Told in three acts in reverse, Mike Flanagan has made a lovely little Stephen King adaptation about how Tom Hiddleston came to be an exceptional dancer who contains multitudes.
Author: Josh
Celine Song’s Materialists checks a lot of boxes, but is that enough?
Fresh off the enormous success of Past Lives, Celine Song returns to the world of divided affections in Manhattan. Her first semi-autobiographical film concerned yearning across decades and missed connections across continents. It was among my favorite movies of 2023 , an Oscar nominee, and Seattle Film Critics Society’s Best Picture of the Year. Materialists, which finds her returning as both writer and director, is also loosely inspired by her own past life, bringing a more cynical eye to the complexity of beautiful people seeking soulmates from the comfortable side of the precipitous economic divide.
Wes Anderson spins a timely yarn with The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson movies are a genre unto themselves, often misunderstood as shallow, whimsical dioramas. That some fail to see the immense emotion beneath the ornately hand-crafted surfaces and trademark camera positioning and movement remains a matter of great mystery to those of us who eagerly watch and rewatch each film and revisit the old ones to find new depths. His latest, The Phoenician Scheme, is unlikely to change that perception, but to me it’s another unqualified success.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Boy Troubles (Rebuilding, The Things You Kill, Good Boy)
My closing weekend at SIFF inadvertently turned into a trio of films loosely themed about men figuring their stuff out, often alone, in desolate spaces.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Summer’s Camera, Cloud
Surveying a couple of polar opposite selections from SIFF’s Asian Crossroads program.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Wrapped up in Books (BLKNWS, The Librarians, The Safe House)
Over the weekend, I caught up on a few films playing in competition, all connected in one way or another with books.
I Think You Should See Friendship
Some movies have trigger warnings. I’d propose a content test before seeing Friendship, the new Tim Robinson comedy. Have you seen at least one episode of I Think You Should Leave on Netflix? Were you able to make it through the twenty minutes of sketch comedy show without nearly (or actually) choking to death with laughter? If you survived by turning it off immediately in cringing discomfort and cancelling your subscription, Friendship is certainly Not For You.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Northwest Connections Documentaries
Although “International” is right there in SIFF’s name, each festival also showcases a series of films made or set closer to home. This year’s Northwest Connections program includes five films. Here, we review of the two documentary features that’ll play throughout the festival: Suburban Fury and Wolf Land.
SIFF 2025 Notebook: Northwest Connections Features
Although “International” is right there in SIFF’s name, each festival also showcases a series of films made or set closer to home. This year’s Northwest Connections program includes five films. Here, we review of the two narrative features that’ll play throughout the festival: Evergreens and Monarch City.
For a few magical moments Eephus freezes time
In actor/cinematographer/film critic Carson Lund’s directorial debut, it’s Sunday October 16 in mid-1990s1 suburban Massachusetts. It’s a sunny day, but the hint of a chill in the air already has residents minds turning to the long dark winter ahead. Between radio reports — voiced by master documentarian Frederick Wiseman — of a coyote terrorizing the area and the “New Hampshire Justice” that awaits the poor creature, we hear that a beloved park will soon be the site of a new elementary school.