Richard Linklater’s upcoming film, releasing on October 24, 2025, promises an engaging exploration of conversation and character. Set in a bar in 1943, Ethan Hawke portrays Lorenz Hart, reflecting on his struggles while celebrating with Richard Rodgers. With strong performances and thoughtful dialogue, this film offers a unique cinematic experience worth anticipating.
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When Americans leave home in search of meaning somewhere on the European continent, it’s usually a recipe for disaster (at least in the world of horror cinema). Young, brash, naive Americans have to face ancient beasts (The Ritual), human traffickers (Hostel), and even covens of witches (Suspiria). Watching enough horror films might make you think […]
Continue reading “Spring (2014), Romance Meets Body Horror in Italy”
Frank (Robert De Niro) and Molly (Meryl Streep) meet accidentally in a bookstore in New York whilst Christmas shopping. Months pass, and their paths cross again as they both travel into the city from their suburban neighbourhoods on the same train and so they strike up a conversation. They also find that there is a […]
Continue reading “Falling In Love (1984)”
Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) is a charming mix of 90s teen culture and classic romance. This film adapts Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, setting it in a high school context and focusing on two sisters, Kat and Bianca Stratford. Their father has a strict rule: Bianca, the popular younger […]
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Sid Vicious came out of the British working-class. He was rude, uneducated, violent, and profane. Unlike Keith Moon, who was one of the greatest drummers who ever lived, he wasn’t even a particularly good musician. Nancy Spungen came out of the American middle-class. She was an abrasive, emotionally needy substance abuser who wasn’t even particularly […]
Continue reading “Sid and Nancy (1986)”
And so I’ve been on a bit of a Hemingway kick while reading a brand new book (Just released) by favorite author Mark Kurlansky. Kurlansky tracks some of his adventures in journalism alongside those of Hem while on assignments and travels in Europe, Cuba and elsewhere. I didn’t read this particular […]
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Anora makes it clear why no woman — no man — should marry the son of a Russian oligarch. In Sean Baker’s comedy the title character, played by Mikey Madison, meets Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn) at a Manhattan club where she’s a sex worker and after a dizzy weekend he plays Richard Gere to her […]
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Nagisa Oshima’s controversial erotic art film, “In the Realm of the Senses,” as it is known in the United States, has two other titles. L’Empire des Sens (Empire of Senses) in France, and an original Japanese title, Ai no Corrida (Bullfight of Love). For once, I believe that the Americans got it right with their […]
Continue reading “In the Realm of the Senses (1976)”
I feel as if In the Mood for Love is just about impossible to write about. A lot of films benefit from a lot of analysis, making what you see on screen that much more clear and powerful, or perhaps even that much more expansive and mysterious in its ideas. I watched In the Mood […]
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Champion of the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Anorais an absolute wonder of a film that surpasses expectations. Written and directed by Sean Baker, Anora is his best film yet and is unconventional in the way it combines comedy, drama, and romantic genres. The writing is vivid, and the story leaves audiences breathless. This is the romantic comedy masterpiece the world needs. It displays how young love includes many moments to cherish while also navigating obstacles when things […]
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Tarihte küreselliğin ve bireyselliğin en fazla arttığı çağda yaşıyoruz desem, eminim çoğunuz bana katılacaktır. Fizikî sınırların bazı açılardan anlamsızlaştığı bu çağda, bireyler de -daha önce hiç olmadığı kadar- kendi yaşamları üzerinde karar verme özgürlüğüne sahip. Yeterli paranız ve/veya eğitim altyapınız varsa istediğiniz ülkede, istediğiniz şekilde yaşayabilirsiniz (en azından teoride). Böyle bir dünyada birine bağlanarak diğer […]
Continue reading “Past Lives”
For the final film I’m reviewing at the Edinburgh Film Festival, I decided to go for one of the big ones showing at the festival. I’ve been a fan of Alice Lowe since the release of Sightseers in 2012 and I’ve always been interested to see what she does. I enjoyed Prevenge when that was […]
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NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH, a well-regarded British-made espionage thriller, arrived in England’s theaters in late July of 1940. World War Two had ‘officially’ started the previous September. This morale mission, directed by Carol Reed, landed a month after the debacle/escape of Dunkirk and two before ‘the Blitz’ got underway. The story is set a year […]
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“The Notebook”, which happened to be re-released in South Korean theaters in this week probably because of its 20th anniversary, is inherently sappy but undeniably effective as before. Yes, this is basically your average romance story, but it is still a well-made product which can actually engage us via its solid storytelling and several fine […]
Continue reading “The Notebook (2004)”
Chinese film “Suzhou River”, whose 4k restoration version was somehow released in South Korean theaters a few days ago, is a gritty and bitter urban tale of romantic obsession. Like many of other contemporary Chinese arthouse films, the movie requires some patience due to its slow narrative pacing, but this rather modest work is impressive […]
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The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry is set between Berlin and a small port town overlooking the Red Sea, with a rather complicated history
Right from the first scene in Bergman Island, it is apparent that this is a movie made with a very particular audience in mind. You can tell that it will never crossover into pop culture or even into the conversations of casual movie fans, like a lot of indies playing in the festival circuit, do.…
Woody Allen’s 50th film, “Coup de Chance” made a pretty good impression after premiering at last year’s Venice International Film Festival and then in France a short time later. Since then it has been finding its way to screens including here in the States courtesy of MPI Media Group. It’s Allen’s first French-language feature. And…
Maestro (2023) is a biographical drama film from sophomore writer-director Bradley Cooper. Cooper also stars in the film as Leonard Bernstein, renowned Broadway composer, following his life and relationships, particularly with his wife Felicia (Carey Mulligan). The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival to strong reviews, and releases in theaters and on Netflix this December.…
Benedict Cumberbatch has an excellent shot at an Oscar nomination/win. I wanted to thank you for adapting Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel and directing The Power of the Dog (2021). Your films feel like good books that beg to be analyzed. Take The Piano (1993), for instance, your signature film for the past thirty years. I […]
