Film-Forward

Book adaptation

The Power of the Dog | New York Film Festival 2021

Jane Campion performs a seductive sleight of hand in her adaptation of American writer Thomas Savage’s 1967 shapeshifting novel.

The Mad Women’s Ball

Overstuffed and often heavy-handed as it is, the movie is beautifully shot and styled, features some very moving scenes, and derives power from its incendiary performances.

Dune | TIFF 2021

Director Denis Villeneuve turns Frank Herbert’s multilayered, 1965 sci-fi classic novel into an involving adventure.

Mama Weed

The sight of Isabelle Huppert schlepping unwieldy blocks of dope evokes a comparison to the actress herself dragging her talents to languish in a slight, down-market caper.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

Based on a semi-autobiographical novel, a German Jewish family presciently flees the Nazis in 1933.

My Salinger Year

Sigourney Weaver is the standout here as a complex, layered woman, sometimes mean, sometimes kind, but always fully human.

Cherry

Directed by MCU masterminds Joe and Anthony Russo, Cherry tackles a lot of issues: youthful malaise, PTSD, the opioid crisis, and Midwestern economic collapse.

French Exit

The film revolves around the complicated, codependent relationship between a self-absorbed mother (Michelle Pfeiffer in an icy, brittle performance) and her passively resentful son.

The White Tiger

A strong film about the amorality that is required to succeed in an amoral world.