A Brief History of Time

"...of this maverick of science with this iconoclast of filmmaking seemed like an ordained match. (Morris' last film, The..."

Oct. 30, 1992 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

White God

This Hungarian film is the Battleship Potemkin of canine mutiny

"...because of the amazing performances and the risky, genre-defying filmmaking that he throws into this kitchen-sink narrative. As an..."

April 10, 2015 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

The Overnighters

The fracking boom in Williston, N.D., has created hard times in the land of plenty as shown in this devastating doc.

"...by his faith, this is a compelling piece of filmmaking. As a distillation of many of the problems facing..."

Oct. 17, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Gravity

Sandra Bullock is lost in space – alone with the beauty, terror, and the laws of gravity.

"...example of one of the most rarefied genres of filmmaking – the two-character action-drama – Gravity stands above and..."

Oct. 4, 2013 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

October Baby

This faith-based film soft-pedals the Christianity while playing to the anti-abortion faithful.

"...Another pair of filmmaking brothers aims for the big time with this faith-based..."

April 13, 2012 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Animal Kingdom

An Australian family that commits crimes together avoids time together in this brutal look at the human survival instinct.

"...occurs in the film’s opening sequence, a bit of filmmaking so taut and effective that the memory of it..."

Aug. 27, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Shorts

A magic wishing rock becomes the undoing of an entire community in this appealing new kids romp from Robert Rodriguez.

"...time around it’s another family film for Rodriguez, whose filmmaking career at this point has two modes: kid pics..."

Aug. 21, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Cavite

This rocketing thriller that pits an unseen Filipino terrorist against an unwitting Filipino-American dupe is one of the purest examples of no-budget, seat-of-the-pants, gloriously DIY filmmaking since The Blair Witch Project.

"...of the purest examples of no-budget, seat-of-the-pants, gloriously DIY filmmaking since The Blair Witch Project in 1999. To paraphrase..."

July 14, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Lady Vengeance

The South Korean master of revenge dramas, Park Chan-wook, offers another entertaining puzzle of emotional nuance, riotous color, and bloody hell.

"...AFS@Dobie If you're a latecomer to the South Korean filmmaking phenomenon that is director Park Chan-wook, I'll say only..."

June 30, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Shaadi No. 1

In a country famous for its exhaustively over-the-top filmmaking, India’s Shaadi No. 1 is an extreme case: a maddeningly manic comedy-romance painted in vibrant shades of neon pink and Day-Glo violet.

"...trip. In a country famous for its exhaustively over-the-top filmmaking, India’s Shaadi No. 1 is an extreme case, a..."

Nov. 11, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Alone in the Dark

There's a certain majesty to German director Boll's style of filmmaking: a freedom from art, talent, skill of any formal kind, and the sheer pigheadedness to keep going at any cost.

"...certain majesty to German director Boll's unmistakable style of filmmaking: a freedom from art, talent, skill of any formal..."

Feb. 4, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Aviator

Scorsese's best film in years is a work of bravura, classic Hollywood filmmaking.

"...the spectacular aerial dogfights in Hughes’ first foray into filmmaking – 1930's Hell's Angels – The Aviator captures the..."

Dec. 24, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Manson Family

Shot over the course of 10 years, underground filmmkaker Jim Van Bebber tells the story we all think we know. This time, however, the story graphically unfolds from the perspective of Charles Manson.

"...Bebber is something of a cause célebrè in the underground-filmmaking world. Alongside the NYC cinema-of-transgression icons Nick Zedd, Richard..."

Oct. 29, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

House of the Dead

Students are stranded on an island of zombies; viewers are stranded by the filmmakers.

"...worth it: House of the Dead is astoundingly bad filmmaking, the sort of senseless, mind-warping goulash that makes all..."

Oct. 17, 2003 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Legend of Suriyothai

"...stateliness of the images echo an earlier era of filmmaking and storytelling. However, to Western eyes, all the little..."

July 25, 2003 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

From the sets to the story to the whole tone of the film, this first Potter film is an almost literal adaptation of J.K. Rowling's beloved children's book.

"...start working for that other notable director of youth filmmaking John Hughes and was thus somewhat suspect when it..."

Nov. 16, 2001 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Battlefield Earth

"...example of the “So Bad It's Good” school of filmmaking, this ranks right alongside such infamous stinkers as Plan..."

May 19, 2000 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Frogs for Snakes

"...drag on endlessly. It's an exercise in so what? filmmaking that has marked the restless, ambivalent edge of American..."

May 28, 1999 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Twenty Dates

"...at the very least have a salable piece of filmmaking. The first date goes poorly due to the proximity..."

March 26, 1999 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Where Angels Fear to Tread

"...Historians looking back at the last ten years of filmmaking might well dub this period the “E.M. Forster Years.”..."

April 24, 1992 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Opie on Top

AFF to honor Ron Howard's extraordinary contribution to filmmaking

"...Howard, the just-announced recipient of the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award, is just one lousy degree removed from Mitchell..."

July 14, 2009 Screens Post by Kimberley Jones

Straight Out of Brooklyn

"...combined with an adolescence spent reading how-to books about filmmaking readied Rich for the project ahead. His early childhood..."

June 28, 1991 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Arrebato

Addicted to filmmaking in this newly restored Spanish horror

"...after this, his second movie) transcribes that into the filmmaking obsession. Most especially, film's ability to mess with time...."

Oct. 8, 2021 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Ordinary Love

By-the-numbers cancer drama lives because of its performances

"...breast cancer into his original script; he and the filmmaking team of Barros D’Sa and Leyburn (Cherrybomb, Good Vibrations)..."

Feb. 28, 2020 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Pain and Glory

Almodóvar's latest classic is a self-portrait by a great, aging artist

"...a reflective look at the art and practice of filmmaking. Pain and Glory is a fictional work borne of..."

Oct. 25, 2019 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Long-gestating commentary on fantasy and delusion is Terry Gilliam at his most Gilliamesque (for better or worse)

"...has spent decades circling the theme of fantasy and filmmaking, from the cops raiding the set of Monty Python..."

May 10, 2019 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

The Beach Bum

Fear and loathing in Florida with Korine and Matthew McConaughey

"...Harmony Korine’s latest exercise in no-seatbelt-style filmmaking casts McConaughey in the role he was born to..."

March 29, 2019 Movie Review by Dan Gentile

Hotel by the River

Semi-improvised South Korean family drama is as much about pauses as what it spoken

"...tools that Hong has utilized over three decades of filmmaking to capture the absurd and the profound in often..."

March 1, 2019 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

Roma

Alfonso Cuarón bleakly romanticizes his childhood maid

"...perhaps best known for a certain type of bravado filmmaking in his career. He took the once staid Harry..."

Dec. 7, 2018 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

We the Animals

Growing up dysfunctional in this literary adaptation

"...much concerns itself with the more usual conventions of filmmaking, such as the passage of time or even plot..."

Sept. 14, 2018 Movie Review by Danielle White

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