Author: Peter Sobczynski

One-Eyed Jacks“
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March 30, 2021

“You ain’t getting no older than tomorrow”: a look at “One-Eyed Jacks”

Marlon Brando's sole directorial credit is a messy but fascinating combination of Western and Freudian drama.
SXSW GlobalS
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March 19, 2021

SXSW 2021: The Global section in review

Five films from around the world come to this year's SXSW, from tales of oppression to liberation to everything in between.
Alone Together: Charli XCX (SXSW)S
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March 19, 2021

SXSW 2021: Charli XCX’s “Alone Together” shows the giddy link between artist and fan

Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler assemble a freewheeling look at the artistic process from soup to nuts.
Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel FreeS
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March 17, 2021

SXSW 2021: “Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free” is genial to a fault

Mary Wharton's doc celebrates Petty's life and works, but the lack of conflict makes it hard to latch onto.
Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil (YouTube)S
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March 17, 2021

SXSW 2021: “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil” shows it’s OK to not be OK

This YouTube Original documentary refuses easy answers for the pop star's struggles with addiction and mental health.
La Femme Nikita (1990)“
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March 8, 2021

“Let your pleasure be your guide”: “La Femme Nikita” at 30

Luc Besson’s spy thriller chills and excites with beaucoup style three decades on, and proves his bona fides as an action filmmaker.NOW STREAMING: Powered by..
Night Raiders (Berlinale)B
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March 5, 2021

Berlinale 2021: “Night Raiders” warps Native issues into a weak YA thriller

Danis Goulet's sci-fi adventure intriguingly explores the systematic eradication of indigenous peoples through a Hunger Games lens, but falters when it leans too close to the conventions of that already-creaky genre.
Drift Away (Albatros)B
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March 5, 2021

Berlinale 2021: “Drift Away” is a riveting but frustrating police thriller

Xavier Beauvois' procedural offers intriguing day-in-the-life police work, despite an abrupt late-film shift into melodrama.
TidesB
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March 3, 2021

Berlinale: “Tides” revels in its unoriginality

The sci-fi thriller takes no risks, and tries absolutely nothing you haven't seen before.
Petite MamanB
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March 3, 2021

Berlinale 2021: “Petite Maman” is Céline Sciamma’s ode to innocence

Céline Sciamma's followup to Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a graceful tale of rediscovered childhood.