6.5
Dan Gilroy’s satirical Velvet Buzzsaw injects a heaping dose of bloody horror into the pretentious consumerism of the art world, centering on a cast of cartoonish narcissists as victims of the very pieces they draw profit from.
7
Sexy, brutal, disturbing, Piercing is not one to be missed.
2
Matthew McConaughey leads an overqualified cast in bizarrely misguided film that you have to see to believe.
7.5
Cold Pursuit is thrilling, funny and brutally violent, and, despite it essentially being the exact same as the 2014 version, it’s a marked improvement and sure to reach a wider audience.
7.5
Sure, it’s cringey, clumsily scripted and directed and doesn’t hold up in any way, but I had a great time revisiting this little piece of my childhood and applaud MVD for taking the time and care to release such a high-quality package of such a low-quality movie.
5
The film delves a bit into Larsson and a bit into the subjects of his work but never fully commits to one or the other, leaving the end product a bit lacking.
8
Jean-luc Godard’s The Image Book continues his late-career trip through evocative and enigmatic video essays with a horrific search for truth in cinema.
8.5
The Criterion edition of 24 Frames is a fittingly superb tribute to a great artist.
3.5
King of Thieves is a wasted opportunity to showcase London’s most prolific heist utilizing a group of knockout actors, but the resulting narrative is a flaccid, tonally awkward bore.
6
A strong cast and unique approach can’t outweigh the safe predictability of Melissa Miller Costanzo’s coming-of-age drama, All these Small Moments.
6.5
Forbidden Photos follows the path of a psychological thriller, in which the body count is far lower but the intrigue remains high.
7
Babis Makridis & Efthymis Filippou’s latest black comedy is a shocking critique of the wealthy’s unending appetite for all things, even the unappealing.
7
Don't Come Back From the Moon is a deflated drama with a rich ambience that sticks with you long after the film is finished.
6.5
The Standoff at Sparrow Creek is formally and aesthetically fascinating, even when its script feels a little incomplete.
6
Blaxploitation classic WILLIE DYNAMITE is now out on Arrow Video.
7
Breakout writer/director Rachel Tunnard’s low-budget, low-runtime debut feature is a brilliantly funny and endearing look at the weight of grief, fear, adulthood and a lesson in learning how to carry it all.
