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3/5
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Dumb Money
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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This is a mildly entertaining film that does a decent job of explaining boggling financial concepts, but it’s difficult to see why exactly Gillespie felt compelled to tell the story in this format.
Posted Sep 20, 2023
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Boy Kills World
(2023)
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Charles Bramesco
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If Looney Tunes works because it thinks the way a kid does, then the comparably slap-happy Boy Kills World fails because it has the mentality of a fourteen-year-old boy coming off a three-day, Mountain Dew-fueled Xbox bender.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Don't Look Away
(2023)
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Anton Bitel
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“Frankie, this is your dream”, Jonah says, inadvertently decoding the nightmarish illogic of this horror from director/co-writer Micheal Bafaro
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Psycho III
(1986)
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Anton Bitel
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this knowing sequel, unable to free itself of its established serial tropes, is inevitably a tragic romance.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Targets
(1968)
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Anton Bitel
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Bogdanovich’s sophisticated, meta cinematic feature debut brings into confrontation Karloff’s era of castle gothic... and a more contemporary, ripped-from-the-headlines realism that is finding its way into the genre, and into films like this one.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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La madre muerta
(1993)
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Anton Bitel
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at times near Hitchcockian in its suspense, the film catches us between a rock and a hard place, in this case a man who seems utterly irredeemable, and a young woman so affectless and unresponsive that any characterisation can be projected onto her.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Valley Girl
(1983)
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Anton Bitel
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Self-consciously modelled on Romeo and Juliet (a neon sign for which is visible at one point on a Sherman Oaks theatre marquee), Martha Coolidge’s feature offers all the dilemmas and transgressions of a coming-of-age romance.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Gothic
(1986)
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Anton Bitel
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Russell’s exuberant style is perfectly suited to a libertine story which finds entirely visual means for showing the complex, often grotesque workings of an author’s imagination. It is a reflexive orgy of future horrors.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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4/5
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Rotting in the Sun
(2023)
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David Jenkins
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Very sharp, and Firstman is bang-on as the social celeb who comes good.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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Poolman
(2023)
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Charles Bramesco
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The stoney-baloney atmosphere never rises to an enjoyable high, sitting as stagnant as chlorinated water.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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4/5
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Strange Way of Life
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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Sweet, subtle stuff with an innate sense of style.
Posted Sep 13, 2023
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Next Goal Wins
(2023)
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Mark Asch
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Waititi in microcosm: a filmmaker who, in the moment, will just say or do whatever he thinks will make you feel good. It’s how he controls the encounter.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros
(2023)
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Rafaela Sales Ross
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Wiseman’s unobtrusive approach lends itself to this dichotomy, patiently accompanying the lulling rhythms of farms and fields while allowing for the precision of the kitchen to be appreciated in the entirety of its many processes.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
(2023)
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Mark Asch
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A glorious, poisonous, everything-in-the-pot treatise on the state of the world today.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Woman of the Hour
(2023)
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Charles Bramesco
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Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, about a abused upstart actress and a serial killer in her midst, says all the right things, but too loud and too often.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Les Indésirables
(2023)
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Mark Asch
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Merely a shouty film, in which characters explain their beliefs to each other so we’ll remember to apply them during the next shocking act of violence.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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The Boy and the Heron
(2023)
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Mark Asch
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The Boy and the Heron is richly self-synthesising and achingly sentimental, collating artistic motifs from across the Miyazaki filmography and nakedly articulating the hopes it places in the next generation.
Posted Sep 09, 2023
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Memory
(2023)
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Yasmine Kandil
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Memory’s relatively restrained hundred-minute runtime is bloated with repetitive sequences... suggesting that even Franco fails to grasp the vast potential of the parable at hand.
Posted Sep 08, 2023
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Housekeeping for Beginners
(2023)
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Rafaela Sales Ross
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There are many greatly moving moments in the director’s third feature, all connected by a heartfelt understanding of the value of nurturing companionship.
Posted Sep 08, 2023
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The Royal Hotel
(2023)
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Mark Asch
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Two features into her career as a fiction filmmaker, it’s safe to call Green a master of the microaggression.
Posted Sep 08, 2023
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Gasoline Rainbow
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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It’s a meandering take on middle America, but the journey never feels too long. It just feels a little familiar...
Posted Sep 07, 2023
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3/5
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A Life on the Farm
(2022)
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Carly Mattox
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The film pays worthy tribute to its subject, despite a more conventional form.
Posted Sep 07, 2023
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3/5
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Once Upon a Time in Uganda
(2021)
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Marina Ashioti
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Comes together as an effusive love letter to the Wakaliwood king, despite not always keeping the focus on the more germane perspective.
Posted Sep 06, 2023
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Origin
(2023)
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Anahit Behrooz
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A hugely ambitious political and narrative feat, illuminating millennia of oppressive systems through the lens of one woman writing against a personal backdrop of loss and grief.
