TIFF Review: “The Fabelmans”

Toronto International Film Festival Special Presentations World Premiere When we first meet Sammy Fabelman, he’s a little boy petrified of attending his first movie. It’s not exactly the image we’d expect to see of a character based on Steven Spielberg, one of America’s most acclaimed and prolific filmmakers. Sandwiched between his mother (Michelle Williams) and […]

TIFF Review: “Coyote”

Toronto International Film Festival 2022 World Premiere The clatter of dishes and murmur of voices populate the background of the opening scene of Katherine Jerkovic’s sophomore feature “Coyote.” Framed in a medium close-up against a plain wall, Camilo (Jorge Martinez Colorado) speaks to someone off-screen. As he describes his past experience, it’s quickly clear that […]

TIFF Review: “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”

Toronto International Film Festival Special Presentations World Premiere From the dreary coziness of autumn in New England to the sun-dappled shores of a Grecian island, writer and director Rian Johnson takes detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to the other side of the world on a new case in “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” But […]

TIFF Review: “The Lost King”

Toronto International Film Festival 2022 World Premiere, Special Presentations Philippa Langley (Sally Hawkins) is adrift. Recently denied a big assignment at work—she’s good at what she’s already doing, her boss says— and suffering from ME, a chronic fatigue illness that especially flares up in times of stress, she’s in need of something to rejuvenate her. […]

TIFF Review: “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”

Toronto International Film Festival 2022 Midnight Madness World Premiere Weird Al Yankovic is no typical music artist. The shaggy-haired, Hawaiian shirt connoisseur musician/comedian built a career out of a niche area of the industry: parodies of existing songs and polka covers. So it shouldn’t be surprising that a movie about his life would be no […]

TIFF Review: “El Agua”

Toronto International Film Festival 2022 North American Premiere In a small river-side town in Spain, legend holds that every few decades when the river overflows, female residents disappear, an effect of the water’s desire to claim a woman who has recently fallen in love. Filming in her hometown and drawing on its own local legends, […]

All Together Now: TCMFF 2022 Recap

It’s safe to say that I wouldn’t be here writing about movies at all if it wasn’t for Turner Classic Movies. Watching the channel sparked my interest in film, taught me more than I ever learned in school, and allowed me to see movies I might have never watched otherwise. After spending the better part […]

True/False Day 4: “The Delights,” “The Territory,” “After Sherman,” “Açucena,” “Gods of Mexico”

Here’s my recap of the films I watched on my fourth and final day covering the 2022 True/False Film Festival, which saw what ended up being my favorites of the fest (“The Territory” and “Gods of Mexico”), as well as “The Delights,” “Açucena,” and “After Sherman.” Read my reviews of all those movies below. “THE […]

True/False Day 3: “The Balcony Movie,” “Mr. Landsbergis,” “Dos Estaciones,” “Fire of Love”

For my third batch of reviews from the 2022 True False Film Festival, I’m recapping two Sundance premieres (“Dos Estaciones” and the much-buzzed-about “Fire of Love,”), the crowd-pleasing “The Balcony Movie,” and the epic four hour “Mr. Landsbergis.” You can read my thoughts on those films below. “THE BALCONY MOVIE“ On a sunny day, filmmaker Paweł […]

True/False Day 2: “Sirens,” “Children of the Mist,” “Days and Nights of Demetra K.,” “Let the Little Light Shine,” “We Met in Virtual Reality”

My second day of screenings at the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri saw a wide range of documentary features, from crowd-pleasers like the inspiring “Let the Little Light Shine” (its world premiere) to raw portraits of minority groups, like the young Hmong women of “Children of the Mist.” You can find my reviews of […]