |
"
While Koshashvili mangles some of the symbolism, however, he indelibly evokes Chekhov's cadence and attention to detail. "
—
Slant Magazine
Posted May 2, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
78%
|
Behind The Burly Q (2010) |
"
The strength of the testimony, particularly that of women like Blaze Starr and Joan Arline, makes Burly Q a minor oral history success."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Apr 20, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
74%
|
Handsome Harry (2010) |
"
Gordon and Proferes detail their protagonist with authentically complex fleshtones, but splash on each new revealing coat with a jarring lack of finesse."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Apr 13, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
89%
|
It Came from Kuchar (2010) |
"
Kroot nearly loses us in her efforts to prove how widespread the Kuchars' impact has been."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Apr 5, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
61%
|
Breaking Upwards (2010) |
"
Makes one yet again wonder why filmmakers continually attempt to create art that will last out of relationships that didn't."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Mar 31, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
88%
|
Sun Behind the Clouds (2010) |
"
The drippy editorializing is a shame, because it's oddly not the unprecedented candor of the Dalai Lama that speaks for the Tibetan struggle most piquantly."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Mar 29, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
69%
|
Delta (2009) |
"
A putatively humanistic film that succeeds more indelibly as a mythic image-poem."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Mar 8, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
89%
|
In Search of Memory (Auf der Suche nach dem Gedächtnis) (2009) |
"
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind nails us between the ears with truer aim than this ultimately benign portrait."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jan 7, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
79%
|
Waiting for Armageddon (2010) |
"
The putative objectivity of Armageddon isn't quite politically savvy enough to strike its realpolitik target."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jan 5, 2010
|
|
2.5/4
|
50%
|
Mammoth (Mammut) (2009) |
"
A transitional, almost deliberately pensive movie from a director who typically charts a ruthlessly direct course."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Nov 16, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
82%
|
Defamation (2009) |
"
Shamir's propensity for scatterbrained journalism muddles the film's first half to the point of irritation."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Nov 15, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
73%
|
The Good Soldier (2009) |
"
Unlike, for example, Errol Morris's recent works, it doesn't bother to buttress the eye-opening firsthand accounts with a coherent historical argument."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Nov 8, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
67%
|
Act of God (2009) |
"
The wishy-washy rotation of characters strands us in the center of the film's complex topic without much aside from useless meditation on the fierce numinousness of nature to keep us company."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Nov 4, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
76%
|
Killing Kasztner (2009) |
"
Notable for, if nothing else, introducing a Jewish character endowed with much of the same historical controversy as his German counterparts."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Oct 20, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
——
|
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur (2008) |
"
More than an appreciation for Kerouac himself, One Fast Move engenders an appreciation for the mellifluousness of Kerouac's prose read atop footage of briny California waves."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Oct 11, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
63%
|
Peter and Vandy (2009) |
"
Peter and Vandy implements the time-shuffling love story with more poetic technical aplomb than any other film this year, but its flaws inadvertently fashion a cogent argument against the formula as well."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Oct 5, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
56%
|
As Seen Through These Eyes (2008) |
"
Helstein leads the narrative with superfluous voiceovers from poet Maya Angelou that emphasize the historicity of the events described and, in some instances, dote on details that seem irrelevant to the core topic."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Sep 28, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
20%
|
Rage (2009) |
"
If the performances were more accomplished, or if the murder mystery storyline were less marginal, or if%u2014the simplest fix%u2014the film were simply shorter, we might not feel as weary about spending time with these fashion insiders."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Sep 27, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
85%
|
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex) (2008) |
"
One the rare examples of historical fiction that manages to defuse a violent series of real-life events to the point of disinterest."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Aug 17, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
0%
|
Homecoming (2009) |
"
Pitched halfway between legitimately self-aware slasher camp and--shudder--a sincere relationship thriller, Homecoming hardly seems worth the hour-and-half effort at first."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jul 13, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
93%
|
Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg (2009) |
"
Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg benefits from a charismatic if elusive biographical subject that has all but faded from public view."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jul 6, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
25%
|
Lookin' to Get Out (1982) |
"
Hal Ashby and Jon Voight sadly exhume the rigid, malodorous corpse of the '60s to kiss it on the lips and stuff some 50-dollar bills in its sphincter."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jun 27, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
100%
|
Afghan Star (2009) |
"
