Film
In 1940s Japan, a Trophy Wife Becomes a Spy
In Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Wife of a Spy, a woman becomes embroiled in exposing Japanese war crimes in Manchuria.
Film
Film
For Udo Kier in Swan Song, Flamboyance Is Its Own Redemption
Todd Stephens’s new film is a celebration of willful, collective flamboyance that flourishes within small cities.
Film
There Are Now Not One But Two Documentaries About the Salvator Mundi Saga
Both The Lost Leonardo and Savior for Sale dig into how museums and galleries are not merely complicit with the unregulated art-industrial complex, but are necessary to it.
Interview
Unearthed Interviews Shed New Light on Truman Capote
Ebs Burnough’s documentary The Capote Tapes uses hundreds of hours of newly discovered interviews about the infamous author to take a deeper look at his life.
Film
20 Years After the September 11th Attacks, What Does “Never Forget” Mean?
Much of what the media deems important coverage of the attacks is in fact retraumatizing gawking or empty nationalism.
Film
In Who You Think I Am, Juliette Binoche Transcends Mid-Life Crisis Stereotypes
Binoche plays a woman who is ultimately accountable for herself and doesn’t pretend to be any better than she is.
Film
After a Year Off, Experimental Film Returns to Toronto Film Fest
With works about student protests in India, colonialism in South Korea, the history of trains in cinema, and more, this edition of Wavelengths is the festival’s best in years.
Film
How Do the Right Thing Recreated Greek Tragedy in Bed-Stuy
Spike Lee’s landmark film is often remembered for its still-relevant social commentary, but its formal brilliance should not go overlooked.
Film
The 500-Year-Old Ghost of a Conquistador Wanders Mexico
The documentary/fiction hybrid film 499 uses a fictional character to speak to real-life contemporary colonized people.
Film
Confronting Doubt with the Power of Shakespeare
Argentine director Matías Piñeiro’s Isabella is the latest in a string of offbeat films about the nature of performance and creativity.
Film
Brilliant? Hatable? Annette Is Both (and Neither)
It remains to be seen whether future critics will see the film as contrarian triumph or empty provocation.
Film
Candyman Skewers the Art World’s Exploitation of Black Pain
Writer/director Nia DaCosta and producer/co-writer Jordan Peele update the horror film franchise with a critical look at the commodification of Black trauma.