In their new picture Hilma, Lena Olin and Tora Hallström play cross-generational versions of pioneering Swedish abstract artist and mystic Hilma af Klint, a quintessential woman out of time whose groundbreaking works were dismissed by the early 20th century patriarchal artistic establishment. A modern,…
Read MoreA Working Artist Shows Up for Her Passion: Kelly Reichardt on Gentle New Character Study Balancing Life, Creative Demands
Filmmaker Kelly Reichardt—whose three-decade career as an independent filmmaker specializing in spare, minimalist excursions—is an artist freed from American commercial sensibilities; a nonconformist favoring nuance over plot and ambiguity over resolution. In pictures like Wendy and Lucy, about a young homeless woman searching for…
Read MoreA Good Person Writer-Director Zach Braff Tells Truths of Addiction, Friendship in Moving New Film
On his fourth directorial outing, actor-writer-filmmaker Zach Braff has crafted a remarkable portrait of friendship and healing between a pair of very unlikely characters, played by an equally unlikely—and very winning—Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman. In A Good Person, Pugh is a New Jersey…
Read MoreYes, You Can Go Home Again: Creative (and Life) Partners Dave Franco and Alison Brie on New Romcom of Identity and Choices
In the new romantic comedy Somebody I Used to Know (Prime Video, February 10), Alison Brie stars as a successful Hollywood journalist facing a professional crisis who returns to her hometown of Leavenworth, Washington, to plan her next move. What she doesn’t expect, after…
Read More31 and Already a Master Filmmaker: Lukas Dhont on Oscar-nominated Close, a Heartbreaking Ode to Adolescence
Exquisitely observed and deeply felt, Lukas Dhont’s Cannes Grand Prix winner Close is an adolescent coming-of-age picture told with such heartstopping sensitivity that it instantly ranks amongst the best films ever made about childhood loss—that of our friendships, our innocence and, sometimes, those we…
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again—when Oscar casts his golden glow on the highest achievements of the movie year (or at least those with the largest publicity budgets). Who made the list? Who was snubbed? What do the nominations tell us about who or…
Read MoreIt was a terrific year in film, and while box office receipts for adult-oriented pictures took quite a hit this awards season with the majority of potential Oscar contenders grossing less than $10m each, the high bar quality of 2022 releases made creating a…
Read MoreI always hesitate to create a “worst” movies of the year list as films are generally so difficult to make that it is a wonder any ever get completed, and the achievements of artists who have, with passion, purpose and good intentions, poured everything…
Read MoreIn Conversation: Emerging Artists Elegance Bratton and Anna Diop Get Personal in Meaningful New Movies
I recently caught up with Elegance Bratton and Anna Diop to deconstruct their new projects: The Inspection and Nanny could not be more removed in subject matter and approach, yet each provokes us to consider who we are and how we fit into our…
Read MoreFlying Below (Above?) Hollywood’s Radar with the Best Actresses You Don’t Know—and Should
In a short-term memory industry where five actresses each year (usually from late breaking films released in the closing months) claim the lion’s share of critics and industry plaudits, let’s take a look at five of this year’s best who are currently in danger…
Read More