Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Immaculate – 6
What better setting for a horror flick than a convent somewhere out in the Italian countryside? When Sydney Sweeney, playing a young naif from Detroit, takes her vows in a foreign tongue she little expects that the Immaculate Conception of the movie’s title will be thrust, unwillingly as 20 centuries before, upon her. The Catholic […]
Dune 2 – 5
As good as Timothee Chalamet was in Wonka, he’s that bad in Dune. His thin frame and wispy good looks do not an action hero make. I suppose there is a story, as the film is based on a famous book, but I couldn’t discern it. The ‘2’ in the title might have tipped me off to the […]
American Symphony – 4
Maybe if you’re a big fan of Jon Batiste or a personal friend of his wife…
Io Capitano – 8.8
Matteo Garrone, a master director, created multiple vivid and convincing worlds: the shanties of Dakar, the emptiness of the Sahara, the hellholes of Libya, the turbulence of a Mediterranean crossing, just to name his principal locations. The artistry of his shots also fed the most beautiful closing credits I’ve ever seen. The settings were secondary, […]
SBIFF ’24
Lest I forget, I should thumbnail the seven films I saw at SBIFF (not counting the extra-festival free showing of Zone of Interest), from best to worst: Wicked Little Letters – our best festival experience, augmented by having our names as sponsors highlighted before both showings. Jessie Buckley should get a BAFTA nomination for her […]