This is a banner for an interview with Morgan Knibbe of A Garden of Earthly Delights. Image courtesy of the filmmakers.

Neon Nightmare: Interview with Morgan Knibbe of ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’

Screening in the Before Midnight section of the 2025 QCinema International Film Festival, Dutch filmmaker Morgan Knibbe’s sophomore feature The Garden of Earthly Delights portrays a gritty, neon-tinged Manila inferno centered on a young queer protagonist played by first-time actor JP Rodriguez. A teenager named Ginto descends deep into the …

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‘A Pale View Of Hills’ Film Review- The Adaptation Of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Novel Spells It Out Too Much

Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1982 debut novel, A Pale View of Hills, is an elegant and nuanced examination of identity for post-war Japan. Kei Ishikawa’s ambitious but unsubtle adaptation can’t capture the spirit of his gorgeous writing. The novel and the film are narrated by Etsuko, who appears in two timelines. In …

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‘Nouvelle Vague’ Film Review: Richard Linklater’s Pleasant Homage To French New Wave

Richard Linklater brought two films to the festival crowds this year. The first being Blue Moon, a drama about the tragic Lorenz Hart, whose professional relationship with Richard Rodgers has mostly been lost to history. The second is Nouvelle Vague, a loving ode to French New Wave cinema. Both are …

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‘The Fence’ Film Review: Claire Denis Explores Colonialism In Understated Play Adaptation

The Fence is Claire Denis’ isolated adaptation of Bernard-Marie Koltès’s play Black Battles with Dogs, which subtly explores masculinity and colonialism. Set predominantly in one location over one night, The Fence never loses its stage show sensibilities, even if that forces Denis to reject her trademark visual lyricism. Set on …

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‘Blue Moon’ Film Review – Richard Linklater’s Latest is Worth Watching More Than Once

This could have been a play and may well get a second life as a play, because its single set, very talky script and clever staging keep us in the room for the 100-minute runtime. It is heavily inspired by real events but also plays fast and loose as required …

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‘Death by Lightning’ Miniseries Review: History is Stranger Than Fiction

“Assassination can be no more guarded against than death by lightning; it is best not to worry about either.” With these words early in his presidency, James Garfield may have sealed his fate. Shot by Charles J. Guiteau and dying six months after taking office in 1881, the United States …

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‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Episode 2 Recap and Review

Content Note: The following contains spoilers for episode 2 of It: Welcome to Derry. The show also deals with child death/harm and mental institutions, so proceed with caution if those are sensitive subjects. The end of episode 1 of It: Welcome to Derry was a significant shocker, with several kids who seemed like …

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‘Pillion’ Film Review: A Tender, Awkward, BDSM Love Story

A pillion is a seat for a passenger behind a motorcyclist. This simple, not-overly-familiar word captures the whole experience of Colin (Harry Melling) in Harry Lighton’s feature directorial debut adapted from the 2020 novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones. In Pillion, Colin is shy, still living at home with his …

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‘Forastera’ Film Review: An Admirable Feature Debut from Lucía Aleñar Iglesias

The prestigious publication, Screen International, publishes a yearly article about buzzy films they would like to see playing in the festival circuit. In this year’s piece, Forastera by Lucía Aleñar Iglesias is one of the films mentioned there. It is an impressive feature to include in the list alongside notable …

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‘Rose of Nevada’ Film Review: Mark Jenkin’s Moody and Haunting Surprise

Writer-director-cinematographer-editor-composer Mark Jenkin has an idiosyncratic vision for Rose of Nevada, not just in how many of the behind the camera jobs he does himself, but also in how his corner of England is portrayed onscreen. For Mr. Jenkin is not English but Cornish (and you better believe there’s a …

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‘Is This Thing On?’ Film Review – The Marvelous Mr. Arnett Impresses In Dramedy

Bradley Cooper’s third directorial feature, Is This Thing On?, is a more low-key and down-to-earth tale of one man’s middle-aged venture into standup comedy. Loosely based on the life of Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop, this story is gentle and rough around the edges about martial separation and finding yourself amid …

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‘Hedda’ Movie Review: Thompson and Hoss Go All Guns Blazing

“Just Hedda is fine.” With these prickly, precise words, Hedda (Tessa Thompson) immediately establishes her self-image and control thereof. Hedda is the recently married wife of up-and-coming scholar George Tesman (Tom Bateman), but the legacy left by her father General Gabler – including his guns – is one she takes …

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‘Roofman’ Film Review: On The Fantasy of Fatherhood

It’s something of a surprise that Roofman has done the festival circuit. It’s the kind of comfortable movie that Hollywood used to churn out by the dozen: casually dripping with stars, a plot that handles serious issues with a light touch, product placement that combines the American fervours for nostalgia …

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