Cassandro
I've been a fan of Gael Garcia Bernal (Y tu mamá también, "Mozart in the Jungle", No) for a very long time. I love that he tackles such a wide…
Between Two Worlds
Juliette Binoche stars in this French drama in what initially seems like an uncharacteristic role for her. Marianne is a down on her luck woman looking for a menial job…
The Owners (Vlastnici)
This Czech comedy written and directed by Jiří Havelka is based on his award winning play, The Society of Owners. Produced in 2019, it is just now making its way…
Men of Deeds
A couple of years ago, I saw a very funny little film from Romania called Two Lottery Tickets that takes place in a little backwater inhabited by odd characters. That film's…
Amanda
Amanda (Benedetta Porcaroli) is 25. She has no friends and doesn't really have much of a life. She lives alone in a tiny, dingy room. Refuses to work in the…
Joy Ride
This gal pal comedy is at its heart a sweet story about identity and friendship. But boy is it wrapped in raunch! Adele Lim's (Oscar nominee for co-writing Crazy Rich…
L’immensità
Set in 1970s Rome, L'immensità is a semi-autobiographical look at one summer in director Emanuele Crialese's youth. In the film, the eldest child in the family is a teenage Adri…
The Future
Set in the not too distant future in Israel, which doesn't feel all that different from right now, The Future is the story of two women, Dr. Nurit Bloch (Reymonde…
On the Edge (Entre La Vie et La Mort)
A body falls onto the tracks in front of a Brussels subway driver as he pulls into the station. It's every subway driver's nightmare, but this time it is his…
The Worst Ones (Les pires)
Set in Picasso, a gritty, working class town in the north of France, The Worst Ones is a film-within-a-film. Belgian director Gabriel (Johan Heldenbergh) comes to the town to shoot…
Review: Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle
A couple of weeks before I saw this film, I read filmmaker Werner Herzog’s first novel "The Twilight World,” which draws on his meeting 25 years ago with Hiroo Onoda,…
Review: Decision to Leave
This Korean romantic thriller from Park Chan-wook (Handmaiden, Snowpiercer) begins with the classic set-up. Weary detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il ) arrives at a crime scene. A man is dead. But…
Review: The Good Boss
Javier Bardem is one of my favorite actors. I would pay to watch him read a phone book. (Do they still make those?) He is definitely one of the most…
Review: Happening
Talk about a film arriving at just the right moment! This gripping French drama about a young woman in the early 1960s who gets pregnant and has to go through…
Review: Hit the Road
This wonderful road trip drama traverses the Iranian landscape with a family and their dog. Along for the ride are a mother (Pantea Panahiha) and father (Hasan Majuni) and their…