Bradley Gibson

Managing expectations is key to enjoying what, at its core, is a heartfelt journey of finding real connection in a fake world. Relax and enjoy how Maureen gets her groove back.

Mother Mary is an art film at its core, and will not suit everyone’s palette, but for the audience it connects with, there’s a beautiful journey from sorrow to confession and possible absolution.

Despite the flaws in the script, Pattinson and Zendaya deliver their roles beautifully.

The Bride is a delightfully insane romp that falls short of landing its message in mayhem. But what glorious mayhem it is.

The performances are understated and quiet, presented in dark cinematography, where most of the action happens in shadow. There are too many characters to keep track of, which dilutes the story, and it’s not always clear what is happening, but in the finale, it all comes down to one key idea about not breaking the rules.

Even if this doesn’t wind up being your favorite version of the film, it’s worth seeing Fennell’s updated take.

Crime 101 will get your pulse pounding on a wild ride.

The Friend’s House is Here provides an instructive window into the challenges of life in Tehran, as well as an opportunity for Westerners to share these moments and empathize with the people there.

American Doctor is a horrifying film to watch, but that’s the point.

Hanging by a Wire emphasizes the self-reliance of the people of Battagram, who are accustomed to solving problems on their own. Naqvi brings us along to witness their strength and determination on display.

Bonilla has directing chops, but she needs to refine them. She does show real potential and is a director to watch as her career proceeds.

Send Help is a brilliant, startlingly gory dark comedy. Sam Raimi still has that old magic.

With Garland crafting the script and DeCosta at the wheel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a winner on all fronts. It is wildly entertaining, never predictable, and explores the clash between superstition and tradition versus hard science.

The film is described as “docufiction,” meant to present an authentic sketch of working-class Australian life. While we are not always seeing the real events, we are getting the concentrated essence.

Europe’s New Faces is a worthy exercise to pull back the curtain on the experience, but it should perhaps be edited down to 90 minutes or so and include some framing context so we know who and what we are seeing and why the migrants chose to make this trip.

Marty Supreme is a rare film that will become a watershed moment in cinematic history, in the same way that Taxi Driver and Pulp Fiction did. It will be spoken of in reverent tones in years to come, and will be endlessly studied and then copied by lesser filmmakers.

Trier has created a masterwork, with layers of human drama and frailty (on a budget of less than $8M), soaring to the heights of unearned optimism only to crash into the inevitably of mortality.

The film is a monumental achievement, rolling in like distant thunder and lightning seen through the treeline.

Novelist Cormac McCarthy explored the idea that violence can be regenerative and redemptive. In Sisu: Road to Revenge, Helander has painted that concept on the movie screen 20 feet tall, near death, and dripping with gore. By becoming inhumane, Aatami seeks to recover his humanity. Never before will you have felt so cleansed by such brutality.

Highest 2 Lowest is brilliant filmmaking done as only Spike Lee can.

It is a short jump from laughing to screaming. There is no safe space. Cregger has a refined sensibility for identifying the core irritations in ordinary life and amplifying them into anxiety, escalating to terror.

Site is an ambitious film, exploring vision, reincarnation, absolution, and entangled souls as powerful themes in the undercurrent of the story.

Of course, Ballerina is not deeply cerebral cinema; rather, it’s goofy fun, but the filmmakers have elevated violence to a fine art, and it does play like a ballet in the elegant precision and breathtaking physicality of the performances. Enjoy it for what it is, and buckle up for an intense thrill ride.

Chambermaid is an engaging, languid look at the romance between two women who are both stuck in prescribed roles, and how the force of will and a sharp mind can make the most of the moment.

Wick is Pain is as informative as it is thrilling.

Not enough can be said about Cage’s performance. He truly has shaken off all pretense of self-consciousness and can just go “full send” on playing frustrated hysteria and sheer unabashed lunacy. He is simply unmatched and fearless in this type of role. He has elevated shrieking madness to pure art.

If you’ll forgive the silly first and second acts and dig into the main dish of Asian Persuasion, your patience will be rewarded.

One of the basic tenets of film-making is to show, not tell. You Burn Me wanders outside that guideline by making a show of telling, which is as interestingly meta as Piñeiro’s approach of juxtaposing the interaction of Sappho and Britomartis onto a modern-day tableau.