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7/10
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Huesera: The Bone Woman
(2022)
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Nora Lee Mandel
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Redolent with the supernatural, the disturbing images of bent demonic bodies are matched by the cracking sound design of breaking bones. This visually enthralling film is centered on Natalia Solián’s striking first film performance.
Posted Apr 25, 2023
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8/10
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The New Greatness Case
(2022)
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Nora Lee Mandel
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Amidst ghosts of Stalinism, a mother is radicalized by frightening Kafkesque entrapment of her teen daughter for attempting to "overthrow the Russian Fed." through the titular, non-existent conspiracy. A frightening look inside authoritarian “justice”.
Posted Jul 16, 2022
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8/10
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Midwives
(2022)
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Nora Lee Mandel
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Footage from five years with a Buddhist midwife and her Muslim Rohingya apprentice in the director's native Myanmar viscerally captures the rising ethnic tensions promulgated by the genocidal military.
Posted May 24, 2022
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9/10
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You Resemble Me
(2021)
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Nora Lee Mandel
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Amer potently immerses the audience in the dysfunctional family’s dislocated lives in a poor neighborhood outside Paris, where Hasna’s childhood separations left her vulnerable to radicalization.
Posted May 24, 2022
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8/10
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as of yet
(2021)
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Nora Lee Mandel
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Pandemic-influenced, Zoom-based romance well incorporates the political, social, and racial upheavals a millennial experienced during the past quarantine year in Brooklyn.
Posted Jul 03, 2021
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2.5/4
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Let Him Go
(2020)
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Pamela Powell
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"Let Him Go" tries your patience at times, but the premise of the film continually cuts through your gut as you place yourself in their shoes.
Posted Mar 16, 2021
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Danzon
(1991)
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Amelie Lasker
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The soundtrack lends the film a feeling of joy and celebration. And although this is a tragic story, not a dance movie, the danzón as a theme feels like Julia reclaiming her joy.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Smithereens
(1982)
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Amelie Lasker
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A punk classic, with a soundtrack that includes the Feelies and Richard Hell & the Voidoids. If anything, Wren's failures make it even more punk: she's following a city, a scene, and a dream -- no matter how desperate she becomes.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles
(2019)
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Amelie Lasker
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Funny and clever, and it makes me want to go and watch the musical again, which I'd say is the best thing such a documentary can do.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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The Day I Became a Woman
(2000)
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Amelie Lasker
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Makhmalbaf's skill as a storyteller shines in her ability to condense meaning into an image or snippet of dialogue.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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The Decline of Western Civilization
(1981)
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Amelie Lasker
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It's a treasure trove of interviews with influential bands and footage from performances, featuring Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, the Germs, Catholic Discipline, the Circle Jerks, and more.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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27 Missing Kisses
(2000)
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Amelie Lasker
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I love Sybilla. I wish she weren't so sexualized, by men and by the camera (she's fourteen, let's remember). But she's spirited and candid and an entertaining heroine to watch.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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The Day I Will Never Forget
(2002)
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Amelie Lasker
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It's filled with kind, resilient people fighting for themselves and others; I highly recommend it.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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The Connection
(1961)
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Amelie Lasker
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Director Shirley Clarke's performance background strongly influences this carefully paced, masterfully acted, beautifully scored drama.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Meek's Cutoff
(2010)
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Amelie Lasker
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Slowly, our own exhaustion and concern grow with the travelers' weariness. With deft acting and skillful pacing, you can feel the heat and dryness in their throats.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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The Company of Strangers
(1990)
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Amelie Lasker
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Strangers in Good Company is a beautifully unique work, both in its topic and its docufiction execution.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Antonia's Line
(1995)
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Amelie Lasker
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Gorris's work is impressive throughout, both in how she handles tonal shifts and builds a large cast of characters and weaves the story around them.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Harlan County, U.S.A.
(1976)
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Amelie Lasker
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Despite all this exhaustion, desperation, and anger, I'm struck by the joy and hope in this documentary.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Girlfriends
(1978)
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Amelie Lasker
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Its warm sense of humor and its images of a New York fantasy -- the stoops, the galleries, the spacious, well-lit apartments even for people without much money -- make it feel like a classic.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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XXY
(2007)
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Amelie Lasker
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Lucía Puenzo explores all of this sensitively and beautifully. She portrays these teenagers joyfully. The camera doesn't shy away from heartbreaking and difficult scenes, either.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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The House is Black
(2008)
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Amelie Lasker
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Brea's film explores the emotional effects of experiencing chronic illness, and at the same time, it sheds light on a wide, warm world of people connecting over their experience of the same illness.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Seven Beauties
(1976)
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Amelie Lasker
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A masterclass in shifting tone. It manages to mingle humor in with the atrocities without trivializing what the Nazis are doing.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Stuffed
(2019)
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Amelie Lasker
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This movie is bearable, even for sensitive viewers. The filmmaker is definitely interested in making a case for taxidermy as an art, demonstrating its beauty, and how it is valued and refined.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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Vitalina Varela
(2019)
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Amelie Lasker
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The movie's production design and cinematography work well with this story of mystery and grief. Often, we feel as if we are in a mine, or maybe moving through spotlighted dollhouse rooms, everything too delicate and dim to be real.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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First Cow
(2019)
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Amelie Lasker
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Most of the interactions we see onscreen in this movie are tenderly funny. It makes for a wonderful story that highlights the strength of friendship in tenuous and even dangerous circumstances.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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The Addams Family
(2019)
|
Amelie Lasker
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The wisdom comes from the children, and the story that emerges feels pure and sweet.
