Film
From Anne Packard’s irresistible presence to a polarizing slasher homage and a breakout no-budget film, this year’s roundup offered plenty of satisfactions and some surprises.
“Strange Journey” traces the origins of one of cinema’s most unlikely cults. “Time Warp” shows why it still matters.
At this year’s festival, films by Greg Araki and others explore erotic power, artistic identity, and spiritual unease—alongside a quietly inspiring portrait of painter Anne Packard.
A queer horror romance turns conversion therapy into a chilling supernatural curse—and a potent metaphor for fear, shame, and survival.
Ryuya Suzuki’s DIY animated epic fuses pop-idol satire, existential dread, and apocalyptic spectacle into a singular coming-of-age saga.
A Cornish folk-horror reverie where sound and image eclipse story, evoking the erosion of community and the fragility of working-class life.
Portraits of a legendary critic and modern Deadheads highlight what’s gained—and lost—when culture resists critique.
Steven Spielberg revisits extraterrestrial wonder with technical virtuosity, but his media-age fable drifts into sentimentality and soft-focus optimism.
Director Travis Knight’s self-aware reboot turns Reagan-era toy marketing into a surprisingly sharp, character-driven comedy about power, nostalgia, and growing up.
Arts Commentary: When Books Become Evidence — Hong Kong’s Raids and the New Global War on Dissent