Monthly Archives: May 2022

Bogdan George Apetri’s “Miracle” is a thriller of deceptive simplicity and paralyzing jolts. The director of “Unidentified” and “Outbound” mesmerizes us with a tale in two acts, each a sort of day-in-the-life of two different modern Romanians. The first act … Continue reading →

Whatever Netflix’s other troubles at the moment, the fact that the might-have-peaked streamer gave Polish director Mateusz Rakowicz his first feature film credit, and that it’s “The Getaway King,” stands them in good stead in my book. A bracing, laugh-out-loud … Continue reading →

A beautiful woman alone in her expensive home, a husband always tied up with business, a handsome gardener who sure would like to “cool off” in her inviting pool. And by the way, he’s got this…partner. Sounds like a porn … Continue reading →

A somewhat frazzled turn by Christina Ricci and the ambition to try a big third act plot twist are the chief recommendations of “Monstrous,” a 1950s horror tale about a mother trying to save her son from something not wholly … Continue reading →

“Mau” is a documentary about the Canadian thinker, futurist and designer Bruce Mau, a man who wants to make the world realize “your life is a designed life.” And if the design of that life, this profession, that cultural practice … Continue reading →

The thriller “Thar” is a reminder that Sergio Leone’s Westerns can be adapted to any setting, and that nepotism isn’t just a Hollywood thing. “Thar” is a plodding desert borderland tale of drugs, murder and revenge, decorated with gunplay, gruesome … Continue reading →

“Tankhouse” is the sort of indie comedy one often encounters in film festivals. Come up with a daffy setting and/or conceit, sign a few “names” (Joey Lauren Adams, Richard Kind and Christopher Lloyd) for bit parts to get it financed. … Continue reading →

One self-evident truth of teen summer romance movies is that they’re all wish fulfillment fantasies. Party-packed, carefree, candy-colored money-is-no-obstacle to anything we want to do because everybody is Cover Girl thin and gorgeous — even the girls — they’re like … Continue reading →

One of the greatest and unlikeliest stories of a European expat finding Hollywood glory had to be the American career of the great Viennese auteur and innovator Fritz Lang, who fled the Nazis and left masterpieces such as “M” and … Continue reading →

“Official Competition” is an arid farce about movies as “cinema,” the pretension of festivals and festival-honored films made by “critics’ darlings.” It’s built on scenes that either hit the bullseye, or miss the mark because of slow pacing and a … Continue reading →