Afghan Star sets out with a delectably postmodern agenda."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jun 22, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
84%
|
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love (2009) |
"
It becomes gratingly obvious fairly early on that N'Dour's faith and nationality reside within the many nebulous blind spots of occidental awareness, to the point where filmed rituals virtually demand a glossary."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jun 8, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
——
|
Autumn Ball (Sügisball) (2009) |
"
Despite the meandering script, Sugisball is a mildly piquant experience."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jun 1, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
80%
|
La Sorella di Satana (Revenge of the Blood Beast) (Sister of Satan) (The She-Beast) (2005) |
"
Despite the tongue-in-cheekiness of the overall product, Reeves noticeably eschews grandiose gore, instead punctuating (very dry) stretches of exposition and interaction with galling brutality."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Apr 26, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
56%
|
Enlighten Up! (2009) |
"
He who has to ask what yoga is never gets to know."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Apr 2, 2009
|
|
2.5/4
|
25%
|
Ciao (2008) |
"
The ever-static camera undercuts the poignantly understated performances with the egotism of a futon ad photographer who fancies Ozu."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Nov 30, 2008
|
|
2.5/4
|
50%
|
Antarctica (2008) |
"
The good news is that, despite delivering the expected frosty alienation of its namesake, Antarctica features enough sweat-laden sex scenes to thaw three meandering romantic dramedies."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Nov 16, 2008
|
|
2.5/4
|
0%
|
Talento de Barrio (2008) |
"
This is a riches-to-riches story."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Oct 15, 2008
|
|
3/4
|
77%
|
André Gregory: Before and After Dinner (2013) |
"
Perhaps the most valuable insight that the film provides about its subject is that he acts even as he directs."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Apr 5, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
47%
|
Heaven's Gate (1980) |
"
Michael Cimino's film represented a slight return to classicism--to larger-than-life Panavision spectacle and crane shot-managed majesty, however contradicted by narrative bleakness."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Mar 16, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
Cuchillo de palo (108) (2013) |
"
Renate Costa's doc gradually simplifies into an elaborate seesaw between general, journalistic scoopery and unabashedly personal confrontation."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Mar 16, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
67%
|
Nana (2013) |
"
Its meta-cinematic "think piece"-ness is redeemed by the slinky symmetries drawn between Massadian's own auteur-ship and the protagonist's narrative role."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jan 23, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012) |
"
By favoring the repetition of gestures over plot or graphics, Don Hertzfeldt argues that animation is, at its essence, a kinetic rather than simply visual form of expression."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Oct 3, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
68%
|
Wuthering Heights (2012) |
"
In whittling down Emily Brontë's romance to its most earthly aspects, Andrea Arnold stylizes herself into an unavoidable corner."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Oct 1, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
78%
|
Tales of the Night (2012) |
"
The recent cartoons of Michel Ocelot cleverly advance Lotte Reiniger's prototypical stop-motion technique into the digital age."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Sep 23, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
60%
|
I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, The Mad and the Beautiful (2012) |
"
What keeps the doc from lapsing entirely into a generic human-interest story superficially peppered with local color is, oddly enough, the slowness with which Parker's goals are achieved."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Sep 9, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
55%
|
Downtown Express (2012) |
"
The movie's final act tries, somewhat admirably, to consolidate the plot's myriad interpersonal conflicts."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Apr 13, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
——
|
Dissolution (2012) |
"
Nina Menkes's camera is at its most effective when it seems dumbfounded at what it's indexing."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Mar 7, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
Art Is...The Permanent Revolution (2012) |
"
The premise of this brief portrait sketch is as modest as the standard-definition, full-frame format in which it was photographed."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Feb 28, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
89%
|
The Pruitt-igoe Myth: An Urban History (2012) |
"
The film ends on a note of courage, and a call-to-action that we "remember," naturally, but we can't completely buy it: What Freidrichs has accomplished is a portrait of unknowability."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jan 18, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
Under Control (2011) |
"
There are images here that seem culled from some obsolete collective nervousness."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Nov 29, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
80%
|
Pianomania (2011) |
"
There's a eunuch's melancholy beyond Stefan Knüpfer's humble expertise that might ultimately be the root of his trade."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Oct 31, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
Summer Pasture (2011) |
"
With its devastating title-card statistics and peacefully elegiac third act, the doc establishes the ritarding cadence of its gasping culture of a subject."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Aug 16, 2011
|
|
3/4
|
80%
|
The Myth Of The American Sleepover (2011) |
"
The film likeably recognizes that all of the adolescent epiphanies worth rendering in film must be represented non-verbally."
—
Slant Magazine
Posted Jul 17, 2011
|
75%
22%
67%
85%
46%
40%
