BUGONIA, the new Yorgos Lanthimos film, features impressive craftsmanship, but its technical strengths are deployed in service of grotesquerie and sadism under the guise of philosophizing. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/33-bugonia

BLUE MOON works best when Ethan Hawke’s Lorenz Hart has other strong personalities to bounce off of. Richard Linklater's conceptual approach has merit, but the opening act, in which Hawke plays to the rafters, is a tough sit. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/33-blue-moon

IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU has appealing qualities but lacks the clarity of characterization needed to make its descent-into-madness structure land. Tony covers writer-director-actress Mary Bronstein’s second feature, following 2008’s YEAST. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/if-i-had-l...

With Criterion Channel’s recent addition of five long-unavailable films by Kira Muratova, Aret discusses CHANGE OF FATE, her 1987 adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s play THE LETTER, transposed to a Central Asian colonial outpost during the Soviet era. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/change-of-...

For all the intellectual and visceral bells and whistles of ONE BATTLE OF ANOTHER, the relationships at the core of the film feel curiously underbaked. Tony covers Paul Thomas Anderson’s VINELAND-inspired political thriller for this week’s review. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/29-one-bat...

Michael Angelo Covino’s SPLITSVILLE drifts between darkly comic surrealist touches and frank emotional confessions. Aret discusses why the balance doesn’t hold for this week’s review. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/28-splitsv...

The new SPINAL TAP sequel is a loosely-structured jaunt through the elderly lives and post-fame careers of the rockers from the original. Tony covers the pleasant enough trifle that is THIS IS SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES for this week’s review. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/27-this-is...

Darren Aronofsky's CAUGHT STEALING takes a Hitchcockian wrong man scenario but fails to deliver the ambiguity or genuine suspense the premise demands. Aret covers the film for this week’s review. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/26-caught-...

Spike Lee's remake of HIGH AND LOW delivers potent thrills alongside some unfortunate moralizing inherited from the original. Tony covers HIGHEST 2 LOWEST for this week’s review. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/highest-2-...

A new restoration of THE FRIENDS gives Tony the occasion to write about another Shinji Somai film, this one more family friendly than LOVE HOTEL. Tony discusses Somai's long-take style and his place in the underappreciated Japanese cinema of the '90s. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/24-the-fri...

The new Olivier Assayas autofiction Covid lockdown film, SUSPENDED TIME, is more of a filmic diary than a fully realized work of narrative art. In this week’s review, Aret ponders whether some subjects are inherently resistant to good cinema. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/23-suspend...

Like much of Hong Sangsoo’s late work, BY THE STREAM discards some of the narrative tricks in Hong’s repertoire in favor of a relatively newfound tone of serenity. Tony sorts through the pluses and minuses of this approach in this week’s review. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/22-by-the-...

For this week’s review, Aret covers EDDINGTON and wonders why contemporary genre directors bring it upon themselves to do social commentary. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

With INVENTION, Courtney Stephens frames her improvised grief narrative around an investigation into the objects, ideas and memories a deceased father left behind. Aret covers this innovative collaboration between Stephens and actress Callie Hernandez. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

Tony praises the craftsmanship of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s CLOUD, but questions the internal coherence of some of its narrative turns. CLOUD opens in NYC tomorrow at @filmlinc.bsky.social / @ifccenter.bsky.social, and in LA on July 25 at the Nuart Theatre. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

Paul Vecchiali’s brilliant film ROSA LA ROSE, FILLE PUBLIQUE opens in NYC tomorrow at @metrographnyc.bsky.social. And in LA, @mezzaninefilm.bsky.social is showing the film at Brain Dead Studios on July 15. Aret covers the film for this week’s review. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

On this week’s episode we discuss FLOATING CLOUDS (1955), a peak of Naruse’s career, and A WANDERER’S NOTEBOOK (1962), a biopic about Fumiko Hayashi, the author of the novel FLOATING CLOUDS is based on. These are two of Naruse’s six Hayashi adaptations. open.spotify.com/show/3GjAyNf...

Tony deems 28 YEARS LATER a feature-length advertisement for its sequels. The commercial requirements of the film prove to be an obstacle that Danny Boyle cannot circumvent. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

On today’s podcast, we discuss SUMMER CLOUDS (1958), Naruse’s first color film and also his first in CinemaScope. We then discuss his great final film, SCATTERED CLOUDS (1967). These films both screen at Metrograph this weekend. open.spotify.com/episode/0OMa...

With MATERIALISTS, Celine Song’s writerly conceptualizations threaten to sap the film’s dramatic charge. Tony covers Song’s directorial follow-up to PAST LIVES. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

Metrograph added encore screenings of these films to the Naruse series schedule! If you’re in NYC and missed the films, or just want to see them again, make sure to attend these screenings and then listen to our podcast on FLOWING and LATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS linked below :)

On this week’s podcast, we discuss FLOWING (1956) and LATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS (1954), which both depict the lives of current and former Geishas as their way of life is threatened by cultural and economic forces. These films screen tomorrow @metrographnyc.bsky.social. open.spotify.com/episode/5HBG...

