TIFF 2021: Aloners
A strong first feature debut for writer and director Hong Sung-Eun, Aloners is the perfect ode to the universal feeling of loneliness and isolation that was so deeply intensified during the pandemic.
TIFF 2021: Petite Maman
Clocking in at around 70 minutes, this follow up from Celine Sciamma, the director of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, was my most eagerly anticipated film of TIFF. Petite Maman explores family relationships, grief, and other emotional arcs through a more playful lens of a child.
THE CARD COUNTER proves mid-tier Schrader is still a high bar
More Light Sleeper than Mishima, but Paul Schrader’s latest remains worth seeing
HOLLER is achingly sincere
HOLLER, Nicole Riegel’s debut feature film, is a sharp drama about fighting for life on the fringes of society, one that hearkens back to classics like WINTER’S BONE.
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS is Marvel at its least essential
The latest Marvel effort, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings continues Marvel’s Phase 4 woes.
A few good scares can’t save THE NIGHT HOUSE’s baffling narrative
The filmmaker behind The Ritual returns for a grief-soaked ghostly effort that ties itself up in unnecessary narrative contortions
PLAN B brings coming-of-age comedy back in style
PLAN B, a new teen coming-of-age comedy, is available right now on Hulu, and it is very much worth your attention.
THE SUICIDE SQUAD is the most “James Gunn” movie ever made
What does a superhero movie without the Pentagon’s seal of approval look like?
THE GREEN KNIGHT is the finest fantasy film in decades
David Lowery creates his proper follow-up to A Ghost Story with the masterful The Green Knight. Read our review!
FOR MADMEN ONLY can’t thread the needle between art and artist
But is a must-watch for fans of DC’s cult classic series Wasteland
CRUELLA and the bad thing about feeling good
CRUELLA is like THE RISE OF SKYWALKER: A mess of a movie that nevertheless provides a valuable lesson in how not to tell stories.
BLACK WIDOW is Too Little, Too Late
When then-Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter penned an email in 2014 listing examples of failed super hero flicks that were female led, it’s not hard to imagine he was debating the value of adding a Black Widow solo film into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
THE SPARKS BROTHERS, a solid intro that could use a little more….spark
Edgar Wright tackles one of his biggest musical idols in THE SPARKS BROTHERS, a loving tribute that displays an incredible amount of breadth, but an equally frustrating lack of depth
OXYGEN is a tense one-woman thriller
OXYGEN, a French sci-fi thriller recently released on Netflix, is available now. How does this one-woman show hold up?
LOKI, a solid rebound for the streaming MCU
Marvel’s most enduring villain in back, as Loki returns in his own time traveling solo series. Check out our review of the first 2 episodes.