New York Film Festival 2023: Main Slate
Janet Planet is a lovely and delicate portrait of the co-dependency between a mother and a daughter. Like a snapshot of a time of innocence, Annie Baker’s debut makes you ponder those complex scenarios you couldn’t understand when you were a kid, whether they were fights your parents had or the inner struggles of strangers.
Celine Song isn’t the only critically acclaimed playwright to not only venture off into filmmaking but also deliver…
In her feature-length debut Past Lives, Director Celine Song presents an intimate and delicate three-decade-spanning portrait of the importance people play in our lives that resembles Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. However, unlike the aforementioned series of films, it subverts people’s romantic fantasies. Instead, it chooses to decipher the reasons why living in a constant state of “what if” injures one’s soul. So grab a box of tissues and call the person you love the most; this is indeed a special…
Yorgos Lanthimos adapts Alasdair Gray’s weird, acclaimed novel 'Poor Things' to construct an exquisite film in which steam-punk taints the baroque, and Buñuel’s Belle de Jour comes face to face with Mary Shelley’s classic creation, 'Frankenstein'. And it is all anchored by the ever-growing talent of the Greek filmmaker and the astonishing performance by Emma Stone, both of which carry the project to unexpected and expressive heights.
If there is one style of modern director that many have tried to…
Hirokazu Kore-eda has adopted a more schmaltzy approach to telling his stories for the past few years. This has made his most recent features, except for Shoplifters, somewhat detached from reality. They never reach a satisfactory emotional point. It is quite disappointing, considering his brilliant early features that channel the energy of Yasujirō Ozu’s narrative style. Kore-eda knows how to portray domestic melancholy in a humanistic way, unlike other directors who might do so in more theatrical and melodramatic ways.…
Although some of Not Okay’s provocative ideas don’t land, its witty script and Zoey Deutch’s piquant performance are engaging enough to make this a chaotic and fun ride.
Over the decades, plenty of films have mocked or ridiculed their own generation. However, as the years went by, more kept appearing. These films were ridiculing this modern generation addicted to the various social media platforms through different mediums and genres. Most of these features had exciting ideas, but they ended up…
TIFF 2021
Like Jackie, Spencer masterfully crafts horror & beauty within the isolation of its main character (almost like a ghost story in the midst of a fairytale). It is beautifully crafted and executed on all ends; the strings by Greenwood, the cinematography by Mathon, and Larrain's direction, and in the heart of it, there is the brilliant Kristen Stewart with the performance of her career. Jackie tackles the mourning, while Spencer deals with mental health. Both Jackie and Diana act…