Posted Sep 06, 2023
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Hit Man
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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It’s a genuinely riotous time at the cinema and concrete proof Powell is perhaps our brightest hope when it comes to keeping the notion of the movie star alive.
Posted Sep 05, 2023
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Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus
(2023)
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Xuanlin Tham
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A concert is ephemeral; one is filled with gratitude that this film is not.
Posted Sep 05, 2023
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Sky Peals
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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Hussain’s script displays a real sense of empathy, deftly exploring the emotional toll of existing as a modern man who feels out of step with the world around him, not quite part of it despite desiring closeness.
Posted Sep 05, 2023
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Priscilla
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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The real beauty of Priscilla is its delicate portrayal of the all-consuming fire and flood of first love, and what happens when you grow up, and begin to realise the fairytale doesn’t always have a happy ending.
Posted Sep 04, 2023
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Evil Does Not Exist
(2023)
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Xuanlin Tham
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Composer Eiko Ishibashi’s tremulous string score dislodges something tender within your chest, like a stone being knocked loose at the mouth of a river.
Posted Sep 04, 2023
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The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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As always, Friedkin leaves it up to us to wrestle with the implications of his narrative. Nothing is ever black and white in his idiosyncratic worlds, or indeed the one we live in.
Posted Sep 03, 2023
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The Killer
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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It’s not exactly an ambitious plotline for someone like Fincher, but it’s certainly an engaging one, and the cryptic, constantly evasive protagonist is a puzzle that lingers after the credits roll.
Posted Sep 03, 2023
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The Beast
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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It’s a big swing for the fences from the singular French filmmaker and one that absolutely pays off.
Posted Sep 03, 2023
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Aggro Dr1ft
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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Perhaps Aggro Dr1ft is a sincere attempt (and failure) to think outside the box, or it might just be the latest provocation in a career not lacking for them. Either way, it’s just a shame it’s not a more entertaining one.
Posted Sep 03, 2023
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Maestro
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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Sadly lacks Bernstein’s maverick spirit and warmth, or even captures anything about him you couldn’t glean from a quick skim read of Wikipedia.
Posted Sep 02, 2023
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Poor Things
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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It’s a tour de force performance from Stone, gamely matched by Ruffalo, and complimented by the dreamy, madcap world Lanthimos and his talented collaborators have created.
Posted Sep 01, 2023
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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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For devotees, it’s a delightful little morsel, lovingly brought to life as only Anderson knows how.
Posted Sep 01, 2023
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All of Us Strangers
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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It’s a ghost story, but it’s a love story too. One that will break your heart.
Posted Sep 01, 2023
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El Conde
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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Undoubtedly entertaining even if its internal politics fall a little short.
Posted Aug 31, 2023
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Ferrari
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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Perhaps there’s a different version of Ferrari that feels more compelling, but there’s precious little to be done about the by-the-book storytelling, which doesn’t do justice to such rich subject matter.
Posted Aug 31, 2023
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4/5
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The First Slam Dunk
(2022)
|
Esther Rosenfield
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Like the title says: a total slam dunk.
Posted Aug 30, 2023
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2/5
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Theater Camp
(2023)
|
Saskia Lloyd Gaiger
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A thesp fest with some great kids and cameos, but a little cliquey despite its intentions.
Posted Aug 24, 2023
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3/5
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The Blackening
(2022)
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Cheyenne Bunsie
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A fun, welcome take on the horror-comedy genre that’s best enjoyed without too much over-analysis.
Posted Aug 22, 2023
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4/5
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The Innocent
(2022)
|
Saskia Lloyd Gaiger
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A fun, soapy caper – earnestly silly and very warm.
Posted Aug 21, 2023
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1/5
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Strays
(2023)
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Hannah Strong
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It says a lot when the high point of a film is a brief Dennis Quaid cameo.
Posted Aug 17, 2023
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3/5
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Blue Beetle
(2023)
|
David Jenkins
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Not sure I’d need to see it again, or be excited for a sequel, but makes for a nice partner feature with the great Alita: Battle Angel.
Posted Aug 16, 2023
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4/5
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The Future Tense
(2022)
|
David Jenkins
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A messy, meandering and often very moving joy.
Posted Aug 16, 2023
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3/5
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Lie with Me
(2022)
|
Emily Maskell
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This sharp study of a writer’s longing is strikingly pensive.
Posted Aug 14, 2023
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3/5
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Red, White & Royal Blue
(2023)
|
Patrick Sproull
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Come for the hot boys, stay for Uma Thurman’s accent.
Posted Aug 10, 2023
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Baan
(2023)
|
Marina Ashioti
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Some clunky dialogue choices slightly spoil this effect, but Teles demonstrates great confidence in crafting an artful, aptly disorienting and deeply relatable journey through her protagonist’s emotions.
Posted Aug 10, 2023
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2/5
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L'immensità
(2022)
|
David Jenkins
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Would like to see more from Crialese, but maybe with a subject he feels more comfortable dealing with.
Posted Aug 09, 2023
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