"It's like a musical couch," one character comments, shifting positions on a sofa with two others, nicely summing up the narrative thrust of the wispy but radiant "Hannah Takes the Stairs." The line also unwittingly references the cinematic cross-pollination taking place amongst the real-life troup...
Read More »[EDITOR's NOTE: Steve Ramos' review of "Manda Bala" appeared as part of indieWIRE's coverage of the Sundance Film Festival in January.]Much attention is being made over first-time feature filmmaker Jason Kohn's apprenticeship with documentary master Errol Morris but the twenty-something director des...
Read More »"Death at a Funeral" is the kind of movie that inspires anticipatory eyeball-rolling--you feel like you've heard permutations of its punch lines in craftier incarnations numerous times before, even as it's just getting going. This hunch was confirmed when I was cued to chortle mightily at the incong...
Read More »"Delirious" represents a return from direct-to-DVD purgatory for Tom DiCillo, still probably best remembered--when he is--for his calling card 1995 film, "Living in Oblivion," a self-reflexive look behind-the-scenes of an independent film shoot that piggybacked on the mid-'90s vogue for all things "...
Read More »Paired with another scruffy American in Paris, Julie Delpy actively engages viewer recollections of "Before Sunset" in her DIY feature-length directorial debut. Playing like a rough-around-the edges reinterpretation of Richard Linklater's transcendent "Before Sunrise" sequel, "2 Days in Paris" echoe...
Read More »[EDITOR'S NOTE: This review of "Rocket Science" was first published during the Sundance Film Festival in January.]
Read More »If the critical act can be described simply as the attempt to reconcile in words a personal aesthetic philosophy with that of another as expressed through an artistic work, then criticism comes easiest when a work's flaws and missteps are apparent, the creator's ineptitude runs rampant, or the guidi...
Read More »Julie Gavras's first feature "Blame It on Fidel" is based on an Italian novel of the same name, but given that the filmmaker's father is Costa-Gavras, the famously committed leftist director behind "Z," a sense of covert autobiographical impulse hovers over the adaptation. Her protagonist, Anna (Ni...
Read More »Crystal blue waters on which sailboats glide; cooling, hushed evenings for night drives; creaking floorboards of vacation retreats: "Summer '04" uses familiar elements from seasonal coming-of-age and romance films and twists them to sinister, damaging effect. Director Stefan Krohmer and screenwriter...
Read More »Towards the end of "Becoming Jane," a new - and generally lousy - dramatization of the early life of novelist Jane Austen, a would-be suitor to the inimitable Ms. Austen utters the phrase, "It is a truth universally acknowledged...," and the great opening line to "Pride and Prejudice" is born. It's ...
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RT @indiewire: RADiUS-TWC makes the first major deal of the Cannes Film Festival: http://t.co/4Nnvq1gwAc
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@BlueeBrick Trailer For #AlejandroJodorowsky First Film In 23 Years, #TheDanceOfReality | The Playlist http://t.co/DeM8hRWMsQ vía @indiewire
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Cannes Review: #TheCoensBrothers' #InsideLlewynDavis | The Playlist http://t.co/y3ku3bXvzx vía @indiewire
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Glenn Heath shares some of the most dynamic images from #Cannes so far, with more to come. http://t.co/bSAKCAIIhe via @indiewire
Posted 33 minutes ago