Alissa Simon Film CriticIdeally timed to draw domestic audiences back into Czech cinemas, loosely historical local-hero biopic “Havel” doesn’t let pesky facts get in the way of a good story.
02.07.2020 - 08:49 / variety.com
Chris Willman Music WriterThe most obvious point of comparison for “Suzi Q,” a new documentary about the pioneering 1970s rocker Suzi Quatro, is “Bad Reputation,” a two-year-old doc about Joan Jett. That’s not least of all because Jett is a frequent on-camera presence in the new movie, and comes off as such an acolyte of the woman who broke glass ceilings slightly before her, that you can almost imagine there’s some kind of “All About Eve” story in the wings.
Alissa Simon Film CriticIdeally timed to draw domestic audiences back into Czech cinemas, loosely historical local-hero biopic “Havel” doesn’t let pesky facts get in the way of a good story.
Guy Lodge Film Critic“Benjamin” opens on a film within a film, the long-awaited sophomore feature by thirtysomething Irish director Benjamin Oliver (Colin Morgan), whose once-clamorous career buzz has slowed to a murmur. The scene we’re shown looks promising enough: a tartly worded lovers’ argument between two men, one played by Benjamin himself, diffidently explaining his existential struggles with the very concept of romance.
To the LGBTQ visitors that flock to Cape Cod every summer, Provincetown, Massachusetts is an enchanted mecca of acceptance, a place for hedonistic partying or chill relaxation, catering to all tastes. Mischa Richter glimpses that world only obliquely through dimly lit windows onto the main drag, Commercial Street, in his contemplative first documentary feature, I Am a Town.
Lisa Kennedy In a swank house, a man and a woman engage in amorous acrobatics before a large, glowing fireplace. The blaze seems a little ominous.
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticStuck together in close quarters, usually at a remote house somewhere, a small group of people tell truths, play mind games, and watch their relationships (and lives) gradually unravel.
Jessica Kiang “I’ve never been to Lebanon,” Lebanese-American high-schooler Marjoun (Veracity Butcher) tells us in voiceover. “Just here: Arkansas.” There’s the slightest uninflected irony in her delivery of that last word, suggesting that her story will archly observe the conundrum of many a second-generation immigrant: belonging to a place that often fails to recognize you as one of its own.
How can an angelic-looking, 16-year-old blond boy resist a more tenebrous, slightly older man with a silver earring, a sailboat, a motorcycle and nipples peeking from beneath his billowy 1980s shirts? It's no surprise when cute Alex falls in love with the edgy and alluring — if also ill-omened —David inSummer of 85 (Ete 85), the 19th feature from gifted French filmmaker François Ozon.
Lisa Kennedy Throughout the U.S.’s decades-long war in Afghanistan, Americans have seen (perhaps even been part of) a scene played out thousands of times in airport terminals and on military tarmacs. While the permanent fixture aspect of the airport reunion should vex, the emotion of it never gets old.
If you're old enough to remember a time when Nazis were scary enough all by themselves, you may be a bit flummoxed by Ghosts of War. Combining war and horror movie tropes in an awkward manner more silly than scary, this belated sophomore feature from writer/director Eric Bress (2004's The Butterfly Effect) makes you long for the days when American G.I.s didn't have to fight supernatural beings as well as German soldiers.
Also Read: 'The Painted Bird' Director Explains Why His 'Brutal' WWII Film Is Timelier Than 'The Avengers'Marhoul’s film isn’t shy about the steady stream of ugliness, and that’s likely to turn away the terror-sensitive, and yet its immersive aesthetic also allows for the visually poetic and compassionate, even if those moments are few and far between.Our unnamed protagonist, played by Kotlár with uncanny watchfulness, is not explicitly identified as Jewish or Roma.
Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticImagine a Japanese version of “Pygmalion” in which the sculptor continues to caress slabs of marble even after Galatea has come to life. That is the unusual premise of “Romance Doll,” a marital drama in which a sex doll maker’s rapt obssession with his new prototype, leads to rejection of his human muse.
Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticA cigar is never just a cigar where Sigmund Freud is concerned.
Lisa Kennedy Four Vietnam vets reunite for a mission, one that will lean on their wartime exploits but also expose more than a few old tensions.
Dennis Harvey Film CriticSnarled loops of time travel have proved a surprisingly versatile and rewarding fantasy-cinema trope in recent years, from the big-budget likes of “Edge of Tomorrow” to such enterprising indies as “Predestination,” not to mention comedies (“Palm Springs”), horror (“Happy Death Day”), romance (“Before I Fall”) and more.
For a debut feature, writer-director Charlène Favier’s powerful coming-of-age sports drama Slalom couldn't come at a more timely moment.
truth and beauty, too, it’s safe to say that “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” finds a bit of both of those things.Also Read: 'Palm Springs' Film Review: Andy Samberg Puts an Indie Rom-Com Spin on 'Groundhog Day'The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, went to the Berlin and True/False Film Festivals and had a series of virtual screenings on July 8 to celebrate National Dive Bar Day, with a virtual rollout scheduled for July 10.
Guy Lodge Film CriticIn “Archive,” an isolated scientist methodically pursues an artificial-intelligence ideal, developing a sequence of human-android beings and recycling their various parts until the ultimate prototype is achieved.
"They say that when you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. I wish it were that simple," says James, the main character, in his voiceover narration at the beginning of Volition.
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticWhen you look at the face of Danny Trejo, you see the creases and hollows and pockmarks, the eye pouches like saddlebags, the badges of a life so well-worn that, at first, that’s just about all you see. Yet the more you look, the more you notice a paradox.
Dennis Harvey Film CriticBeing released during an epidemic lends additional if unintended frisson to “The Beach House,” a cryptic yet reasonably involving thriller in which vacationers find themselves under threat. The nature of that threat remains ambiguous, but in its partially-airborne inescapability, it definitely hits a note of creepy relevance.