Film

ORANGE SKIES, BRIGHT HEARTS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF SUMMER, STRUGGLE, AND JOY ON GREEN LAKE I have found the antidote to the world as it exists right now. It’s director/writer Sierra Falconer’s debut film, Sunfish (and Other Stories on Green Lake), a beautiful, gentle, slice-of-life collection of four stories, connected only by the Northern Michigan lake…

THE DEPORTATION SITUATION Perhaps more timely than ever, considering the daily reports of ICE agents removing the undocumented people among us, and attacks on them of the verbal variety, The Compatriots is an independent film that puts one specific human face on their plight. In writer/director/co-producer Spencer Cohen’s first full-length feature, the fear factor and…

SHEDDING LIGHT ON A SAVIOR AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR It’s coming to digital platforms on September 15, but the 2023 film Brave the Dark is not recommended…unless you’re willing to be inspired, to have your faith in humanity restored, and to give up your membership in the J.P.S. (Jaded Pessimists Society) when faced with the evidence…

A POST-COVID AMERICAN FABLE Children run through darkness with their arms spread wide, security cameras recording their strange exodus from suburban bedrooms. They move with purpose toward something unseen, almost like a game of make-believe that’s gotten out of hand. By morning, an entire classroom has vanished, leaving behind parents who scream at anyone within…

A QUARTET WORTH TUNING INTO Les Musiciens (The Musicians) is a comedy that is not afraid to be intelligent. It’s a welcome cinematic entry for discerning moviegoers who care about more than superheroes and vampires. The engaging and well-paced plot is about the creation of an impossible concert by a quartet of musicians who’ve never…

ANDERSON’S REPUBLIC OF OBJECTS Something has shifted in Wes Anderson’s dollhouse universe. The Phoenician Scheme arrives with all the expected geometric precision, but underneath the familiar symmetries lurks an unfamiliar bite. Arms dealer Anatole “Zsa-Zsa” Korda (Benicio del Toro) has survived six assassination attempts by the time we meet him in 1950. He’s a jaded…

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CARL BEAN Directors Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard have given the world a much needed uplift in the guise of their fascinating new documentary on the life of Archbishop Carl Bean named, I Was Born This Way. But why is the title reminiscent of Lady Gaga’s mega-hit, “Born This Way?” Because…

COSTUMES, CONFIDENCES AND THE CANOVA SISTERS SPARKLE LIKE DIAMONDS Director Ferzan Özpetek’s latest dramedy, Diamonds, is about to open at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, and I had the pleasure of getting an early view. I knew it centered on a costume atelier reminiscent of the legendary Umberto Tirelli’s, and I immediately thought…

A HOUSE DIVIDED E.1027: Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea is what I would call—in a good way—an eccentric film. It’s a curiously interpretive pastiche of multiple elements: docu-fiction, bio-pic, archival footage, imagined scenes with actor recreations, narrative voiceovers, stylized scenes dramatically lit on a stage, readings from diaries and letters, along with…

WHEN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS GOT A WAKE-UP CALL Drop Dead City is that rare beast: a documentary that turns a major city’s fiscal crisis into an edge-of-your-seat thriller. There’s a strong parallel to what’s happening in our economic and political times today, nationally and locally. It could’ve just been a wonky educational film but…

Over the past decade, the British film industry has not shied away from exploring the complexities of sexuality, desire, and the human psyche through cinema. Erotic films from the UK have carved out a distinctive niche, often blending sensuality with psychological depth, emotional nuance, and cultural commentary. Below is a rundown of five standout erotic…