It was a struggle. Still, I tried my best to articulate why Kleber Mendonça Filho's THE SECRET AGENT is one of the great cinematic achievements of 2025. Maybe this thing ended up more essay than review, but please give it a read. At The Film Experience: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/11...

WICKED: FOR GOOD can only rely on its leading ladies up to a point. While Erivo and Grande soar as mightily as in last year's first act, the conclusion to this tale is a descent into the abyss, defying gravity no more. My review, for The Film Experience: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/11...

I'm overjoyed that the Gotham Awards recognized Tessa Thompson's tremendous work as the titular diva in HEDDA. I waxed rhapsodic about her in my review of Nia DaCosta's Ibsen reinvention, posted earlier today at The Film Experience. Give it a read! thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/10...

Unsurprisingly, THE MASTERMIND was right up my alley. Kelly Reichardt's ironic take on the heist movie is a deadpan hilarious comedy of failure led by a perfectly pathetic Josh O'Connor. Come read my review at The Film Experience. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/10...

Pedro Pinho's I ONLY REST IN THE STORM demands the decolonization of our imaginations! Blessed with a magnetic turn by Cleo Diára and great film photography by Ivo Lopes Araújo, it's a rich text, funny as fuck and just as queer. My #NYFF review: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/10...

IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU gives a whole new meaning to "send hole pics." Rose Byrne is tremendous as a woman under the influence and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, holding together the tragicomic meditation on motherhood as if her life depended on it. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/10...

Lucile Hadžihalilovic's THE ICE TOWER, now in theaters, is both a retelling of the Snow Queen fairytale and its echo as a backstage melodrama with a Freudian twist. Marion Cotillard is entrancing while Clara Pacini recalls a young Sandrine Bonnaire. My review: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/10...

Koberidze's DRY LEAF was shot on a 2008 Sony Ericsson, with a resolution of 240p. It's also the most beautiful film of the cinematic year. Come read this review at The Film Experience, part of my #NYFF coverage. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/10...

PETER HUJAR'S DAY looks like a very straightforward project at first glance. And yet, I found some fascinating tensions within Ira Sachs' latest, especially regarding portraiture as an artistic practice. Find my #NYFF review at The Film Experience: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

The Jennifer Lawrence stans must calm down because Nadia Melliti makes for an amazing Cannes Best Actress winner. I was lucky enough to watch Hafsia Herzi's THE LITTLE SISTER as part of my #TIFF50 experience. Come read my thoughts at The Film Experience: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

The troubled legacy of Spanish colonialism in North Africa echoes through three #TIFF50 titles. There is Eimi Imanishi's NOMAD SHADOW, Oliver Laxe's SIRÂT, and Maryam Touzani's CALLE MÁLAGA with a luminous Carmen Maura. Read my reviews at The Film Experience: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

Lucía Aleñar Iglesias's FORASTERA is an impressive feature debut that earned its director the FIPRESCI prize at this year's TIFF. It tells the story of a summertime haunting, as a grief-stricken girl starts to assume her dead grandmother's identity. My review: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

A POET and KOKUHO both played at #TIFF50 and will represent their countries, Colombia and Japan, at the 98th Academy Awards. For The Film Experience, I reviewed these stories of artists grasping at greatness, jeopardising their dignity and sense of self. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

It's been two weeks since I saw it at #TIFF50, but I can't stop thinking about THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE. Blessed with a fervent Amanda Seyfried performance and Daniel Blumberg's awe-inspiring song score, Mona Fastvold's experiment is a musical like none other. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

Angeline Jolie is superb in Alice Winocour's latest. COUTURE is a mural-like look at the Paris Fashion Week that has plenty to say about bodies and their intrinsic fragility. I reviewed it, along with plenty of other #TIFF50 titles, at The Film Experience: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

Fresh off its #TIFF50 world premiere, Tim Mielant's STEVE is already in theaters. Yeon Sang-ho's THE UGLY isn't too far behind, opening next week for a limited release. I reviewed both titles at The Film Experience. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

Bursting with outrage at what British imperialism inflicted on the Māori people, MARAMA is an anticolonial spin on a classic Gothic tale. Taratoa Stappard's feature debut had its world premiere at #TIFF50, and here's my review for The Film Experience: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

Guillermo del Toro's FRANKENSTEIN has amazing costumes, a brilliant Jacob Elordi performance, giddily grotesque effects, a lush score and some nice sets that survive the sabotage of Dan Laustsen's lensing. Nevertheless, it's a lifeless slog. My #TIFF50 review: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

Richard Linklater delivered both one of the best and one of the very worst films at TIFF. Can you guess which enchanted me and which one induced a serious need to roll my eyes until they popped out of their sockets? My reviews of NOUVELLE VAGUE and BLUE MOON: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

Tamara Kotevska, best known for HONEYLAND, makes her solo directorial debut with THE TALE OF SILYAN. This beautiful documentary is set to represent North Macedonia at the 98th Academy Awards. Here's my review: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

I know the internet wanted Stone or Seyfried to take home the Best Actress Volpi Cup at this year's Venice Film Festival, but Xin Zhilei makes for a worthy victor. Sadly, the rest of Cai Shangjun's THE SUN RISES ON US ALL isn't at her level. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

HAMNET made me cry like few films have, but that doesn't mean it's a flawless masterpiece. I tried to reckon with my feelings in this review, ruminating on Chloé Zhao's best work to date, a troublesome last act, a miraculous Buckley and even better Watson. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/9/...

I'm back at TIFF, for the third year in a row, covering the festival for The Film Experience.

