Rebuilding
Some films have a lot of plot and others a dearth. Many of the finest films combine heavy character growth with thick plots. Some, though, have a simple story, quietly [...]
Left-Handed Girl
Left-Handed Girl is the first solo feature from director and co-writer Shih-Chin Tsou, who has mostly been a producer. This time, she is joined by Sean Baker, whom she has [...]
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
With the Knives Out films, writer and director Rian Johnson has created a nice franchise for himself and Daniel Craig, who stars as detective Benoit Blanc. The first film was a straight [...]
Come See Me in the Good Light
Some films tell a simple story, and others a very complex one. Some are done with lots of feeling but very little style. Others, all style and no substance. Rarely [...]
The Alabama Solution
The Alabama Solution is a vital work of investigation and advocation. Concerned with the prison system in the United States, though centered on the Alabama Department of Corrections-and specifically, on a [...]
The Perfect Neighbor
Documentary is a tricky thing to do, and it is easy to completely destroy a topic and argument by offering too much or too little. Sometimes, this involves heavy editorializing [...]
Ballad of a Small Player
Edward Berger is a talented director, as demonstrated by his Academy Award-winning All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave. Colin Farrell is one of our finest actors, able to pull off comedy [...]
Rental Family
Rental Family is an often-maudlin work with an awkward Brendan Fraser at the center, yet that awkwardness is what keeps this from falling apart. It is a film that may [...]
Train Dreams
Train Dreams, based on the novella by Denis Johnson, is a deeply moving, lyrical and intelligent film about pain, loss, time, beauty and connection. Blessed with a stand out cast, [...]
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Little Amelie or the Character of Rain is an unusual and deeply moving animated film based on an unlikely source. Amelie Nothomb is a Belgian novelist who wrote Metaphysiques des tubes, which [...]