‘After the Hunt’ may be the most contemptuous movie of the year, and that’s precisely why it works. Luca Guadagnino confronts the audience’s conception of the truth and forces them to rethink how they perceive and view movies as he rejects dialogue to focus on the strongest images of his career.
From director Joachim Rønning, who has blockbuster experience in both the Maleficent and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, Tron: Ares takes on a visual identity rather unique to the general crop of big movies releasing on a regular basis nowadays
‘Anemone’ should only be watched by those craving another performance from Daniel Day-Lewis, because the film surrounding his incredible, controlled turn does not work at all.
For better or worse, ‘The Oval Portrait’ is the exact sort of film which a Hammer horror fan will appreciate.
Thanks to a painterly sense of image-making and captivating turns from Marion Cotillard and Clara Pacini, Lucile Hadžihalilović creates a unique atmosphere with ‘The Ice Tower’, blending the artifice of cinema with the trauma-inducing dread of a child’s fantasy.
Shane Black has fun in the cartoonishly glorious adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s work with ‘Play Dirty’, containing Mark Wahlberg’s best performance in years as he dons the mantra of Westlake’s most iconic character.
Benny Safdie breaks the aesthetics that he developed over the years with his brother Josh to craft a surprisingly patient, often discordant docudrama in ‘The Smashing Machine’, which sets his solo directorial career on exciting horizons.
For anyone who’s read even a smattering of smut in their lives, ‘Tell Me What You Want’ will offer precious few surprises.
Chava Méndez has captured some amazing emotion and horror in his short ‘What’s Kept Inside’, which although is his directorial debut, is no doubt the beginning of a great career.
While ‘Eleanor the Great’ is elevated by a legendary turn from June Squibb as the titular character, the film’s handling of several subjects leaves much to be desired, as does Scarlet Johansson’s direction.
On the surface level, ‘All of You’ is a film about how often technology distracts us from connection, but it also works as a lesson that true love is measured by the lengths we go to protect the relationships that matter most.
At long last, director Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio collaborate for ‘One Battle After Another’, an offbeat, thrilling, and often hilarious adventure that earns its keep in the talented director’s already stunning filmography.
‘Ed’ is a short film that further shows how far deep the hollowness within porn addiction really is, and what sort of price it robs men of.
Watching Jeremy Renner’s music video ‘Wait’ isn’t just enlightening in how it beautifully showcases a father’s bond with his daughter, it further succeeds in using the trauma of Renner’s accident as a background aesthetic that although never mentioned, can still be felt in the soul of Renner’s music.
‘Sunny Side Up’, a short film at this year’s Seattle Film Festival, is done with such masterfulness that its baffling that such a beautifully well acted, and whimsically playful film was made under a budget of just five hundred Euros.
‘Anyhing Helps’ may not illustrate how to solve the problem of global homelessness, but it does show that communication and the love emulated from simple companionship can go a long way as a first step.
Ultimately, despite a strong premise, ‘Him’ ends up throwing a Hail Mary, which, if not fumbled, undoubtedly could have been more interesting than the end result.
Romance stories are a dime a dozen, but Kogonada’s ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ dares to be different. However, despite the star power of its two considerably talented stars, this unconventional love story fails to leave a mark.
With a more contemplative approach to filmmaking, Steven Soderbergh reflects on his legacy through one of Ian McKellen’s best-ever performances in ‘The Christophers’, and marks the beginning of his late stage.
The Grabber may have met his maker, but that hasn’t stopped him from clawing his way back to terrorize Finney and Gwen yet again in ‘Black Phone 2’, a horror sequel that provides chilling scares and an exciting expansion of the overarching mythology.