Michael says: “You know you’re watching something perversely special when it features an ejaculating cactus. Paying liberal homage to the strangers films of Guy Maddin, Matthew Rankin’s first feature film is a wildly inventive, biopic (in the loosest sense of
Michael says: “There’s a bit of a thread between COMING HOME AGAIN and MONSOON. Both deal with Asian families, and particularly sons dealing with the death of parents, and difficulty of accessing emotions. But where COMING HOME AGAIN was more
Chris says: “Verité doc clandestinely filmed inside an ICU unit in Wuhan, China during the 76-day lockdown earlier this year. Expectedly difficult to watch (especially the heightened panic of the early days) but also genuinely life-affirming. This is an invaluable
Chris says: “A group of Middle-Eastern and African men are stranded in a refugee camp off the coast of Scotland. Our protagonist, Omar, is a musician from Syria and carries his oud wherever he goes. The refugees spend their time
Diane says: “Chinatown crime caper LUCKY GRANDMA features 85-year-old actress Tsai Chin playing a gruff, stubborn widow whose trip to the casino lands her in hot water. Chin (JOY LUCK CLUB) deserves an acting nom, playing all of five years
Chris says: “In Oslo, an artist contacts a man convicted of stealing her painting from a gallery; from there, an unlikely, slow-building friendship develops between these two very different souls. As it makes unexpected leaps backwards and forwards in time,
Chris says: “The rare film with a twist where its revelation doesn’t occur all at once, but gradually and not as a trigger for understanding what drives the narrative. This would seem annoying if not for the playfulness Rozema occasionally
Chris says: “Based on the life of its lead actor (Jimmie Fails), Joe Talbot’s film is both a loving ode to and a fervent indictment of his and Fails’ hometown. With themes of gentrification, community, ownership, race and familial legends,
Chris says: “An experimental documentary about water, in all its forms (from gushing waves to immense icebergs), in all its beauty and splendor, in all the horrible destruction it can cause. Alternately meditative and almost serene like ambient music and frenetic like
Michael says: “Who knew Zhang Yimou had a new movie out this year? Certainly not me (thanks, Bob!) I’ve loved a lot of Zhang Yimou’s films, both his gorgeous, epics, and his tiny character films. SHADOW is one of the
