In 2016, writer/director Robert Eggers gifted us with The Witch, an auspicious first film that helped add the phrase “elevated horror” to the critical lexicon as a shorthand way of describing creative aspirations above and beyond cheap jump scares and gratuitous gore. With his second film, The Lighthouse, a surreal thriller about a couple […]

  “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?” That’s the question asked by the titular character of Joker, a film that luxuriates in giving us the answer. By now, anyone with a pulse knows that Joker is the origin story […]

  Earlier this year, the Sundance Film Festival awarded its Grand Jury Prize to The Souvenir, written and directed by British Indie director, Joanna Hogg. Largely autobiographical, The Souvenir is pieced together from Hogg’s decades-old diaries, love letters and audio recordings, and it tells the story of her tragic May-December romance during the early ‘80s […]

  One of the sure signs of a great performance is when it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the role. Such is the case with Renée Zellweger’s portrayal of Frances Ethel Gumm, a.k.a., Judy Garland, in the biopic, Judy. Loosely adapted from the Olivier-nominated stage play, End of the Rainbow, Judy swings back and […]

  At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, it was Honeyland, a documentary about a beekeeper, which generated the most buzz. It took home three awards, more than any other film in competition, and it’s North Macedonia’s official submission in this year’s Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature. Honeyland is an intimate window into the life […]

  The films of French filmmaker Claire Denis are elliptical and often sacrifice plot-driven narrative for poetic visuals steeped in humanism. They tend to alternate between dark, like her second-to-last film, Bastards, and light, like her penultimate film, Let the Sunshine In. With her latest release, High Life, Denis once again gravitates to the darker […]

  “Friends are the family we choose.” That simple aphorism, offered by a character played by Bruce Dern, perfectly encapsulates the central theme of South By Southwest’s Audience Award-winning indie film, The Peanut Butter Falcon. Written and directed by first-time feature filmmakers Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson, it was brought to fruition by the indie […]

  Richard Linklater is a director who alternates between doing commercial fare such as School of Rock, and more personal, quasi-experimental films such as Boyhood. With his latest film, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Linklater has both feet firmly planted in the land of commerce. Boasting a talented cast led by Cate Blanchett as the titular […]

  Who would’ve thought that one of the most interesting and entertaining films about today’s culture war would be about Satanists? But such is the case with Hail Satan, the irreverent new documentary directed by Penny Lane. Or, I should say “Hail Satan?” because the title includes a question mark that emphasizes the absurdity of […]

  Quentin Tarantino is arguably the most influential filmmaker in the world. His nonlinear storytelling, trademark outbursts of stylized violence, dark humor and rich dialog are so distinctive, “Tarantinoesque” has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Capitalizing on his celebrity status, his latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is being marketed as […]