Michael Talbot-Haynes

Even after over four decades, Diva still impresses with Beineix’s masterful mix of highbrow and lowbrow. With the stunning new 4K restoration, Diva retains its well-deserved status as a late 20th-century movie masterpiece.

This is a film that gets savored through reflection as you put all the pieces together and realize the scope of its achievement.

All you have to do is forget about watching the movie and let the movie watch you. Just listen to the thunder in the distance, overhear part of someone else’s life, and feast your eyes on vistas unseen until now.

The Fabelmans will take your expectations of the Spielberg brand and tie them to a rocket. It is engaging and compelling. I am still pondering it days later. If you love movies, you owe it to yourself to catch this on that same big screen that Sammy loves so much.

EO is an incredible film, but do be aware it does skew bitter, especially at the finale.

The story twists and struggles keep engaging through, whether you know the outcome or not.

The proceedings have that perfect narrative balance of a simple fairytale, leading to baffling visions and fantastic ideas.

It is exciting in ways you cannot imagine and must be seen to be believed.

Black Ice is the kind of film where you are in a different world once finishing it.

Huesera: The Bone Woman will take your conception of the limits of the horror genre and break every bone in its body.

There is this marvelous hard-boiled narrative style Vigas employs, with long periods without dialogue and little exposition. The way the intrigue is built as the picture progresses almost takes us into thriller territory. This is the cinematic storm the filmmaker creates here when a child’s yearning meets the brutality of an outlaw land.

Mothersbaugh himself acknowledges that the band’s curse has always been being ahead of its time, but it is fitting that we have finally arrived at a time when that is obvious. If you have not seen this legendary band play live yet, do so while you still have the chance, if you can. Whether you have or have not, see Devo as soon as possible.

The Falling Sky doesn’t spoon-feed you any information; rather, it blows it up your nose. This production, without explanation, works brilliantly in immersing the audience in the electricity of the Reahu ritual. Not knowing what is going on or what is heading towards you instills a discombobulation that allows you to surrender to the void and go with it.

The twists and turns happen right on point to keep the lively meter cranked up to a wicked level. You don’t even get that feeling that you watched half a movie like with other two-part pictures, as all the crescendos you need are included here.

Every frame will blow your baby dome to smithereens, as I can guarantee you have seen nothing like this.

Prisoner’s Daughter is a drama that stings hard but also unleashes a lot of hope. It is a splendid reason to be excited about the great American indie again.

It is a magnificent documentary on art and how artists interact with the world.

Limbo is a cinematic monument for the shadows of the doomed.

Bye Bye Tiberias is a powerful portrait of how broken things come back together over and over.

Soderbergh does the whole movie in long takes using a wide-angle steady-cam setup. It is a situation fertile for great acting, as the long shots allow these performers to really inhabit their characters.

The Black Guelph is as gritty as gritty can get.

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) is a grand rock and roll buffet with something for everybody.

Ardent fans of Brazilian music will be able to shift through this. Others, like me, will have difficulty finding the point in all the haze.

It makes the mistake of developing the characters less in order to increase the chance of symbolism more.

Backspot has the same punch as Run, Lola, Run. Just like that film, the thrills are time released into your system at critical points throughout your viewing.

The Three Musketeers – Part II: Milady is a sky-high bonfire for the planet to gather around and witness legend in motion.

While the delivery of the thrills falls into action territory due to the power contests, there is a palatable sense of dread kept up that will satisfy the horror crowd.

She Is Conann shatters the limits of cinematic imagination.