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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4/5
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Gideon's Army
(2013)
|
Nicole Ackman
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While not necessarily groundbreaking film work, it's a much needed piece to reveal what the people who work this largely thankless job go through daily.
Posted Feb 02, 2021
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5/5
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John Lewis: Good Trouble
(2020)
|
Nicole Ackman
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Congressman John Lewis's story should be in classrooms and in our memories
Posted Feb 02, 2021
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4/5
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Lourdes
(2009)
|
Nicole Ackman
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Hausner's 'Lourdes' handles religious faith and miracles with delicacy
Posted Feb 02, 2021
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2.5/5
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This Is the Sea
(1997)
|
Nicole Ackman
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'This Is the Sea' is a fascinating glimpse at Ireland in the late 1990s
Posted Feb 02, 2021
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2.5/5
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Children of a Lesser God
(1986)
|
Nicole Ackman
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'Children of a Lesser God' blazed a trail for representation but doesn't hold up today
Posted Feb 02, 2021
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3/5
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Party Girl
(1995)
|
Nicole Ackman
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Parker Posey shines in 'Party Girl,' a capsule of the New York City 90s club scene
Posted Feb 02, 2021
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Born in Flames
(1983)
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Amelie Lasker
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All these perspectives on revolution and post-revolution political discourse come together, asking nuanced questions that still preoccupy us in the current decade: how can we make feminism inclusive?
Posted Dec 28, 2020
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Wanda
(1970)
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Amelie Lasker
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It's delicious to see this kind of character taking up so much space on screen: unkempt, dazed, and aimless, with occasional moments of alertness to take pleasure in something tiny, just because she wants to.
Posted Dec 28, 2020
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Olivia
(1951)
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Amelie Lasker
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Olivia is a particularly beautiful watch. Within lavish costumes, bedrooms, and ballrooms, the story is surprisingly intimate.
Posted Dec 28, 2020
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Flannery
(2019)
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Amelie Lasker
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Flannery is more about the person than the work. It reminds me a lot in tone of Brad Gooch's biography of O'Connor: playful, intimate, and appreciative of the unique challenges and joys of O'Connor's life.
Posted Aug 05, 2020
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Born to Play
(2020)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Lieberman's Born to Play highlights role models for anyone who feels different. There is a place for you, there is a space for you, you just have to find your team.
Posted Jul 24, 2020
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Never Rarely Sometimes Always
(2020)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Writer/director Eliza Hittman picked two talents (Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder) who carry off a pointed message with care, subtlety and, most importantly, empathy.
Posted Mar 05, 2020
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The Social Ones
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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The Social Ones is a genuinely funny commentary on how we've accepted the online way of life & the pure absurdity at the heart of a multimillion dollar industry.
Posted Feb 27, 2020
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Saint Frances
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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While the pro-choice angle is divisive, the character of Bridget is more than the decisions she makes. It's poignant; exemplifying O'Sullivan's talent as writer and performer.
Posted Feb 26, 2020
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Top End Wedding
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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A sweet story about love in all its forms - for marriage, parenthood, heritage, and how far we're willing to go to discover ourselves.
Posted Feb 18, 2020
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Ordinary Love
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Although overly bleak at times, Ordinary Love is a showcase for Neeson and Manville. Navigating a cancer diagnosis, the married couple finds beauty in hellish places.
Posted Feb 13, 2020
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The Lodge
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Father-of-the-year leaves his kids in the middle of nowhere with a possessed stranger? Even with solid performances from Keough and Martell, The Lodge is lackluster.
Posted Feb 12, 2020
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4.5/5
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Taylor Swift: Miss Americana
(2020)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Director Lana Wilson builds a mosaic-like documentary around Taylor Swift, allowing people into the world of a poetic singer/songwriter who, at 29, found her true voice.
Posted Jan 31, 2020
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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If you think Lost was about a polar bear, you'll find flaws in Episode IX. But if you understand that ending, you'll understand this one. Some themes are timeless.
Posted Dec 18, 2019
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5/5
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1917
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Co-written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 1917 is a straightforward but wildly creative drama set in WWI. A gripping awards contender with outstanding cinematography.
Posted Dec 02, 2019
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5/5
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Little Women
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Written for the screen and directed by Greta Gerwig, Little Women is a poignant retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel, following seven pivotal years in the lives of the March sisters.
Posted Nov 25, 2019
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3.5/5
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The Warrior Queen of Jhansi
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Written and directed by women and following a historical female protagonist with whom common audiences might not be familiar, Bhise's directorial debut tells a relevant woman's story for our times.
Posted Nov 25, 2019
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3.5/5
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Last Christmas
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Co-written by Emma Thompson and Bryony Kimmings and directed by Paul Feig, Last Christmas is a hodgepodge of a romantic dramedy with its big twist spoiled in its marketing campaign.
Posted Nov 25, 2019
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5/5
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Frozen II
(2019)
|
Brigid Presecky
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Directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck take Elsa and Anna back to the big screen with Frozen II, a bigger, sometimes better sequel to the 2013 blockbuster - one that became the highest grossing animated film of all time in worldwide box office.
Posted Nov 25, 2019
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