“You see how this looks, right?” rehearses Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson), as he’s set to trap and apprehend a sexual predator who has been talking to a decoy for what will become the hit NBC television series To Catch a Predator. Throughout Lance Oppenheim’s depiction of the controversial “investigative journalist” …
Does anyone helpfully inform a family member that they are going “out” anymore? Maybe not, but Just an Illusion remembers when that was all the detail a parent required. This French movie about the run up to a boy’s bar mitzvah is the kind of gentle, low-stakes story the entire …
Filmes de Plástico is one of the most fascinating production companies in Brazil. In a sense, it is more of a collective than a traditional film producer. Composed by André Novais Oliveira, Gabriel Martins, Maurilio Martins, and Thiago Macêdo Correia, the group took the creative process from the capital, usually …
The French filmmaker Sarah Leonor returns to the Locarno competition after seventeen years, when her A Real Life (Au voleur) was in the running for the Golden Leopard. Now, she presents D’ici là, a contemplative film about three different individuals living in the Vosges valley, in France. Firstly, Lucien (Frank …
The question of how you tell an untellable story is at the heart of Agata the Writer, which was evidently a passion project for writer-director-cinematographer-editor-composer Kuba Dorabialski (who also plays the small part of Janek). Its awkward thoughtfulness sets an unusual tone that will not resonate with a lot of …
It’s always interesting, though not always for the right reasons, when a director on a publicity tour manages to undermine his own movie. At this year’s Venice Film Festival the headlines about Paul Schrader were not about The Basics of Philosophy, the movie receiving its world premiere. Oh no, he …
In her sophomore feature, Luise Donschen attended the Locarno Film Festival’s Cineasti del Presente section to present Tomorrow a Long Time Ago, Morgen vor langer Zeit. After Casanova Gene, which screened at the Berlinale Forum, the German filmmaker introduces her second film to audiences. Set in 1990, in the middle of …
The director Nikias Chryssos presents in his Bloody Tennis a tale of competitive sports. Sophie (Sandra Guldberg Kampp), an American tennis player, is offered the opportunity to attend a camp in Europe. It is a highly exclusive club, where six players practice at a high level. Mary (Elina Löwensohn) is …
Father Joe is dumber than a box of rocks and more entertaining than a box of frogs. There is nothing to recommend Father Joe except for its commitment to being the stupidest possible piece of action entertainment. Luc Besson, who wrote and produced the film for director Barthélémy Grossmann, clearly …
In The Black Ball directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo (known as Los Javis) and cinematographer Gris Jordana have created an unusually beautiful work of art. The Black Ball is kind and tender, very clear-eyed about the trauma of war and the misery of addiction. But above all it is …
Whenever you talk about aura in Indian cinema, one name pops up almost immediately: Thalapathy Vijay. If you are not familiar with his name, just Google it, and you’ll get an idea of why he is one of the biggest names in the Indian film industry. However, after working in …
Regardless of one’s takeaway from Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, it’s hard for any normal person not to feel sorry for the crew. First the planned cinema release was scrapped in favour of unceremonious streaming on Paramount+. Then the whole film was leaked by a hacker, which is likely why …
What’s that you say? There’s a television show where I can watch Hannah Waddingham (of Ted Lasso fame) wear gorgeous gowns and kick ass for eight hours with her smart best friend, Octavia Spencer? There is indeed, and it is Tessa Coates’ delightful series Ride or Die, streaming on Prime …
Rwandan filmmaker Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo won the Camera d’Or – the prize for best debut feature in any of the festival’s competition strands – at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Ben’Imana. This is a double achievement as Ben’Imana is also the first Rwandan film ever to compete at Cannes …
Beatrice Gibson has been a fascinating voice in the film community for a while. Her work has been featured at major events worldwide, including I Hope I’m Loud When I’m Dead and Someplace In Your Mouth, both of which were screened at TIFF. Those works blur the line between autofiction …
The algorithm recently recommended that I watch the third The Cutting Edge movie, Chasing the Dream. It’s a little strange to suggest a deep cut like that, but since I’m on my umpteenth rewatch of Timeless (starring Matt Lanter, among others) and recently finished Off-Campus, it’s a little less crazy. …
You cannot fault co-writers/co-directors/co-editors Delilah Napier and Lucy Powers for ambition. Floating Carousel is clearly a showpiece for their talents, and as an example of how to make a movie in New York City with practically no money it very much delivers. Its tale of poor romantic choices and their …
While the Girl Scouts of America do plenty to build up young women, they are best known for their cookies. Which makes sense, given that they are an $800 million industry. In her documentary Cookie Queens, currently in theaters, Alysa Nahmias examines this business through the eyes of four young …
As the strongest season of Reacher wraps up the formula feels in place for the future series. A lady cop, a dweeb and our favourite human kaiju team up against some preposterously evil villains, which can only be defeated through incredible hand-to-hand violence and the knowledge that right is on …
Thanks to Elspeth (Kathleen Richardson) and her henchman Springfield (Aaron Poole), Reacher (Alan Ritchson) and Tamara (Sydelle Noel) live another afternoon. This is good, because Reacher’s concern for manners and proper behaviour is such that he is willing to break every finger belonging to pharmaceutical billionaire Ahlquist (Shawn Doyle) to …