Bradley Gibson

It still has everything a viewer could want from a movie experience.

The story is set in real world Mexico, not a cleaned-up movie world simulacrum.

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.

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

The film can be enjoyed on many levels, including getting just interplanetary on your favorite substance and waiting for the plethora of quotable lines.

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.

Neither the meals depicted nor the viewing experience should be rushed. Time is needed for the ingredients of the film to achieve a simmered state of perfection. Your patience will be rewarded.

As great as the script and cinematography are (they are both unassailable), the real magic of Unforgiven is in the performances.

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.

Mapantsula is timely and relevant 35 years later.

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

The film explores dark territory but treats the subjects with emotional intelligence and sensitivity.

Yogi brings us close to Masao’s personal tragedy while at the same time pulling back to see life and death at a cosmic level. The movie delves into the cycle of life and death enough so that that audience members can understand and accept the beauty of the process.

Lacôte’s second directorial feature, Night of the Kings, is an epically ambitious undertaking, roaring along on several parallel tracks, with a dizzying number of sub-stories to track. The world inside MACA prison is a complex, layered cultural and political system.

This film, this artist, this music, this story: all rare gems…see this film.

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.

Benjamin Naishtat directs with a steady hand and a strong vision. Pedro Sotero’s cinematography reveals the place and time in a respectful style that captures the period without satirizing it. This is a film that satisfies on every level and bears repeated viewings.

Miller has hinted that this may be the last adventure set in the wasteland, and if that’s true, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a powerful swan song to Furiosa, Max, and all the denizens of that blasted, delightful place.

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 filmmaker educates and entertains with a profoundly human story about the life of a young woman. Viewers will become invested in what happens to Di and learn about the Hmong tradition along the way.

It’s tempting to talk about Making Waves as being educational, but it is not dryly academic, though it does introduce the subject in some detail. This is a fun film to watch, with the interviews and graphics illustrating how the sound comes together, the doc is an exciting behind-the-scenes look at the effort and skill required to create movie sound artfully.

For those who don’t care as much about the moral of the story, there are many ways to enjoy this film. It’s a good time, and one can easily just vibe on the music and color palette, the goofy humor, and an amusing nostalgic catalog of Mattel toys and accessories without investing too much brain power into the social justice commentary.

Perrier is an undeniable talent and as a first outing, Jezebel is a powerful statement.

The film moves deliberately as we visit, in turn, the struggles of each character and then zoom back out to see the results impacting the family as a whole. The performances are flawless, each actor holding back their character’s inner turmoil tightly, to be revealed gradually as slight tell on the surface.

The animation is beautifully done, with striking color and simplicity.

Camilleri captures the beauty of Malta in Luzzu. He shows us the island, the sea, the colorful traditional boats with faces painted on the front, and the glamour of sunset over the ocean. He also shows us life there can be destructively difficult for people trying to make it on the low end, as they struggle to maintain their traditions and pride while the world changes around them.

Anyone seeking motivation, or just looking for inspiration, will marvel at the life story of Valerie Taylor, her sharks, and her love of the sea. She is a treasure, as is Sally Aitken for bringing her story to the screen.

This is war as a First Person Shooter, and it’s incredibly effective at putting the viewer in the moment.

This is a long-overdue must-see that sets the record straight for a woman whose whole life was glossed over in favor of a more camera-ready tabloid romance.

[Simon Rex] goes all-in and sells it with incredible skill and passion. Suzanna Son as Strawberry is also a revelation. She has star quality and a screen presence that is extremely rare. We will be seeing her again.

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.

Normally film is considered a director’s medium, but this one belongs to cinematographer Paolo Carnera. The footage of Felice rediscovering Naples is nothing short of stunning. Martone wisely understands that he has three resources in Nostalgia that other filmmakers do not: Carnera’s eye, Favino’s acting ability to quietly emote with no wasted motion, and a city that is heartbreakingly beautiful to behold.

Usually, films of plays are dull things. Limited access to camera angles, bad sound, lighting that doesn’t work for the movie camera. Theater and film are (appropriately) distinct media. Enter Spike Lee. He’s a master craftsman and his skills are as relevant as ever. Lee made use of all those potential disadvantages to inform his cinematic vision and encapsulate the stage performance into a striking moving picture.

