Joanna Hogg refuses by aesthetic principle to put a lot of inflection into her scenes, steering them away from melodrama and even heated drama. As a result, some episodes are half-baked, sketchy, and flat.
Theater Review: Another View of “Indecent” — Flat and Obvious
In the case of a scene set in the Lodz Ghetto, the lineup of characters on the way to the concentration camps veered, for me, close to Holocaust porn.
Arts Remembrance: RIP Agnès Varda — The Most Important Woman Filmmaker Ever?
“The world is in very bad shape, but cinema in a way is a peaceful life.” — Agnès Varda
Film Review: Signs of Hope for American Indies At SXSW
I saw a handful of fiction films which were well directed, capably acted, and offered meaningful stories.
Film Reviews: Three Fine Documentaries at SXSW — “Salvage,” “Breakthrough,” and “Mr. Jimmy”
The first three films I watched at SXSW this year were picked by me with the editors in mind. Not coincidentally, the editors also had pedigreed Massachusetts roots.
Film Review: “Greta” — A Tedious, Ugly Stalker Film
Greta is a slight, uninspired by-the-numbers genre film — we’ve seen this paranoia-inducing tale too often.
Film Review: 2019 Oscar-nominated Best Documentary Shorts — Wrestling With Death
It is safe to predict that the winner in this category will be one of the entries that squares off against mortality.
Arts Commentary: My Blackface Confession
Did I try to fit in at my segregated school, betraying my father and his values to be a popular white boy?
Film Review: 2019 Oscar-nominated Live Action Shorts — A Bunch of Downers
Shame on you, Academy, for such feeble, uninspired, downer picks.
Film Review: “Burning” — A Powerful Philosophical Suspense Yarn
Not since Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up and L’Aventura has there been such a mesmerizing tale of the more you look, the less you find out.