With the Roberto Minervini retrospective currently underway in LA via @acropoliscinema.bsky.social, Aret covers the 2nd & 3rd films of Minervini’s Texas trilogy: LOW TIDE and STOP THE POUNDING HEART. These films screen at Brain Dead Studios on June 21. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/weekly-rev...

While Wes Anderson’s latest film is not a departure from his recent maximalist approach, it does demonstrate a more purposeful deployment of his trademark aesthetic. Aret reviews THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME and reflects on Anderson’s late career. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

The Roberto Minervini retrospective in LA starts on Friday via @acropoliscinema.bsky.social with a screening of Minervini’s latest, THE DAMNED. Below you’ll find Aret’s review of the film. The retrospective spans from this Friday June 13 to June 23. More details — www.acropoliscinema.com

On this week’s episode of the podcast, we continue our Mikio Naruse season with a discussion of LIGHTNING (1952), one of Naruse’s best films. We will be back with more Naruse episodes as the New York retrospective migrates to Metrograph starting tomorrow! open.spotify.com/episode/7HbX...

DESERT OF NAMIBIA evokes the messy truths of life through its inventive formal play. Tony finds cause for celebration in encountering an exciting new voice in writer-director Yoko Yamanaka. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

The In Plain Sight podcast is returning! Episode 4 is now live. On this episode we discuss THREE SISTERS WITH MAIDEN HEARTS and WIFE! BE LIKE A ROSE!, two films from 1935 that screened at @jsfilmnyc.bsky.social for the Mikio Naruse retrospective in NYC. open.spotify.com/episode/0vTo...

Whose summer will it be this year? The @amcinematheque.bsky.social screening of DAY OF WRATH on June 7, the one year anniversary of Brat, is set to herald Carl Theodor Dreyer Summer. Aret covers Dreyer’s film ahead of the impending viral sensation. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

For this week’s review, Tony compares his grief over the artistic decline of Jia Zhangke to the grief of growing apart from an old friend. Tony covers the shortcomings of CAUGHT BY THE TIDES, Jia’s decades-spanning romantic drama. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

Roberto Minervini, a filmmaker know for blurring the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction, presents a compellingly unique approach on how to make a Civil War period film in his latest feature, THE DAMNED. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

APRIL presents a mix of striking dramatic and symbolic elements that don’t quite congeal into a satisfying whole. Aret covers the second feature film from director Dea Kulumbegashvili. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

NYC, make sure to attend this retrospective of the films of Mikio Naruse starting this Friday! The series starts at Japan Society and migrates to Metrograph on June 5. Naruse is the director we chose to focus on for the first episodes of the In Plain Sight podcast. japansociety.org/film/mikio-n...

With THE SHROUDS, David Cronenberg abandons narrative integrity and character consistency only to present a series of schematically conceptual psychosexual tropes. Tony covers Cronenberg’s latest for this week’s review. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

It’s time for the monthly roundup of capsules on recent viewings. Aret covers Michael Almereyda’s NADJA (1994) and David Cronenberg’s STEREO (1969). Tony discusses two films by Jun Ichikawa — DYING IN A HOSPITAL (1993) and TOKIWA-SO NO SEISHUN (1996). inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/monthly-ro...

For this week's review, Tony covers Season 3 of THE WHITE LOTUS and dissects the stumbling blocks that prevent the series from fully succeeding as an aesthetically coherent auteur-driven TV project. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

The @amcinematheque.bsky.social’s Michael Almereyda series starts tonight in LA. In advance of Saturday’s MARJORIE PRIME screening, Aret covers Almereyda’s exploration of a way in which AI could be used to reckon with the haunting presence of the past. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

The effects of the tariffs on Canada are already being felt 😔 In these trying times, In Plain Sight is committed to Canadian-American unity 🤝

On the occasion of LOVE HOTEL's restoration and theatrical release, Tony explores how Shinji Somai meets the strict demands of the pink film while asserting his singular directorial vision. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/film-of-th...

In EEPHUS, a film about the final game at a soon-to-be-demolished baseball field, Carson Lund's direction conveys a warmth and grandeur that the grumbling and stumbling of the players cannot undermine. Aret covers Lund's feature directorial debut. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/ips-film-o...

Any release of a new film by Alain Guiraudie is cause for celebration at IPS HQ, and Guiraudie's latest is no exception. @tghuang.bsky.social covers MISERICORDIA and a progressively farcical phase in the French master's career. inplainsightcinema.substack.com/p/ips-film-o...

For this week's review, Aret covers the latest film from writer-director Kit Zauhar, THIS CLOSENESS. open.substack.com/pub/inplains...

Today In Plain Sight is re-launching as a blog on Substack. Expect weekly film reviews and other musings on cinema from contributors Tony Huang (@Tghuang) and Aret Frost. For our first film of the week, Tony covers Kazik Radwanski's MATT AND MARA. open.substack.com/pub/inplains...