Reviews
New writing on the latest theatrical and streaming releases
Blitz (Steve McQueen, 2024) | Nov 21, 2024
“Despite feeling more than a little heavy-handed by the film’s end, failing to provide an unflinching look at the Blitzkrieg as promised by the title, McQueen’s overly sentimental Blitz still has value as a launching pad for its adolescent star.”
The Red Suitcase (Fidel Devkota
, 2023) | Oct 18, 2024
“‘Horror’ isn’t the right word to describe The Red Suitcase. Neither is ‘thriller.’ It’s a much more solemn, mournful experience than either genre is conventionally known for. . . . [It’s] something completely unique, an uncanny magical-realist chiller that greatly rewards those willing to stay the course.”
Close Your Eyes
(Víctor Erice, 2023) | Sept 12, 2024
“Close Your Eyes is a feat of late-era filmmaking, joining the ranks of stateside contemporaries like Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (2019) and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans (2022) as another aging director reckons with a career in the arts and its impact on their loved ones and the craft at large. ”
Only the River Flows (Wei Shujun, 2023) | Aug 15, 2024
“Copping ‘90s-by-way-of-‘70s-by-way-of-‘40s film noir tropes, Only the River Flows looks and feels like all the best stuff from 20th-century detective flicks. While it might not have a ton to do, say, subvert, or challenge with this pastiche beyond the simple pleasure of recreating it, there’s no denying it just plain works regardless.”
Scala!!! (Ali Catterall and Jane Giles, 2023) | Jul 26, 2024
“From the venue’s short tenure in London’s legendary Charlotte Street to its eventual 1981 move to the shuttered Odeon location in King’s Cross (and the fateful events that led to the end of an era in 1993), Scala!!! spares no minor detail in its comprehensive overview of what so many illustrious figures consider England’s most important independent movie house.”