Blue Road is a sad film, at times angry but never bitter. The title originates from a line in one of O’Brien’s early books that her husband insisted was wrong… Continue reading "Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story (O’Shea, 2024)"
I spent the first ninety minutes of WIlliam Tell muttering, “Okay, this is better than I expected.” I spent the last forty minutes ready for it to be over. The… Continue reading "William Tell (Hamm, 2024)"
King of Kings is neither the best nor the worst animated Jesus film I have seen. Whether that is an endorsement depends largely on the target audience. After the unexpected… Continue reading "King of Kings (Seong-ho Jang, 2025)"
I should have plenty of feature reviews from this year’s festival, but I also wanted to set up a page for some shorts or smaller films that help make this… Continue reading "Full Frame 2025 — Quick Hits"
This film is Alessandra Lacorazza’s directorial debut. It won the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, so it is no surprise that it looks and feels more like a… Continue reading "In the Summers (Lacorazza, 2024)"
“Did I seem like a different person,” asks Arthur Fleck at his murder trial, “or was I the same old Joker?” This line from Joker: Folie à Deux (or FaD… Continue reading "Apologia Pro Vita Joker"
“Yay, team good guys, I guess,” said my friend Max while leaving the theater and succinctly expressing my own ambivalence toward Ridley Scott’s dull, plodding, and completely unnecessary sequel. There… Continue reading "Gladiator II (Scott, 2024)"
A Real Pain is a good, not great, film. The film depicts two Jewish brothers cousins (Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) on a “heritage” tour of Poland and concludes with… Continue reading "A Real Pain (Eisenberg, 2024)"
Earlier this year, I wrote on social media about a documentary chronicling the life of a gay subject, and my review almost immediately received a comment (since deleted) expressing surprise… Continue reading "Chasing Chasing Amy (Rodgers, 2024)"
Exhibiting Forgiveness is the second film I’ve seen in as many days that purports to address autobiographical or personal themes close to the film’s auteur. Director Titus Kaphar says it… Continue reading "Exhibiting Forgiveness (Kaphar, 2024)"
