Berlinale Dispatch: “My Favourite Cake,” “All the Long Nights,” “Abiding Nowhere”

For this batch of capsule reviews of films that premiered at the 74th Berlinale, I’m looking at three films that, in a sense, deal with loneliness, in addition to possessing an innate sense of space. Otherwise, the variety of themes and tones they offer is vast, stemming from Iran, Japan, and Taiwan. MY FAVOURITE CAKE […]

Berlinale Review: “Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger”

If you know movies, you probably know Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger— if not by name, than by the indelible images they created in their films. The infinite staircase connecting earth with the afterlife in A Matter of Life and Death; the vibrant reds in the ballet at the center of The Red Shoes; the […]

Berlinale Review: “Henry Fonda for President”

He’s tall and thin, and speaks in a tone and cadence that I can only describe as regular— neither too booming, nor too quiet. He can employ these traits in a couple of different directions: for comedy, tripping over his lanky frame, awkward and stuttering (especially when around women— think of his brush-ups with a […]

Berlinale Review: “Hors du temps” (“Suspended Time”)

A rush of excitement, followed by a wince— that’s what I experienced when I first heard that French director Olivier Assayas (the illustrious filmmaker behind such contemporary classics as Irma Vep, Clouds of Sils Maria, and Personal Shopper) would be premiering a new film at this year’s Berlinale. And then I learned the plot: a […]

Berlinale Review: “Cuckoo”

It looks like something out of a postcard: the enchanting, almost retro style of a resort lobby, the Bavarian Alps behind it painting the horizon with their snowy majesty. Nothing about this picturesque scene would suggest the insanity and terror that’s to come— nothing, except perhaps for Mr. König (Dan Stevens), the lodge’s proprietor, whose […]

Berlinale Review: “Small Things Like These”

It’s probably too pat to say so, but it really is about the small things: the tiniest occurrences that can trigger a memory that can in turn prompt emotions normally kept tucked down deep inside to roil to the surface. Irish writer Claire Keegan’s short story Foster was adapted into a wrenching film directed by […]

SLIFF Review: “La Chimera”

The most recognizable definition of a chimera comes from Greek mythology, in reference to a female creature made up of several different animals: a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. But the word can alternately be used as a noun to refer to something one hopes for, but is impossible to ever […]

SLIFF Review: “The Holdovers”

In a lengthy pre-film discussion and post-film Q&A with director Alexander Payne at a screening of his new film The Holdovers at the St. Louis International Film Festival, several films and filmmakers came up in reference to his work, from Billy Wilder to Leo McCarey’s devastating 1937 drama about aging, Make Way for Tomorrow. But […]

SLIFF Review: “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”

Hands. That’s the first thing you notice about Raven Jackson’s debut feature film All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt: the close-up of Mack’s hands as she runs them through the river water, sifting through the dirt with her fingers, as her father Isaiah (Chris Chalk) teaches her how to fish, patiently telling her to go […]

TIFF Review: “Seagrass”

The long toots of the ferry horn have a lilting, almost musical sound, one that emphasizes the playful mood of the two little girls running around the boat deck. There’s not a cloud in the sky. The calm blue water seems to stretch into infinity. The girls pester their dad for a dollar for some […]