Friedkin gives us a master class on the creative process of film and a set of expertly told war stories that thrill and inform. It just doesn’t get better than this.

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

The Belcher family’s adventures are heartwarmingly engaging as they pull together while annoying the crap out of each other. The music is catchy, and the characters are beautifully drawn, both figuratively and literally. The Bob’s Burgers Movie is the best family-musical-murder-mystery for the Adventure Time generation you’ll see this summer.

The appeal of M.C. Escher: Journey into Infinity is near-universal. It’s hard to imagine not falling under its mesmerizing spell with the same wonder that one would gaze on an Escher print and feel their mind slowly becoming part of the pattern depicted.

Chasing Chasing Amy is Sav Rodgers’ heartfelt, transparent, and articulate look at what it is to grow up gay and transgender in a world of heteronormative hostility. This is, hands-down, one of the best film experiences you will ever have.

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

Superb acting by all the leads and supporting players populate the desolate landscape with human dramas large and small in a place where people scrape a living out of harsh conditions.

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.

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.

Haynes carefully navigates the risky terrain of presenting real people (who are still among us) and facts in a scripted feature film, artfully blurring the lines between documentary and drama.

This film is not going to be for everyone, but for those who love horror served with a mean little edge of snarky humor, it’s quite a ride.

Scheinert adroitly conveys both the pathos and the humor of the situation. As dumb as the main characters are, the film itself is very clever.

For fans of Breaking Bad, it’s a satisfying return to and continuation of the story.

Watchmen: Chapter 1 is a delight for fans, and great follow up for those who enjoyed the comics and want to see more. Future chapters promise to be just as amazing.

To be authentic to the book, Nichols tells a story grounded in reality to paint an indelible, searing image of a moment fixed in time.

LaBruce dresses up kink in priestly robes and biker leather and raw skin and sets it out on a runway walk in open daylight.

Her responses and her journey, set alongside her own art, give a unique perspective on that meditation as well as to the crucial importance of art to document our time, to share experiences, and to enhance the quality of life.

The level of craft in Poe’s feature debut exceeds that of directors with more experience and portends a long career with more wonderful art to come. In Selah and the Spades, she has created a new classic tale of power, love, hate, loyalty, and betrayal featuring a stunningly talented cast.

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

Soucy’s documentary joyfully fulfills the mission of educating and entertaining, infused with the tremendous delight and loyalty of all those who worked with this seemingly magical production group.

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.

Lough has attempted impartiality by showing both sides without overtly stating a position. Either side could interpret the film as presenting evidence supporting their ideology. This both works and does not.

Director May El-Toukhy paints an engaging, uncompromising film in bold strokes, never looking away or shrinking from Anne’s boldness to act on her desires, or her willingness to remorselessly do whatever she must to restore the status quo of her life.

The characters are compelling, but I would like to have known more about how Peter came to this place in his life.

Wonka is fluffy, loud, colorful, and goofy. King is not looking to expand on the literary legacy of Roald Dahl; it’s not that serious.

For an ultra-low-budget Indie horror comedy, The Day After Halloween provides a good share of laughs and jolts.

Overall, June Zero is a worthy film that follows delayed justice coming to a Nazi war criminal, bringing to the surface events of the post-war that aren’t well known.

Featuring a mix of fiction and real life, Touch Me Not explores intimacy in an experimental feature film that manages to make sex seem unlikely and tiresome.

Hardy and Nachman’s film is the uncommon near-perfect documentary: the filmic elements fade, done so well the viewer focuses on the dogs and their journey. All of this leads up to the tremendous joy of freedom and partnership for those whose lives are transformed by their new guide dogs.

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.

The film runs long. Director Rick Alverson could have wrapped up this disturbing meditation in less time and still been as effective at painting his precisely beautiful dark image.

Bruce Thierry Cheung adapted this story from a novel by Dean Bakopoulos, brilliantly changing the setting from Michigan to the California desert. The film is light on dialog and heavy on brutally beautiful cinematography painting the mood.