I didn't much care for THE RINGER's list, so I made my own. letterboxd.com/claudioalves...

I wrote about Shô Miyake's TWO SEASONS, TWO STRANGERS for The Film Experience. This year's Locarno Golden Lion winner is a moving, occasionally humorous, always graceful musing on those lonely souls who experience present life in the past tense. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/8/...

Obsessing over Amy Madigan in WEAPONS? Then come read my thoughts on her oft-forgotten Oscar-nominated work in TWICE IN A LIFETIME. At The Film Experience, I also reviewed Brenda Vaccaro and James Woods' nominations for two of the worst movies in Oscar history. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/8/...

I'll be ranking Wes Anderson's feature filmography at The Film Experience, going through the director's oeuvre, one melancholic diorama at a time. This first part concerns travelogues, second drafts, and one of my favorite performances in his body of work. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/7/...

Celebrated my birthday with Glauber Rocha.

BEATING HEARTS does not deserve all the effort and excellence of Adèle Exarchopoulos, Laurent Tangy and Jon Brion. Those three are giving it their all to a film whose inclusion in last year's Cannes Main Competition is genuinely baffling.

Hot take: Egoyan's SEVEN VEILS is better and more interesting than the much-ballyhooed TÁR in almost every regard. Well, maybe not the cinematography. I do love Florian Hoffmeister's lensing of Field's film.

THE SURFER and WAKE IN FRIGHT would make for a tremendous double feature about how Australia is evil.

Consider the following thread my pitch to get HOMEM COM H (aka LATIN BLOOD: THE BALLAD OF NEY MATOGROSSO) a gratuitous post on @jamnpp.bsky.social's My New Plaid Pants. Consider...

Maggie loves to perch on CINEMA!

I'm trying to watch as much queer cinema as I can this Pride Month, and found "the earliest known adult film to incorporate bisexual and homosexual intercourse." Historical importance aside, 1920's LE MÉNAGE MODERNDE DE MADAME BUTTERFLY features what's probably the worst blow job I've ever seen.

Between national and international events, every time I look at the news, I just want to scream. Have felt like I'm spiraling all day.

PRIDE, Lisboa 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

The most important takeaway from watching Chimes at Midnight for the first time, aside from being astounded by literally every aspect of it, is how Bixby seems on his way to aging graceful into Welles’ gravitas, whiskers, heft, and charm. The resemblance is already so uncanny.

I watch Tennessee Williams for the human drama. The human drama:

My Cannes at Home series continues, with a bunch of capsule reviews. Come read my thoughts on Richard Linklater's WAKING LIFE, Lynne Ramsay's MORVERN CALLAR, Kleber Mendonça Filho's AQUARIUS, Tarik Saleh's CAIRO CONSPIRACY, and Julia Ducournau's TITANE. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/5/...

Look, I love Mendonça, Panahi, and Trier. I'd even argue they've all deserved the Palme more than the eventual winner in past Cannes editions. And yet, it would be really funny if, after all this, NEON somehow missed acquiring the Palme d'Or winner.

Cannes at Home continues over at The Film Experience. It's time to revisit past works from Dominik Moll, Oliver Laxe, Hafsia Herzi, and the ever-polarizing Ari Aster. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/5/...

At The Film Experience, I'll be exploring past works from this year's Cannes Official Competition directors. Today, I looked at Mascha Schilinski's feature film debut, DARK BLUE GIRL, and Sergei Loznitsa's first literary adaptation, IN THE FOG. thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/5/...

I've decided to watch every Oscar-nominated performance I still haven't seen by the end of the year. Along the way, I'll be writing about it all at The Film Experience. After this introduction, there are "only" 129 films to go... thefilmexperience.net/blog/2025/4/...

"...Because in the movies, anything is possible, and we might as well relish its miracles while we can. We'd be fools not to..." Miguel Gomes' GRAND TOUR is now streaming on MUBI. Don't miss this masterpiece, one of the year's best films. Here's my review: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2024/9/...

THE SHROUDS is David Cronenberg's most personal film in years, a work of grief-stricken self-reflection, beset by madness, escaping from itself. I reviewed it back at TIFF for The Film Experience. Here's what I wrote back then: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2024/9/...

Amid the SINNERS praise, I wish more attention were being paid to Ruth E. Carter's superlative costume design. Next to the music, it's what I loved most about the movie. Here's a piece I wrote in 2023 about her career, from SCHOOL DAZE to her second Oscar: thefilmexperience.net/blog/2023/3/...

Decided to watch Altman's QUINTET for the first time today, but made sure to read the rules of the made-up game at the center of its "story." Incredible costumes and location shooting, bizarre score, an overqualified cast doing career-worst work, so many ideas, so little sense - incredible.

Just found out that Anamaria Vartolomei will be playing Marquise de Merteuil (the role that should have earned Glenn Close the Oscar) in a DANGEROUS LIAISONS prequel miniseries. Directed by Jessica Palud, costarring Diane Kruger, Lucas Bravo, Vincent Lacoste and Patric D'Assumção. I'm seated.

The way Preminger's THE CARDINAL wastes Ossie Davis is downright criminal. Also, how on earth did Romy Schneider get a Best Actress Golden Globe nomination for this???

DRAGON SEED is so bad it legitimately makes THE GOOD EARTH look like a masterpiece. Same goes for Hepburn's awful performance and Luisa Rainer's second consecutive Oscar-winning turn. The yellowface is bad enough, but cinematography and sets aside, the picture is an incompetent bore.