These films are generous reminders that cinema isn’t always about diagnosing global problems.
There’s nothing kinky about Jan Jakub Kolski’s Pornography.
Crimson Gold is more cyclical, socially conscious cinema from the world of Jafar Panahi and Abbas Kiarostami.
The film organizes its space within a nodal web of slightly claustrophobic locations, always shrouded in fog or cigarette smoke.
Mystic River is a somber evocation of a poor, close-knit section of Boston on the brink of moral collapse.
A Thousand Months is a stark but lovely evocation of the many melodramas that simultaneously haunt and enliven a Moroccan village.
Conrad Veidt’s terrifying grin masks the horror of having one’s looks be objectified at the expense of their humanity.
It remains one of the most life-affirming works of art ever produced for the cinema.
The Lion King is loaded with hoary bibilical references (rays of light, burning bushes) and Shakespearean shout-outs, but that’s all they are.
Rithy Panh’s more abstract observations serve to distance us critically from the horrors committed at S21.
Dogville is less anti-American than it is, quite simply, anti-oppression.
The Sea’s breathtaking establishing shots are enough to make each passing crisis-ridden scene more trying than the last.
For those responsible for the joyous School of Rock, we salute you.
As usual, this year’s New York Film Festival slate features numerous recyclables from Cannes and Toronto.
As a vehicle for Dwayne Johnson’s wrestler alter ego, the essential action drive of the film is pure cotton candy.
The film works hard to make the audience part of its con and not a victim of it.
After last year’s delectable Merci Pour Le Chocolat, The Flower of Evil must count as a disappointment.
The austere minimalism of Scott’s Alien has kept it from becoming dated.
Picture it…Italy…2003.
Johnny Depp captures the feeling of Robert Rodriguez’s film: blinded and shooting randomly in all directions.
In Pieces of April, writer-director Peter Hedges makes an entertainment out of stringing his audience along.