Lowen does a masterful job of presenting the anti-choice movement without spin.

Normal is action-centric brain candy, with some pokes at timely social/political topics. It’s not that heavy, however, this film won’t change your life. It will allow you to relax into catharsis and put a smile on your face.

The Irish humor and setting make for a lovely time with the film as we get a droll glimpse of daily life in Ireland, and things that are lost and found again.

A Glitch in the Matrix is timely and full of mystery and wonder, but lingering on descriptions of surreal subjective experience misses the point. This would be a much more interesting movie if it had more focus on the science of simulation theory.

Remembering Gene Wilder is a beautiful, affectionate, albeit brief, biography of an actor who was adored by all.

The mafia murder images are stomach turning, viewers take note. Letizia talks about her life at great length and some of it is redundant, but she is always charming and inspirational, living as a strong, independent woman in a crushing patriarchy.

Despite struggling with a thematic focus, the film presents a woman who is well worth getting to know.

This is a fantastic film. Imagine any John Hughes film as a drug-fueled drama.

Cash’s film is reflective and accomplished, showing the world through the eyes of a young woman challenged by a painful childhood and by the culture of her times, finding her own way through the chaos around her to a functional adult life.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

The filmmaker plays with our assumptions around justice and race. While A Lot of Nothing uses elements ripped from the headlines, in this context, what you expect to come from it will say more about you than it does the script. The revelation of the final act changes everything that has gone before. Hang onto the edge of your seat for a wickedly entertaining ride.

This is a film that shouldn’t work. It should collapse under its own weight, but somehow, in the end, it all comes together after a fashion, and that’s the magic of Coppola.

The quiet pace of The Road Dance, along with the ebbs and flows of the events around the characters, give it an authenticity and space to feel the impact. You may be captivated just as the filmmaker and I were.

Yardie is a ripping classic gangster tale done right, but that’s only part of the appeal. It goes beyond the narrative into full cultural immersion with music as the window into a time and place.

What We Started achieves the directors stated goal of being an impressively comprehensive history of EDM. So much so that the film drags: unless one is a truly deep aficionado, 90 densely packed minutes of info about EDM is too much. It would work better with more music and less detail.

The 7 rating is for his movie. Vance himself, in his preachy, condescending book, gets it wrong.

As with all dramatized stories of real lives, artistic license hammers messy reality into a watchable film. Dramas are not documentaries. The essential emotions of Freddie’s life and the history of the band are here. There’s nothing unexpected in the structure of the movie. It’s a visit with some old mates you’ve not seen in a long time.

Red Right Hand fully delivers in the action realm.

The Argument winds up being either the most horrifying funny scriptwriting workshop ever, or a really f***ed up version of Groundhog Day. Either way, an exact-science blend of tight scripting and a strong ensemble cast make this film a new comedy gem.

It is exciting… enough and is carried by the fun cast and design work.

A dark, thrilling drama unfolds with these two spinning their own world on top of the grim reality of Gotham and Arkham.

Lanksy is a workman-like film with decent production values, but Rockaway is not Scorcese or Coppola. There are no great faults to find with it, except one: fans of the genre have literally seen every element of it before.

Willy’s Wonderland is a violent, glorious riot of inside-joke horror tropes and Cage’s own best tribute to a genre he helped to create.

The Almond and the Seahorse is filled with sadness and pain, but there are moments of sunlight and happiness, which is ultimately the most anyone can ask for in this life.

Films promoting self-improvement are suspect as they are prone to being preachy. To succeed, the filmmaker must create an experience so overwhelmingly entertaining the viewer forgets he/she is being improved upon. This film misses that mark, despite some engaging moments in the attempt.

Overall the pace is a little slow and the film is too quiet, but it’s definitely a notch above typical low-budget fare and entertaining to watch.

The dark comedy is subtle, but hilarious. Serious topics bubble up from masterful situational humor.

Call this “Film meh” instead of Film Noir. The only way it could be more pretentious is if it was in black and white. These characters are so unlikeable, you may find yourself hoping Margaret and Henry both get the shit kicked out of them for their arrogance and stupidity.