Festivals (Page 3)

Coverage of domestic and international film festivals, previewing the latest upcoming features and independent favorites.

Reviews

Sundance 2023: Fairyland & Joyland

By: Soham Gadre

Two tales of fathers and repression explore the importance of self-realization and the cost of parental absence.

Reviews

Sundance 2023: Drift & The Eight Mountains

By: Soham Gadre

A pair of films out of the festival chronicle friendships new and old with differing degrees of success.

Festivals

Sundance 2023: Infinity Pool & Fair Play

By: Soham Gadre

Brandon Cronenberg & Chloe Domont direct stylish films about sex & violence among the bourgeoise wealthy.

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Reviews

Sundance 2023: Kim’s Video

By: Peter Sobczynski

The documentary stumbles when it stops relying on the facts in favor of flights of fancy.

Reviews

Sundance 2023: Heroic

By: Soham Gadre

The military drama overcomes cliché to capture structural horror.

Festivals

Sundance 2023: The Longest Goodbye, Sometimes I Think About Dying, Pod Generation, Run Rabbit Run

By: Clint Worthington

The first films we saw in this year's festival deal with the anxieties of parenthood and personhood.

Features

10 films we can’t wait to see at Sundance 2023

From anticipated followups by acclaimed filmmakers to exciting debuts by new voices, here's a shortlist of what to catch at this year's fest.

Festivals

CIFF Roundup: My Policeman, Causeway & more

By: Peter Sobczynski

A documentary about a legendary photographer/activist, Harry Styles in another leading role, & other films featured at this year's Chicago International Film Festival.

Fantastic Fest 2022

A Wrapup of Fantastic Fest 2022

By: Peter Sobczynski

Docs about comics legends and legendary pranksters collide with psychedelic brainworms and Blaxploitation cult classics.

Fantastic Fest 2022

Fantastic Fest 2022: Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle is more microbudget bad-movie idiocy

By: Peter Sobczynski

James Nguyen hammers down the end of his bad-movie trilogy with a true stinker of birdemic proportions… and not in a fun way. (This review is part of our coverage of Fantastic Fest 2022.) With its stilted acting, incompetent screenplay and direction, and special effects that looked like someone puttering around with After Effects for ... Fantastic Fest 2022: Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle is more microbudget bad-movie idiocy

Festivals

TIFF 2022: Good Night Oppy can’t match its fascinating subjects

By: Peter Sobczynski

The story of Opportunity and Spirit—the long-lived Mars rovers—is fascinating, but a new doc forgoes focus on the mission for feeling to its detriment.

Features

Twelve films we can’t wait to see at Reeling 2022

Chicago’s International Queer Film Festival turns 40 this year and these dozen movies have us raring to go.

Festivals

TIFF 2022: My Imaginary Country offers hope in chaos

By: Peter Sobczynski

Patricio Guzman directs the rare political documentary that leaves viewers with a bit of optimism.

Festivals

TIFF: Autobiography questions the value of loyalty in the name of tyranny

By: Sarah Gorr

Makbul Mubarak’s debut Autobiography delves deep to examine loyalty & family under dictatorship

Festivals

TIFF 2022: Roost is undone by a poorly executed twist

Grace Van Dien’s fine lead performance is let down by a stagebound script and a gimmicky, ill-managed narrative flip. (This review is part of our coverage of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.) Following Red Rocket and Palm Trees and Power Lines, Amy Redford’s Roost is yet another film about a young girl so blinded ... TIFF 2022: Roost is undone by a poorly executed twist

Festivals

TIFF 2022: Falcon Lake sails when exploring adolescence

While Charlotte Le Bron's directorial debut doesn't wholly succeed in hybridizing genres, it excels when telling its young leads' stories.

Festivals

TIFF 2022: Fixation takes the viewer on a long, strange trip through a fragile woman’s mind

By: Peter Sobczynski

Mercedes Bryce Morgan directs an uneven but fascinating psychological drama about a woman who undergoes an unorthodox version of therapy.

Festivals

TIFF 2022: Sisu says don’t just punch Nazis, throw a land mine at their face

By: Clint Worthington

Jalmari Helander's WWII action flick glues Inglourious Basterds to Mad Max Fury Road, and it's a fist-pumping blast.

Festivals

TIFF 2022: Casa Susanna reflects on a little known part of LGBTQ history

By: B.L. Panther

Sébastien Lifshitz directs a tender but incomplete documentary about a New York State sanctuary for trans people seeking safety & understanding.

Fantasia 2022

Fantasia 2022: Complex stories of complex women

By: B.L. Panther

Our final dispatch from Fantasia features a blend of powerful stories with dynamic female characters.

Fantasia 2022

Fantasia 2022: Employee of the Month, Sissy, and Relax, I’m from the Future

Three wildly different features united by standout work from Black women actors and deft, distinct senses of humor.

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