Film-Forward

Comedy

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Written and Directed by Roy Andersson Produced by Pernilla Sandstrom Released by Magnolia Pictures Swedish with English subtitles. Sweden, Norway, France, Germany. 100 min. Not rated With Holger Andersson, Nils Westblom, Charlotta Larsson, Viktor Gyllenberg, Lotti Tornros, and Jonas Gerholm “Hahahaha!” That’s the sound of a loathsome toy called “bag in laughs,” a periodic sinister […]

Adult Beginners

Directed by Ross Katz Produced by Sam Slater, Paul M. Bernon, Jared Ian Goldman, Karrie Cox, and Marcus Cox Written by Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive Released by Radius-TWC USA. 90 min. Rated R With Rose Byrne, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Paula Garces, Jane Krakowski, Joel McHale, Bobby Moynihan, Mike Birbiglia and Josh Charles A […]

Wild Canaries

Written and Directed by Lawrence Michael Levine Produced by Kim Sherman Released by Sundance Selects USA. 90 min. Not rated With Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine, Alia Shawkat, Annie Parisse, Jason Ritter, and Kevin Corrigan Helmed by writer, producer, director, and star Lawrence Michael Levine, this caper-comedy has a refreshing cast of young actors assembled […]

What We Do in the Shadows

Written and Directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi Produced by Waititi, Chelsea Winstanley, and Emanuel Michael. New Zealand. 87 min. Not rated Released by Unison Films/Paladin With Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Rhys Darby, Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, and Jackie Van Beek You would think that it would be far too late to breathe life in […]

Zero Motivation

Written and Directed by Talya Lavie Produced by Eilon Ratzkovsky, Yossi Uzrad, Guy Jacoel, and Yochanan Kredo. Released by Zeitgeist Films Hebrew with English subtitles Israel. 101 min. Not rated With Dana Igvy, Nelly Tagar, and Shani Klein From the opening sounds of copy machines, staple guns, ringing telephones, and dial-up modems, Zero Motivation sets […]

Eternity: The Movie

Directed by Ian Thorpe Produced by Eric Staley, Joey Abi-Loutfi, and Kevin Tostado Written by Abi-Loutfi Released by Sidecar Productions USA. 91 min. Not rated Starring Barrett Crake, Myko Olivier, Nikki Leonti, Eric Roberts, Martin Kove and Jon Gries There are those for whom even the cheesiest of ’80s power ballads remain a guilty pleasure. […]

St. Vincent

Written and Directed by Theodore Melfi Produced by Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Melfi and Fred Roos Released by the Weinstein Company USA. 102 min. Rated PG-13 With Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Chris O’Dowd, Terrence Howard and Jaeden Lieberher In the past five years or so, Bill Murray has seemingly gotten bigger and more […]

Life’s a Breeze

Written and Directed by Lance Daly Produced by Macdara Kelleher and Daly Released by Magnolia Pictures Ireland/Sweden. 83 min. Rated R With Fionnula Flanagan, Pat Shortt, Kelly Thornton, Eva Birthistle, Gerry McCann, Lesley Conroy, Philip Judge, Paul Ronan, Brian Gleeson, and Will Higgins The Irish recession is becoming a fertile font for satire. Life’s a […]

My Old Lady

Written and Directed by Israel Horovitz, based on his play Produced by Rachael Horovitz and Gary Foster Released by Cohen Media Group USA/France. 104 min. Rated PG-13 With Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Dominique Pinon, Noémie Lvovsky and Stéphane De Groodt My Old Lady puts a sophisticated Parisian spin on the movie genre […]