Reviews

True to form, Xavier Dolan has given us something original and profound. This is a beautiful story about time, progress and boundary-crossing forms of friendship and love. The film has its minor flaws but the acting is great from everyone involved (even Kit Harrington, usually rather one-note in my opinion, gives a wonderfully nuanced and haunting performance), an awesome soundtrack, equal parts style and substance, and exquisite cinematography. The critic reviews are shockingly unfair and not at all representative of the great quality that this piece of art embodies.

Roads is a brutally honest and poetic road movie about male companionship and human compassion. The two lead actors are intense and authentic, and overall this is an elegantly paced and breathtaking piece of cinema.

Young Andy (Tye Sheridan) is sexually ambivalent. Does he desire women, men, both or something in between? When his father dies he takes a job as a photographer, going on the road with physician Wallace (Jeff Goldblum), who performs lobotomies at various insane asylums.

This slow, strange and superb film will likely divide audiences. At times it's completely incomprehensible but it's also constantly mesmerizing, hypnotic and beautiful. Most significantly though, this subversive piece of work is an important comment on the pressures of heterosexuality, showing that the price of conformity is sometimes way too high.

This is truly a unique film. Although unique in this case doesn't mean either interesting or good.

If films where pointless absurdities and narrative are completely out of sync is your thing, then you'll like this sci-fi/political thriller/football flick.

The acting is beyond awkward but what's even more insulting is how this work trivializes and makes petty fun of real issues like the refugee crisis, the rise of right-wing nationalism, gender transformation (which here is described as "disturbing") as well as homophobic abuse. Simply awful.

I have to admit that I was sceptical of Joel Edgerton attempting to tell this story. Many will argue that this is a straight rendition of queer subject matter and in some ways it is. However, I do believe that the mainstream qualities of Edgerton's direction will make the pure horror of conversion therapy widely known - and that is the best thing about this work.

Second best is Lucas Hedges who acts with such vulnerability and grace that one truly identifies with him. His confusion and pain is exquisitly enacted. The more seasoned actors Nicole Kidman and Russel Crowe are mere filler here, which makes Hedges's charachter's horrific experience the true core of the story. In this regard, director Edgerton really treats the subject material in a respectful manner.

This is an excellent film with an important subject matter, and a remarkable performance by Hedges, who is very likely to receive his second Oscar nomination this year.

This beautiful little film might best be described as an interesting new take on the Narcissus myth, with an impressive central performance by Ansel Elgort. Both stylish and moving, this small scale story raises questions about the nature of desire, compassion, self-reflexivity and unconventional love.

This fine film gives voice to the Manson family women, whom history has reduced to dwelling in the shadow of the infamous cult leader.

It's intriguing work, well-directed and conveying an atmospheric feel of the "summer of love". Also, it's a magnetic portrait of Manson the man; Matt Smith does an excellent job, he's conveying a perfect balance of manipulative charm and danger.

The one slightly negative remark I have, is that Smits's performance sometimes overshadows the women at the center of the narrative.

But this is constantly exciting and well worth a watch. See it!

As far as modern movie musicals of 2018 go, this is the best one of the year. It's quite slow at times but never lags, because of its great editing, jumping between different temporal narratives.

We are told the true life story of folk singer Blaze Foley, who is played magnificently by Ben Dickey. Blaze is as charming as he is obnoxious, but sings like an angel who's had one whisky and a pack of smokes too many, and at times he let's us glance at his emotional core which makes one forgive him all his many, many character flaws.

A good film worth watching. Recommended.

This is an excellent film with Oscar worthy performances by both Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart. Atmospheric, tense and well-paced, although the tempo might be too slow for some.

I started loving this little gem of a film within a minute. I had never heard of Jim Cummings before but he's on my radar now for sure. Exquisitly acted, well-directed, perfectly paced, balancing between comedy and drama. And that stache is perfect, bloody perfect. It and most everything else about this great piece of work will make it impossible to look away, if only for a second. Highly recommended!

I found everything about this film awesome! From the 70's setting to the übercool music to the twists and turns in the story. It's absurd and gory in a unconventional way, as well as stylish and well-acted. As a leading man, Christopher Abbot has a magnetic presence throughout. Highly recommended, especially for horror fans that are tired of generic flicks within this genre.

It's difficult not to be swept away by the intricate levels of artsy meta/auto-fiction elegantly crafted and staged by director Anna Odell in this film. However, prepare to be hit repeatedly by waves of heteronormativity and gender normativity that are un-nuanced and somewhat tiresome. All in all though, an entertaining and well-crafted film.

This film has many faults. It is filled with action film clichés, the pacing is off and the characters are unlikeable (an abusive father with anger management issues, an equally angry young man, and a government minister who abandons her post in a time of crisis to name a few). The film's effects work is great and impressive but doesn't make up for the lack of structure and tempo, and the obvious nationalistic overtones are unappealing (at times the film comes across as militaristic propaganda). Also, this film struggles greatly with genre, trying to be both disaster flick, dysfunctional family drama and epic love story at the same time, the latter, due to lazy writing, being painfully flat and devoid of emotion.

This is an exceptional film, offering moments of beauty, compassion and humanity which stays with you long after the credits roll. The photography is exquisite. The acting is flawless. All in all, this is a moving piece of work that ought to go down in history as one of the most magnificent films of all time.

This is a powerful film, but not for the faint of heart!

The isolated Icelandic landscape setting gives this break-up story story an eerie feel. The characters' memories of their broken relationship are as beautiful as they are haunting. The film is sometimes frighteningly tense, and despite the scarce dialoge it manages to stay aesthetically interesting throughout.

An occasionally decent and thrilling film centered on Halle Berry as an altruistic foster mother. She gets tangled up in the violence and riots in Los Angeles, following the verdict in the Rodney King trial in 1991. "Kings" leaves an impression but despite its burning subject – racism and the abuse of power – it trivializes the seriousness of its own central theme. Also, within the context of the serious subject matter, the forced inclusions of distracting heterosexual romance make it a laughable affair, leaving you with a rather banal impression overall.

The title characters in "Théo et Hugo dans le même bateau" meet in a dark room and connect instantly. Then they stroll the streets of early morning Paris together. From its raunchy, explicit beginning, this charming film evolves into a sweet and somber romance, echoing of Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise"-trilogy. Consequently, Théo's and Hugo's story comes across an unforgettable and ultimately very charming affair.

The strength of this French language zombie film is that is relies on tension rather than action to produce thrills. Set on the Canadian countryside, a group of survivors are hunted by hungry zombies, creatures whose behavior at times eerily echoes of their previous consciousness. The story's rather small scale, the lack of a universal scope to this zombie apocalypse, gives it an intimate feel. And the silence of the rural setting, occasionally broken by zombies screaming, is as haunting as it is strangely moving.