Animated, Written, Produced and Directed by Signe Baumane Released by Zeitgeist Films USA. 88 min. Not rated “Rocks In My Pockets: A funny film about depression,” Signe Baumane asserts at the end of the film’s trailer in her heavy Latvian accent. There couldn’t be a more concise statement that captures the core of her autobiographical […]
My last screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the 34th in eight days, was a rewarding way to wind down, ending the festival on a rich, resonating note. Director and writer Olivier Assayas smoothly makes his first (mostly) English language foray, buoyed by the strong performance of Juliette Binoche. While Assayas’s new film has […]
Directed by Ira Sachs Written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias Produced by Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Jayne Baron Sherman, Lars Knudsen and Sachs Released by Sony Pictures Classics USA. 98 min. Rated R With John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Darren Burrows, Charlie Tahan, Cheyenne Jackson, Manny Perez and Eric Tabach In last year’s […]
Directed by Charlie McDowell Produced by Mel Eslyn Written by Justin Lader Released by Radius/TWC USA. 91 min. Rated R With Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss and Ted Danson This comedy, with a couple of couples who are easily confused in their mixed-up match-ups, owes something to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To its great credit, it […]
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson Produced by Ed Guiney, David Barron and Stevie Lee Written by Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan, based on a newspaper article by Ronson Released by Magnolia Pictures UK/Ireland. 98 min. Rated R With Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy, Michael Fassbender, Carla Azar and François Civil A common lack of awareness […]
Written and Directed by John Michael McDonagh Produced by Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez Marengo and James Flynn Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures Ireland/UK. 104 Min. Rated R With Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Isaach De Bankolé, M. Emmet Walsh, Marie-Josée Croze, Domhnall Gleeson, David Wilmot, Mícheál Óg Lane, Killian Scott, […]
Produced and Directed by Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo Released by the Orchard USA. 91 min. Not rated While watching this film, I thought back to the times that I discussed the topic of poverty in America with my students in government class. It never ceased to amaze me that many of these […]
Directed by Mitra Farahani Produced by Marjaneh Moghimi Released by Music Box Films Farsi with English subtitles USA/Iran/France. 97 min. Not rated Some people make living an art form. This portrait of the artist as an old man follows Bahman Mohassess, an exiled Iranian painter and sculptor, as he attempts to live (and die) according […]
Produced and Directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren Directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren Released by Drafthouse Films USA. 110 min. Not rated In August 1972, John Wojtowicz robbed a bank in Brooklyn, taking hostages and enduring a 13-hour standoff with the police. The unsuccessful heist granted Wojtowicz 15 minutes of fame, which […]