Method acting goes to the extreme in the Greek drama Brando with a Glass Eye. Starring Yiannis Niarros in a star-making performance and written and directed by Antonis Tsonis, this is compelling drama just had its worldwide premiere at the Slamdance International Film Festival. “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you …
2024 has just begun, and yet we already have one hell of an action movie in Xavier Gens’ Mayhem! (Farang) and a brand-new star ready to show his skills to the world in Nassim Lyes. He portrays Sam, a recently freed convict who attempts to lay low and stay out of trouble by working a stable …
Rugby isn’t a sport we get much of here in America, but it’s one of the primary sports people enjoy watching in other countries. In the early 1970s, a group of rugby players from Uruguay boarded a plane from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, for a rugby match. In the …
Wim Wenders is a German writer, director, and producer who has been making movies and short films since the late 1960s. After a quiet decade, Wenders is out with a new film, Perfect Days. Wenders really hit a stride in the 1980s. In 1984, he made a movie that many consider among the greatest arthouse films …
Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers has gone through many permutations, but Martin Bourboulon’s two-parter, which has allowed France to direct a just – and realist – adaptation of Dumas’ tale, is one of the very best modern book-to-film iterations we’ve seen in ages. And its first installment, D’Artagnan, is also the best part one of …
The Taste of Things (or La Passion de Dodin Bouffant) is a new French-language film by director Trần Anh Hùng and distributed by IFC Films in the US. France has submitted it for the best International Feature at the Academy Awards, and it recently made the Oscars shortlist. For myself, I love a great cooking …
Since the induction of moving pictures on a big screen, people have lined up to watch other people fall in love. The romantic relationship depictions between two people, sometimes with some humor thrown in for good measure, have brought people venturing to the movies for the chance to fall in …
Jonathan Glazer’s chilling drama about the Holocaust, The Zone of Interest, is an unforgettable cinematic experience. In 2004, the world learned about Jonathan Glazer’s directing prowess when Birth was nominated for several accolades during the awards season. Since then, the filmmaker has garnered a reputation for making films that force people to think about diverse issues. But …
Forget roses and grand gestures, Last Call for Istanbul simmers with a forbidden love that’s as intoxicating as Turkish coffee on a rooftop overlooking the Bosphorus, or in this case, New York City. Beren Saat and Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ deliver a slow-burn romance punctuated by moments as thrilling as a whirlwind taxi …
Each spring in the Mediterranean seaside town of Cannes, France, filmmakers from all over the world gather to explore and discover new films at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. When the film festival ends, they award the top film with a prize called the Palme d’Or. Starting in 2019 with the film Parasite, NEON …
There has never been a better time to be a Godzilla fan. Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse continues to go strong, thanks to the launch of the critically acclaimed Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Sunday’s drop of the Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer. Back in Japan, Toho Studios- the home base of the original Godzilla …
Examining the actions of ordinary individuals in extreme situations is a well-worn trope in film. 2018: Everyone is a Hero, a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language survival drama film by director Jude Anthany Joseph, subverts this trope with compelling storytelling that captures human stories and explores human resilience, community, and sacrifice. I went into …
In 2018, the world got to know about Hirokazu Kore-eda’s directing prowess when Shoplifters was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars. Meanwhile, in 2022, the director once again showed his impeccable skills with Broker. Since then, avid movie watchers have been waiting for the filmmaker to come forward with a …
This year continues the tradition of exceptional foreign films with a beautiful new Italian film from directors Felix Van Groeningen, and Charlotte Vandermeersch called The Eight Mountains. Each and every year, there are plenty of foreign films released that end up being among my very favorite movies of the calendar year. Incredible filmmakers from across …