VIFF: The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonca Filho) Link: https://theinsert.substack.com/p/viff-the-secret-agent-kleber-mendonca

VIFF 2025: Christy Written by Taylor Baker "With some decent fight choreography and dedicated turns by Merritt Weaver and Ethan Embry as Christy's mother and father, this would-be redemption story amounts to little by the time we see Sweeney walk out and bump fists with..."

Check out our first VIFF digest, covering the films MIROIRS NO. 3, DEATHSTALKER, and MIDDLE LIFE #VIFF www.filmfroth.com/viff-2025-pa...

Check out our second VIFF digest, covering the films DRACULA, THE SECRET AGENT, and THE LOVE THAT REMAINS #VIFF www.filmfroth.com/viff-2025-pa...

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN: Jennifer Lopez dances her heart out and relative newcomer Tonatiuh is a revelatory discovery, but the rest of this musical never rises to meet them. Lovely costumes, shame about the forgettable songs and choreography 📽️ My review: www.thewrap.com/kiss-of-the-...

In the latest retelling of #KissoftheSpiderWoman, Tonatiuh outshines his better-known co-stars, stealing the spotlight as an imprisoned gay man creating a Technicolor escapist fantasy for his political prisoner cellmate. moviepie.com/kiss-of-the-...

Can’t say I’m shocked that I found #TronAres to be something of a mixed bag, as that’s how it seems to go with this series. Still liked it, though, even if it never delivers on its potential - much like its predecessors. 🤷‍♀️ And, yes, that NIN score is phenomenal. 🔥 moviefreak.com/tron-ares-20...

WWII survival at sea thriller with a 20-foot Great White Shark lurking beneath the waves of the impenetrable nowhere of the Timor Sea? Yeah. That’s my kind of jam, and director Kiah Roache-Turner more than delivers the goods. It’s his best film yet. #BeastOfWar moviefreak.com/beast-of-war...

"Nostalgia and 3D printed soldiers doesn't exactly save TRON: ARES from disintegrating" - Morgen goes on a rocky thrillride with Jared Leto and Greta Lee in the latest installation which finds the classic video game breaking into the real world 📽️ thesunbreak.com/2025/10/09/n...

With its propulsive Nine Inch Nails soundtrack and eye-popping visuals, Tron: Ares is really just a great-looking two-hour music video. #NIN #TronAres moviepie.com/tron-ares-20...

HOUSE OF DYNAMITE: Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear war drama is interesting on paper, but empty in execution, peaking in the middle before crashing down at the end. Instead of truly staring down annihilation, Bigelow blinks. Rebecca Ferguson innocent 📽️ My review: www.inlander.com/screen/revie...

In terms of its sights and sounds, TRON: ARES (2025) soars. However, its characters, story, and themes don’t work quite as well. My review. macguff.in/film-reviews... @seattlecritics.bsky.social @ofcs.bsky.social #filmsky

Part three of my #NYFF63 diary. @seattlecritics.bsky.social A House of Dynamite opens today at @siffnews.bsky.social Uptown.

VIFF 2025: Two Prosecutors Written by Taylor Baker "Losznitsa, a director who primarily films documentaries, lets his cameras roll for extended sequences, allowing the spaces to come to life and the characters time to inhabit them. It is when Kornyev acts with kindness or humanity that the..."

Get ready to read your new iconic cinematic ingénue Maddie. That's right, MADDIE’S SECRET, the great directorial debut from John Early, has been acquired for distribution by Magnolia Pictures for theatrical release in 2026. To prepare, give my rave festival review a read below 📽️👇

Channing Tatum and Derek Cianfrance team up to tell the true story of a good-natured criminal who hides out in Toys "R" Us in "Roofman". silverscreenriot.com/tatum-shines...

I went to experience THE MATRIX in "Shared Reality" at Cosm in Los Angeles. This is what happened. youtu.be/ovAla6yd4xU

Another Seattle Landmark gone. RIP Egyptian. www.siff.net/media/news/p...

Incredibly sad news. The Egyptian was my favorite theater in Seattle and I had so many amazing experiences there. The last time I was there before it shut down I got to hear Thelma Schoonmaker wax poetic about the brilliant Michael Powell. A real loss for the city.

Very sad news, leaves a giant hole in the already collapsing Seattle cinema ecosystem. Would be cool if Seattle Central finds a way to reopen it as a theater in some capacity.

It’s a historic venue. I have so many incredible filmgoing memories of my times there over my decades in Seattle. Heartbreaking. Sadly not surprising. Still heartbreaking. 💔 😢

Part two of my #NYFF63 diary. @seattlecritics.bsky.social (This man, the real-deal Peter Hujar, does not appear on screen.)

Very sad news about the Egyptian, remembering the line stretching around the block on the rainy night when we played FANTASY A GETS A MATTRESS in collaboration with @siffnews.bsky.social for our 2023 PNW series.

BREAKING: The SIFF Egyptian, the historic and beloved Capitol Hill movie theater, will not be reopening. After decades of bringing movie magic to Seattle audiences, the space will now permanently conclude operations under SIFF 📽️ My story for @seattletimes.com: www.seattletimes.com/entertainmen...

Caught up with THE SMASHING MACHINE (2025), which I found shockingly disappointing given the talent involved in it. My review. macguff.in/film-reviews... @seattlecritics.bsky.social @ofcs.bsky.social #filmsky

Part one of my #NYFF63 diary. Plus, a look back at NYFF 41.

