Forget the context of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle, as if that were possible, this film succeeds as a wonderful human drama, a gripping story with superb lead performances by Saleh Bakri and Imogen Poots, both easy on the eyes. Then add the context of Palestinian life in the West Bank, even without Israel’s later all-out assault […]
An affectless Jeremie returns to a small French village (apparent population: 6) and shakes everyone’s world while mainly strolling through beautiful fall woods with mushrooms sprouting. We’re never sure what’s on Jeremie’s mind; like many a good French film, it’s all about relationships. It gives us time to think, and wonder.
A fun and funny dramedy set in a remote Arizona diner where (spoiler alert) everyone gets killed. Everything you need to know about each character is evident from their looks, and is confirmed once they open their mouth. You feel like you’re watching a movie from the ’60s, with no stars, one set and a […]
A remarkable challenge to Iran’s theocracy, this Cannes Award-winning film not surprising earned director Mohammad Rasoulof an eight-year prison sentence. The first half was a compelling political drama, intertwined with family dynamics and believable characters. The second half went off the rails, so much so that streaming it on two separate nights we felt we […]
A stylish espionage caper with fine performances by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender that disguised the holes in the plot. I.e., I had no idea what happened by the end and wondered if the film, by Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp, was satirizing the genre. Put six very flawed spies around a table and see […]
Year after year I say it wasn’t a great year for movies, and the fact that I can’t find ten titles for this list reinforce that view for 2024. On the other hand, the industry’s policy of withholding prestige films until December makes it hard to catch up with everything, and there are two possible […]
The characters in this Zambian movie about family might as well have been guinea fowl, so little did I relate to them. I waited in vain for a plot. The lead actress was good, but she didn’t relate either.
Unremitting footage of Israeli bulldozers knocking down Palestinian homes made a depressing, discouraging point if not compelling cinema. All honor to the Palestinian-Israeli filmmakers who bravely documented the cruel destruction of a defenseless West Bank village, humanizing the Palestinians with their goats and chickens and dehumanizing the Israeli soldiers with their uniforms and tanks. Rather […]
Oh, for those simpler times, when we could think terrorists were Bad and Israelis were Good. It’s hard to watch this movie about the Munich Olympics without the overlay of Israel’s current genocide of Palestinians and realizing that no progress has been made in this conflict over the last 50 years. As a study of […]
Jason Reitman took every actual or apocryphal or imagined crisis in the month or two leading up to SNL’s premiere and packed them into the 90 minutes before showtime. The result is an absurdist scrapbook more than a movie. Still, there are plenty of jokes and it’s fun to see actors impersonate Chevy Chase, John […]
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