What does the word “home” mean to you? Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s new documentary Flee—which was executive produced by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Riz Ahmed—isn’t just unique for its blending of animated storytelling and first-person narration. It’s also impressively thrilling for a…
Sundance 2021: ‘Censor’ sacrifices story for gory genre aesthetics
Director Prano Bailey-Bond creates an ode to the 1980s and horror films of the era with Censor. Fans of the video nasties, as they were called, will certainly love the visual references and call outs of the genre. However, the…
Sundance 2021: ‘Coda’ is a heartwarming, coming-of-age drama about listening without hearing
Coda kicks off this year’s Sundance Film Festival as one of its best openers in recent memory. An American remake of the 2014 French film, La Famille Bélier, Coda operates under the same premise, albeit with personal touches courtesy of…
Miss Americana Review: Taylor Swift reexamines her reputation on her own terms | Sundance 2020
Early in Miss Americana, a new Netflix documentary from director Lana Wilson (The Departure), ascendent pop star and newly-minted political activist Taylor Swift comments on how her fans tend to “grow up” with her, which she finds to be a problem…
Miracle Workers Review: Steve Buscemi and Co. Introduce “Existential Doom” to Heaven
Miracle Workers gives us a heaven that is run like a factory, with the majority of angels in the role of office drones and low-level factory workers. Most of them have been there for thousands of years, but their work…
‘The Report’ Review: Slow Start Turns To Thrilling Investigation Of CIA’s torture program | Sundance 2019
Adam Driver spends a lot of time yelling at people in government buildings during The Report. And yet, this dry, simplistic approach to a film based on true events is a great political thriller that dives deep into the CIA’s torture,…
‘The Brink’ Review: Steve Bannon Gets a Reckoning of His Own Making | Sundance 2019
For one year, director Alison Klayman (whose last Sundance film was the wonderful 2012 documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry) followed the work and life of far-right political activist and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon. Her camera stayed glued on him…