New for subscribers only, a look at a pair of Marko Zaror fight films. Affinity, in which he fights an army of drug dealers, and Diablo, in which he fights Scott Adkins. www.thechinesecinema.com/affinity-bra...

VIFF: Resurrection, The Love that Remains Link: https://theinsert.substack.com/p/viff-resurrection-the-love-that-remains

NYFF 2025: The Currents (Las Corrientes) Written by Eric Zhu "Although various metaphorical dimensions of water are explored, chief among them the feeling of being trapped in a vortex between Lina’s escapist desire and maternal love, “The Currents” is a film about keeping up appearances in..."

VIFF: Sentimental Value, Miroirs No. 3 Link: https://theinsert.substack.com/p/viff-sentimental-value-miroirs-no

Sure, 'TRON: Ares' looks and sounds pretty cool (that NIN score is 🔥) but it's accompanied by a story that fails to make you feel anything at all. A real algorithmic uncanny valley of a movie-going experience. silverscreenriot.com/tron-ares-is...

I'll be moderating Seattle Film Society's In Focus showcase of the short documentaries of Georgia Krause on Thurs, Oct 16, at @nwfilmforum.bsky.social (SFC is unrelated to @seattlecritics.bsky.social, though we collaborate on occasion). Tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6720305

Announcing the nominees for the Seattle Film Critics Society's 2025 Best Pacific Northwest Film award with a screening series at @siffnews.bsky.social

Hello Tacoma! Got some good news for you: the Tacoma Film Festival kicks off this week @thegrandcinema.bsky.social with the essential WTO/99 and I'm moderating a Q&A with director Ian following the 7 p.m. Thursday showing. Be there to see then talk one of 2025’s most vital documentaries 📽️

Kathryn Bigelow enlists an A-list cast to tell the story of a rogue nuclear mission barreling towards the United States. A movie about stakes and nuclear holocaust, it succeeds as a detail-rich procedural but doesn't really land as a compelling whole. silverscreenriot.com/kathryn-bige...

It Was Just an Accident Written by Eric Zhu "While on first glance, this is one of Panahi’s weaker films, there’s still evident thought put into the deployment of theatrical artifice. The film pointedly alternates between urban neorealism...and the abstracted stage of the..."

VIFF: The Last One For the Road (Francesco Sossai) Link: https://theinsert.substack.com/p/viff-the-last-one-for-the-road-francesco

📽️ Family drama brings Daniel Day-Lewis back to the screen in ANEMONE -- the three-time Oscar winner is out of retirement and back in theaters this weekend. thesunbreak.com/2025/10/04/a...

Lucile Hadžihalilović's fourth feature, The Ice Tower, is now playing some US cities, but not Seattle (I don't recall an opening for Earwig either, which I caught up with via screener). In some ways, the new work plays like a sequel or companion to Innocence, her first. @seattlecritics.bsky.social

NYFF: Mare's Nest (Ben Rivers) Link: https://theinsert.substack.com/p/nyff-mares-nest-ben-rivers

It's impossible for Daniel Day-Lewis to give a bad performance, even in an overly arty and ultimately unsatisfying film like #Anemone. #DanielDayLewis moviepie.com/anemone-2025/

SHELL: While it lives in the shadow of THE SUBSTANCE, stand by what I wrote last year on this Kate Hudson and Elisabeth Moss film and why horror cinema can be a big tent. The finale especially made me much less crabby. It's now streaming on VOD 📽️ My review: www.thewrap.com/shell-review...

As a drama #TheSmashingMachine doesn’t have an interesting enough cinematic arc to be satisfying, and as a sports film I was left still not knowing a heck of a lot about what was going on. moviepie.com/the-smashing...

Terrific performance from its adorable canine lead Indy aside, this mangy spin on secluded backwoods paranormal activity is a frustrating letdown. #GoodBoy sadly was not for me. moviefreak.com/good-boy-202...

Dwayne Johnson gives his all to a movie less about brawling and MMA and more about his character's internal struggles. His Oscar buzz is legitimate. However, with THE SMASHING MACHINE, has a movie ever been this afraid of its own shadow? Now playing everywhere. @seattlecritics.bsky.social

THE LOST BUS (2025) does not reach the heights of director Paul Greengrass' more acclaimed work, but it shows him still fully capable of creating pulse pounding action and suspense. My review. macguff.in/film-reviews... @seattlecritics.bsky.social @ofcs.bsky.social #filmsky

'The Smashing Machine' sees Dwayne (“Don’t Call Him The Rock Anymore”) Johnson actually turn in a serious, actorly performance but this UFC biopic is shockingly flat and fails at the most basic aspects of filmmaking. It's quite bad. silverscreenriot.com/the-smashing...

THE SMASHING MACHINE: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has never disappeared into a role quite like how he does in Benny Safdie’s latest. It gives him room to triumph as the great actor we always knew he could be. See it starting today @siffnews.bsky.social 📽️ My review: www.inlander.com/screen/revie...

The dark Irish drama 'Anemone' features the return of legendary performer Daniel Day-Lewis in a movie written and directed by his own son. It's not a movie that will likely connect with mass audiences but there's something eerily mystifying about the union. silverscreenriot.com/anemone-flow...