One of the true pleasures of a film festival is the ability to walk into a movie, know nothing about the film or the filmmakers, and walk out floored. Sometimes it leads to discovery, other times it leads to familiarity. … Continue reading Sunday Streams — BIRDS OF PASSAGE
Painted between 1348 and 1350, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains is one of the few surviving works from painter Huang Gongwang and considered by many to be one of China’s finest works. It’s a painting of rivers and mountains, and the movie … Continue reading DWELLING IN THE FUCHUN MOUNTAINS (CHUN JIANG SHUI NUAN)
Truth is a slippery thing. So are lies. There are bald-faced lies, little white lies, and evasions. But there are also constructs; stories and parables that aren’t necessarily true but point to an underlying and undeniable truth. Where the lies … Continue reading THE TRUTH (LA VÉRITÉ)
The Denver Film Festival has a pretty good track record. From red carpet galas to the obscure and unique, the annual festival’s 250+ lineup of features and shorts every November always surprises and enchants moviegoers. Some movies are released weeks … Continue reading Sunday Streams — I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS
There are a great number of personal movies playing at this year’s Denver Film Festival, but Honey Boy is the rare intersection between personal memoir and commercial enterprise. One that ought to break out of the festival circuit and into mainstream theaters. … Continue reading HONEY BOY
The allure of a portrait is the suggestion of the secret. Just look at the one of Lisa del Giocondo. We know when she was born, June 15, 1479, and we know Leonardo da Vinci painted her sometime in the … Continue reading PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
You don’t have to know a thing about soccer, or even care much for it, to enjoy Diego Maradona, Asif Kapadia’s documentary about the legendary Argentina player. Constructed from over 500 hours of archival footage, and bolstered by audio interviews with … Continue reading DIEGO MARADONA
It’s been 20 years since novelist Jonathan Lethem published Motherless Brooklyn — the story of Lionel Essrog, a low-level gumshoe with Tourette’s — and actor Edward Norton has been trying to bring it to the screen every since. Oh, to know the … Continue reading MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN
It’s been one week since wrapping the 46th Telluride Film Festival, which means it’s high time for reviews and fall previews. In the spirit of the festival, let’s kick things off by first looking back. Each year, TFF invites someone … Continue reading Sunday Streams — LATE AUTUMN
Few cinematic pleasures are greater than a Labor Day weekend spent inside Telluride’s picturesque box canyon. At 8,750 feet above sea level, the air is thin and crisp. The sun’s rays beat down on you, but a breeze instantly chills … Continue reading This week in Film — Dispatches From the 46th Telluride Film Festival
