FILM REVIEW: ‘Conclave,’ as cardinals clash
Let’s face it, movies based on books can totally flop. Think Bonfire of the Vanities. Some surpass the book—The Godfather. And some make you want to read the book. Conclave, adapted from Robert Harris’s bestselling novel, presented by Focus Features and directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), falls in that category. ...
Film review: ‘Meanwhile on Earth,’ a celestial odyssey of grief & hope
French writer/director/animator Jérémy Clapin‘s first live-action film, Meanwhile on Earth, presented by Metrograph Pictures, is a cinematic gem that defies genre expectations. It’s actually a science-fiction movie for the science-fiction averse. The film blends realism with celestial wonder, crafting a haunting, familiar, and profound alien world. This intimate film, penned by Clapin, unfolds as a ...
‘The Instigators’: a watchable star-studded misfire
The first twenty minutes of The Instigators, a new movie by director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Mr and Mrs. Smith, Swingers), presented by Apple Originals, is a delight. Each new scene introduces great actors to a story with unique characters navigating a time-worn yet always suspenseful plot (a heist). Who can quibble with this ...
REVIEW: Easily distracted? Hopelessly romantic? Try ‘Touch.’
Egill Ólafsson stars as Kristofer in director Baltasar Kormákur’s TOUCH credit: Baltasar Breki Samper What? You’ve not heard of Touch? You’re not sure it’s a movie for you? Here are ten reasons to enjoy the new Icelandic film about an elderly widower journeying to find his first love before it’s too late. The movie opens ...
A sensory feast as ‘Queen’ 1981 rock concert gets IMAX revisit
A fleeting window into rock’s pantheon opens from January 18th to 21st, as IMAX presents Queen Rock Montreal, a visceral document of the band’s incandescent live energy and artistry. Queen’s deep respect and unwavering generosity toward their audience shines through every frame and every note of this documentary film that captures two nights of performances ...
‘Perfect Days’: Wenders’ cinematic diary of dappled light & shadow
Soon after the pandemic, acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders was invited to witness Tokyo’s award-winning urban renewal project, The Tokyo Toilet, in which renowned designers reimagined the typical urban public restroom. Wenders, who is also a celebrated documentarian (Buena Vista Social Club, Pina, and the new Anselm), was expected to craft short films about each ...
Mini-movie review: Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’
If all you want for Christmas is excellent acting and heart-pounding race-car chases in a complex drama-filled love triangle, then master action movie-maker Michael Mann’s Ferrari (presented by NEON) is waiting in a cinema near you. The excellent Adam Driver heads the cast, channeling Enzo Ferrari’s smoldering intensity while working overtime to master the proper ...
FILM REVIEW: ‘Eileen,’ a movie to haunt you on a cold night
One of the rewards of watching Eileen, directed with a pitch-perfect noir sensibility by William Oldroyd (Lady Macbeth) and presented by Neon, is embracing the unknown. Are we watching a prison break film with an unlikely accomplice? A repressed lesbian love story set in the 1960s? Or is it a violent revenge fantasy fueled by ...
REVIEW: Hanging out with ‘The Holdovers’
“There are certain movies that you hang out with the characters so much that they actually become your friends. Those movies are usually quite long, because it actually takes that long of a time to get past a movie character where you actually feel that you know the person and you like them.” That now-famous ...
Review: Restive political offspring find romance in ‘Red, White & Royal Blue,’ the movie
Anyone who read Casey McQuiston’s best-selling 2019 novel, Red, White & Royal Blue, or who continues to be thoroughly demoralized by all-things-MAGA, will be thrilled to stream this rom-com/ alternate-reality/LGBTQ fantasy-fairy-tale produced by Amazon Studios and directed by Matthew Lopez (the acclaimed playwright of The Inheritance). The story imagines a world in which the son ...