Joe Blessing

A poetic meditation on film, history, and loss, Three Minutes – A Lengthening gives a glimpse into a lost world and then unpacks just how much can be learned from that brief fragment.

Holler succeeds at putting a human face on large-scale economic trends, telling a suspenseful coming of age story that shows the true cost of lost opportunity.

Liborio is a beguiling film for the spiritually minded, with fascinating parallels to early Christianity, allowing the audience to question what they might do confronted with a messiah and also how that story might be shaped afterward.

Anchored by a strong lead presence in Dou and an endless variety of new encounters, “Bipolar” is a chaotic but rewarding journey of healing and discovery.

If most Hollywood stories are about finding yourself, Aleph would rather you lose yourself, letting go of the ego and looking on humanity from a cosmic remove.

Azor itself is a code word meaning “to not say too much” or “to keep one’s cards close,” a trait that the film and its protagonist so excel at, viewers will be kept guessing until the last moment.

Though vastly different, Spoor is a fascinating counterpoint to Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!,” as both feature a feminine inflected natural sphere attempting to defend itself from the depredations of a boorish patriarchy. But where Aronosky’s allegory flattens its Mother Earth figure into an eternal victim, “Spoor” plays a more subversive game, suggesting that the repressed will rise and that victims will not always remain that way.

The Truffle Hunters is a charming, life-affirming film, a look at an enduring folkway that brings fun and flavor to Italians every year.

In Between Dying is a powerful parable of spiritual awakening.

Critical Thinking shows that Leguizamo makes a good teacher on screen and behind the camera –he’s telling a story that is truly inspiring and educational, but also revealing its relevance and keeping it fun.

We Are Little Zombies is much more about style than story. Nagahisa delivers a visual tour-de-force, careening wildly through an unimaginable array of arresting shots.

In a movie landscape cluttered with coming of age stories, it’s worth asking what distinguishes a straightforward example such as Premature. Two things do – authenticity and Zora Howard. Howard is a breakout talent and she endows this story with grace and passion.

Zombi Child is the rare film that’s both rich in ideas and fun, a reckoning with forces colonial powers would like buried, but that won’t stay dead.

Even if Varda by Agnes sometimes betrays its roots as a lecture, it’s a touching and memorable reflection on the life and art from a true legend of cinema, one whose ideas are as relevant as ever.

“Making Waves” covers an impressive amount of ground in 90 minutes and is a perfect introduction to the subject for a student or casual fan.

The Irishman, which feels like the work of an older, wiser, less flashy filmmaker, is much more preoccupied with the soul of Frank Sheeran and reckoning with his choices.

Even if the personal and political don’t always line up neatly in The Moneychanger, it’s an engaging character study of a man with little character, elevated by Veiroj’s unusual eye.

Containing some of his most open reflections and most electric performances, Rolling Thunder Revue is a terrific addition to the Dylan film canon and an absolute must for Dylanophiles.

For a romantic comedy, Photograph is a little light on romance or comedy, but it makes up for this in thoughtfulness and charm. Photograph is a wistful, old-fashioned romance for those struggling to move forward with one foot in the past.

The restraint with which Youmans characterizes is refreshing, but the performances can also feel diminished by inscrutable elements, whether that’s missing narrative context or simply parts of scenes that are simply hard to see or hear entirely. Still, Burning Cane would be an impressive debut at any age, showing a distinct style, a suggestive eye for setting and detail, and an admirable willingness to experiment.

Amazing Grace is a showcase of one of America’s greatest talents and a rush of pure spiritual uplift. There are only so many ways to praise Franklin’s voice and they all fall short – just go and hear it for yourself.

“Boyz in the Wood” is a jolt of irreverent fun that wants you to laugh at the stupid and depraved behavior of teenage boys but also to know that at the end of the day, the kids will be all right.

Combined with a narrative with a more defined ending, this darker tone suits Sang-soo’s minor-key ruminations, injecting more tension and pathos into his trademark conversations.

Though Monos feels very contemporary aesthetically, its subjects are timeless: the malleability of group dynamics and how subtle changes can lead to either violence or harmony. It’s a philosophical film with very few words, examining its ideas through powerful images and feelings.

Light from Light is a quiet and modest film with big subjects on its mind and it will reward those viewers with the patience to listen to the faint wavelengths at the end of the dial.

If you come looking for an effective drama with heavy ideas about family and justice, The Mule will likely disappoint. However, if the idea of an oddball road trip with Clint Eastwood toting a few kilos in the back sounds appealing, you’re in for a treat.

Van Gogh (Willem Dafoe) is returned to his human dimensions, by a keen script and wonderful lead performance, while still being held up as an example of the artist’s ability to transcend time.

Every character must negotiate their own boundaries while trying to hold on to what, and whom, they love, and the detailed portrait of that struggle saves the movie from its second half mistakes.

The film works best when at its simplest — two brilliant actors sparring with each other, Kingsley attempting to justify the horrific, Issac attempting to stay human and just while grappling with the embodiment of the Third Reich’s unfathomable legacy.

There’s nothing particularly special about Siberia, but with a winning Keanu Reeves performance, it maintains enough moment-to-moment suspense that it just might be enough to satisfy moviegoers yearning for a throwback genre film.

Hollywood has been showing people hanging off of things for over 100 years, and if that’s something you enjoy, Skyscraper is the pinnacle of this trope, forcing The Rock to dangle, hang, and swing at insane heights above the street time and time again. This is the MO of the whole movie, taking things that have worked before and pumping them up to The Rock-sized spectacle; it’s not too original but it provides what it promises.

Sollers Point is an intimate and wise character study, not only of an unformed young man but also of a neighborhood struggling to preserve itself in the face of economic decline.