Just the Two of Us puts the Tolstoy adage about families to the test. The Russian master opined in Anna Karenina that all happy families are alike, while unhappy families… Continue reading "Just the Two of Us (Donzelli, 2023)"
The Glassworker straddles the fence between knock-off and homage. I think it falls on the wrong side of that divide. Show the picture above to a dozen cinephiles, and I… Continue reading "The Glassworker (Riaz, 2025)"
Suspended Time is the first narrative set during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in which I recognized elements of my own experience of the time. The World Health Organization reports that… Continue reading "Suspended Time (Assayas, 2024)"
Hola Frida is a film so winsome in its conception that it is almost impossible to criticize it for perceived flaws in its execution. The Frida of the title is… Continue reading "Hola Frida (Kadi and Vézina, 2024)"
The Trouble with Jessica presents itself as a dark comedy, even though it is more sour than dark and never particularly funny. Jessica (Indira Varma) is hardly in the movie.… Continue reading "The Trouble with Jessica (Winn, 2023)"
If You Should Leave Before Me has a lot of things going for it, including and especially an understated performance by Shane P. Allen as a grieving man. But like… Continue reading "If You Should Leave Before Me (Anderson and Anderson, 2025)"
Given that Hello Beautiful‘s sole reason for being seems to be to induce sympathy for a woman with breast cancer, saying that it attempts to do absolutely nothing else feels… Continue reading "Hello Beautiful (Hamzeh, 2025)"
Speak is this year’s feel-good film at Full Frame, and it comes with all the feels one wants and needs from a festival crowd-pleaser. I have mentioned elsewhere that film… Continue reading "Speak (Tiexiera and Mossman, 2025)"
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced its programming for the 2025 festival, and one of the most anticipated films is Helen and the Bear. The film, a portrait… Continue reading "Helen and the Bear (Blair, 2025)"
Warning: This review may be considered to contain plot spoilers. Birdsong is hard movie to recommend even though the part of me that naturally roots for new talent wants to… Continue reading "Birdsong (Amariz, 2025)"
