The opening scene of The King of Staten Island is not only the highlight of Judd Apatow’s latest act of indulgence, but also hints at something that the rest of the film never lives up to. It tracks P…
Herself Review: Clare Dunne unlocks the power of the human spirit in Phyllida Lloyd’s remarkable return to the big screen | Sundance 2020
Sometimes, you can just tell that the leading actor of a film was deeply involved in the creative process, and that is certainly the case for Clare Dunne, who co-wrote and stars in Herself, a new…
Sylvie’s Love Review: Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha lay on the charm in this extraordinary classical romance | Sundance 2020
The most obvious takeaway from the first beat of Sylvie’s Love—a lavishly directed new period romance from Eugene Ashe, who also wrote the screenplay—is that for his second feature, Ashe clearly …
Minari Review: Steven Yeun balances family and the American Dream in A24’s latest, warmest drama | Sundance 2020
In the 1980s, my father put all his hopes and dreams into the American Dream. He convinced my mother and two older siblings (I wasn’t born yet) to come with him to Massachusetts, despite not knowing m…
Downhill Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell face an uphill battle in saving this black comedy from itself | Sundance 2020
Downhill is one of the first movies ever to be released under the newly-branded Searchlight Pictures, and in some ways it might represent what Disney has in mind for many of its future films to c…
Never Rarely Sometimes Always Review: Director Eliza Hittman shows the kids aren’t all right, and that’s not really our problem. | Sundance 2020
In Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Sundance directing alum Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats) engages with a subject quite frequently explored in films and television, but never quite to the same cold, gr…
The Assistant Review: A timely examination of manipulation and complicity | Sundance 2020
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Hollywood has found only middling success at best when it comes to reckoning with the MeToo movement, perhaps in part because audiences have to weigh the obvious i…