movie reviews
In-depth, long-form movie reviews that explore films with nuance, context, and personal insight. Covering cinema from around the world, these essays go beyond plot summaries to unpack meaning, style, and impact.
-
Berlinale Day 2: Django (2017)
Django would have been a much better experience, had it stuck to its music. As another survival movie from the war, it falls flat, especially compared to some of the previously released hard-hitting productions, be they grim or soulful representations of the horror. Read more
-
Berlinale Day 1: The Wound (2017)
All things considered, The Wound stands as a film that, at its best, conveys a unique poetic restraint. It might not shine all the way through, yet it provides insight into a corner of the world that’s usually left in the dark, tackling some big themes on the way Read more
-
Camera obscura (2016): Anachronistic Avantgarde
I do recommend Camera obscura, especially if you have an interest in film-making, because it provides some special moments along the way. It’s just unfortunate that a certain unwillingness to prod deeper and a lack of visionary discipline undermine it over the long run. Read more
-
Un peu, beaucoup, aveuglément! (2015): A Wall Apart
I cannot help being disappointed, because while it does feel authentic at points, it predominantly appears trite. Maybe I should just lower my pretentious romcom bar a notch or two. Read more
-
Nocturnal Animals (2016): The Story Within the Story
It is captivating thanks to the lead trio of Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon. It works visually in spite of the occasional clichés. But it’s not an even story and the mediocre writing cannot be forgiven. Implicitly, Nocturnal Animals taints itself with the muck of pretentiousness. Read more
-
Afacerea Est: That’s How It’s Done (2016)
Cobileanski manages, at times, to really capture the irony and the foolishness of life in situational humour. Luckily, I was alone in the cinema and could laugh as hard as I felt like doing. Read more
-
Sour Grapes (2016): Schadenfreude
Ultimately, even for someone with no taste for wine, I was excited by the end, having sat through this very particular tasting menu of intricate lies. Read more
-
Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981): Pleading Death
It is only in pain and suffering that we can look into ourselves to understand how much we are willing to bear and what makes us be. Read more
-
Today’s Special (2009): 1001 Recipes for Clichés
There must be stuff to like about David Kaplan’s second (and as of now last) feature length movie, yet I utterly failed to enjoy it. Sure, it digests easily, but there’s gotta be more to it than that. Read more
-
Pozitia Copilului (2013): People at its Heart
What sets Netzer’s film apart from some of the other recent Romanian works of cinema is its sardonic humor which works best when it’s aimed at the characters and not at some of the pervasive practices of society. Read more
-
Sieranevada (2016): A Winter Wonderland
Sieranevada feels true. It’s a bit of a nightmare, sure, but it also manages to find and weave its story with quality fabric, highlighting meaningful contrasts between society, family and the individual and their ‘forced’ cohabitation. And it is ostensibly a universal story about the inner workings of family life. Read more
-
The Baby (1973): A Slight Phenomenon
The Baby goes from drama, to comedy, to thriller, to horror in a seamless manner and actually gets away with it by the end with some glorious twists to boot. Read more
