Film-Forward

Crime

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete

Directed by George Tillman Jr. Produced by Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen, Mr. Tillman & Robert Teitel Written by Michael Starrbury Released by Codeblack Films/Lionsgate. USA. 108 min. Rated R With Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jordin Sparks, Jeffrey Wright, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Anthony Mackie & Jennifer Hudson It’s clear from the opening scenes that Mister (Skylan Brooks) […]

All Is Bright

Directed By Phil Morrison Produced by Touchy Feely Films, GreeneStreet Films & Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Written By Melissa James Gibson Released by Anchor Bay Films USA. 107 min, Rated R With Paul Giamatti, Paul Rudd, Sally Hawkins, Amy Landecker & Tatyana Richaudf All Is Bright, director Phil Morrison’s second feature, is a long awaited follow […]

A Touch of Sin

Written & Directed by Jia Zhang-ke Produced by Shozo Ichiyama Released by Kino Lorber Mandarin with English subtitles. China. 125 min. Not rated With Zhao Tao, Jiang Wu, Wang Baoqiang & Luo Lanshan One of the greatest filmmakers currently working, Jia Zhangke has become one of the most vital and poetic chroniclers of modern day […]

A Single Shot

Directed by David M. Rosenthal Written by Matthew F. Jones, based on his novel Produced by Aaron L. Gilbert, Chris Coen & Keith Kjarval, Jeff Rice Released by Tribeca Film/Well/Go USA Entertainment With Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Jeffery Wright, Jason Isaacs, Kelly Reilly, Joe Anderson, Ophelia Lovibond, Ted Levine & Melissa Leo Don’t the […]

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Written & Directed by David Lowery Produced by Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, James M. Johnston, Toby Halbrooks, Cassian Elwes & Amy Kaufman Released by IFC Films USA. 105 min. Not rated With Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Keith Carradine & Nate Parker It takes a filmmaker with strong courage to make what on […]

Our Children

Directed by Joachim Lafosse Produced by Jacques-Henri & Olivier Bronckart, Jani Thiltges, Sylvie Pialat & Thierry Spicher Written by Thomas Bidegain, Lafosse & Matthieu Reynaert Released by Distrib Films Belgium. 111 min. Not Rated French & Arabic with English subtitles With Tahar Rahim, Émilie Dequenne, Niels Arestrup, Baya Belal, Mounia Raoui & Redouane Behache Our […]

Smash & Grab

Directed by Havana Marking Produced by Mike Lerner Released by Doppelgänger Releasing UK. 90 min. Not rated Wow. Talk about free publicity. The July 28th robbery of an estimated $137 million worth of jewelry on the French Riviera (at the Carlton International hotel, coincidentally a location in Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief) occurred just days […]

Wasteland

Written & Directed by Rowan Athale Produced by Ed Barratt, Mark Foligno, Gareth Pritchard Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories UK. 106 min. Not rated With Luke Treadaway, Timothy Spall, Matthew Lewis, Iwan Rheon, Vanessa Kirby, Neil Maskell & Gerard Kearns British director Rowan Athale’s feature debut opens in the gloomy confines of a police station, where battered […]

Only God Forgives

Written & Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn Produced  by Refn, Lene Borglum, Sidonie Dumas & Vincent Maraval Released by Radius/TWC France/Thailand/USA/Sweden. 90 min. Rated R (what else?) With Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Tom Burke, Rhatha Phongam & Gordon Brown In the seedy underbelly of Bangkok, Billy (Tom Burke), a calm but salacious […]