8.5
A rare film like Language Lessons demonstrates that the Zoom call structure has potential for honest, effective drama and comedy, even when restricted to a desktop.
8
The Spine of Night is the type of film that proudly wears its obvious inspirations on its sleeve and plays out like a pastiche for an audience that is very much in the know for what it is going for. Philip Gelatt
9
A recent trend in the realm of horror documentaries has seen directors preferring to “go long” on their subjects, resulting in extended, daunting runtimes. Recent examples, such as Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (3 hours, 59 mins.), In Search of
7
If anything, the taut psychological thriller Here Before serves as yet another feather in the cap of Andrea Riseborough and her ability to elevate most anything with her presence alone. Playing a grieving mother teetering on the precipice of madness when her
6.5
Nick Gillespie’s ultra-violent satire is like if Joel Schumacher’s controversial Falling Down was updated for the generation that was raised on British talent shows like X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. Centering on one eccentric idealist who is pushed over the proverbial edge
8.5
The intimacy of the “influencer relationship” has always been suspect. How does one sift through the disingenuity of the online space to find any real affection when there are Instagram power couples who spend more time orchestrating their romantic selfies and composing
8
What happens when you combine a fleet of public transportation employees, a stage, a classic sci-fi horror film directed by Ridley Scott, and an endless spark of creative ingenuity? You get the West End production of “Alien…on Stage,” an amateur, from-scratch stage
6.5
There is an enthralling line of dark-web, creepypasta intrigue running through Jacob Gentry’s Broadcast Signal Intrusion. which starts his sleek conspiracy thriller off on some strong footing. Set in the late ’90s, when the broadcast airwaves were unruly and full of potential
7.5
It is the film’s personal, maternal angle that makes I Am A Cliché anything but.
7
In the economically bizarre world we live in – where the sizable population of the super-ultra rich could collectively cure world hunger multiple times over but have just decided not to – we have been programmed to view the very idea of
7
Fires on the Plain sees Tsukamoto apply his signature style to a classic of Japanese cinema.
8
The Actor is a witty and kind-hearted look at the acting industry from the perspective of a career sideliner.
5.5
The wonted familial deceit that props up Lying to Mom belies the uneven and bloated melodrama of its plot.
10
A manic meta-comedy of immense proportions, Red Post on Escher Street pokes fun at the chaos of film production with equal parts absurdity and empathy.
7
The laid-back approach in Mori, the Artist’s Habitat works well for such a terminally breezy subject.
9
Night of the Kings deftly celebrates the power of storytelling and myth-making when one’s freedoms are limited.
