"'Parallel Tales' functions so transparently as a kind of self-justification, its dramatic tensions often feel strategically misplaced." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews the new Asghar Farhadi at #Cannes2026. bit.ly/4v9vDcD #filmsky

"Its elliptical construction never feels self-conscious; revelations emerge naturally, with the light touch of a filmmaker secure enough not to overexplain." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "La Vénus électrique" at #Cannes2026. bit.ly/4uCaYNY #filmsky

“Whether one finds this persuasive or merely programmatic may depend on one’s tolerance for abstraction untethered from dramatic momentum.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Silent Friend." bit.ly/4w9CFz2 #filmsky

“Whether one finds this persuasive or merely programmatic may depend on one’s tolerance for abstraction untethered from dramatic momentum.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Silent Friend." bit.ly/4w9CFz2 #filmsky @filmlinc.bsky.social

"[Lucrecia] Martel has created a film of considerable force—one that centers indigenous perspectives without reducing them to symbols, and that confronts the viewer with the persistence of injustice.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Our Land." bit.ly/4cUz5js @filmforumnyc.bsky.social #filmsky

“What is clear is that, with 'Our Land,' Ms. Martel has created a film of considerable force—one that centers indigenous perspectives without reducing them to symbols, and that confronts the viewer with the persistence of injustice.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews. bit.ly/4cUz5js #filmsky

"[Christian] Petzold has been known for political allegories, but it’s truly exciting to see him applying his sensibility to a family drama." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Miroirs No. 3." bit.ly/3FcRueJ @ifccenter.bsky.social @filmlinc.bsky.social #filmsky

"Though elements of body horror seen in 'Titane' and 'Raw' are still very much present, the new film better qualifies as a ghost story and a coming-of-age tale set in the Twilight Zone." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Alpha." bit.ly/4j9vgs5 @ifccenter.bsky.social @neon-rated.bsky.social #filmsky

"No irony intended (perhaps) in a documentary about the imminent environmental collapse of Utah’s Great Salt Lake ecosystem . . . premiering at the last #SundanceFilmFestival to be held in the state." @timhayes.bsky.social reviews "The Lake." bit.ly/4qXOOnJ

"That topic is the ongoing plague of U.S. school shootings, and the approach is a deliberate tonal jumble of pathos, sincerity, tragedy and whimsy; something for everyone (to be cross with)." @timhayes.bsky.social reviews "Run Amok" at #SundanceFilmFestival. bit.ly/4rw0u13

"If this is a record of wild urban free expression, then these snapshots of it are in a parent’s photo album." @timhayes.bsky.social reviews David Shadrack Smith's "Public Access" at #SundanceFilmFestival. bit.ly/4c5h5UM

"'Chasing Summer' is frequently hilarious, but it is also attuned to the emotional logic beneath self-sabotage." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews Josephine Decker's "Chasing Summer" at #SundanceFilmFestival. bit.ly/3NyFE2x

"A sitcom-bright spoof of Americana that filters 'The Wizard of Oz' through celebrity culture, the film is at once junk-drawer eclectic and curiously sincere about the small, stubborn dreams of its heroine." Martin Tsai reviews David Wain's "Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass." bit.ly/4a1saUs

FYI www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

"Unlike Costa-Gavras, Mr. Park frames the protagonist as more blue-collar. He also cast Mr. Lee, excellent as a villain in 'Squid Game,' over someone amiable like José Garcia of 'Le couperet.' " @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "No Other Choice." bit.ly/4avxHEG #filmsky @neon-rated.bsky.social

“The art world, with all its progressive scaffolding and humanist ornamentation, practically designed to celebrate and aestheticize every rebellion, couldn’t metabolize Palestine. It still can’t.” David Velasco @equatormag.bsky.social — www.equator.org/articles/how...

Bi Gan’s new film, “Resurrection,” offers a vision of history as a shape-shifting force. “Each era has these exceptionally strange, dreamlike, ephemeral moments—yet it seems we never film them,” he said. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/xvbYQM

“The voice cast features such luminaries as Koji Yakusho, and it’s a relief the studio has the good sense to not to dub it in English, at least for now.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Scarlet." bit.ly/4pzb8ne #filmsky

“Based on the true story of perhaps the Luigi Mangione of his time, the film is very much reflective of the national mood at the moment.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Dead Man's Wire." bit.ly/4q2hrzp #filmsky @alamodrafthouse.bsky.social

“Hosoda employs traditional hand-drawn style for the characters but places them against immersive photo-realistic C.G.I. backdrops. While this is nothing new, his particular art style creates interesting contrast and juxtaposition.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Scarlet." bit.ly/4pzb8ne #filmsky

“Indeed, he nails precisely what makes the film so resonant with those who have been wronged by powerful entities and the sense of helplessness carved deep into their psyches.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Dead Man's Wire." bit.ly/4q2hrzp #filmsky @alamodrafthouse.bsky.social

“With [Sean] Baker as its editor, 'Left-Handed Girl' definitely shares the hyperkinetic energy emblematic of his work.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews. bit.ly/4oFctbA #filmsky @netflix.com

“The perennially debonair leading man brings with him substantial baggage from his own time in the limelight, which immediately resonates with those who’ve borne witness to his career.” @martintsai.bsky.social on George Clooney . . . oops, we meant "Jay Kelly." bit.ly/4oFQMbr #filmsky @netflix.com

“The perennially debonair leading man brings with him substantial baggage from his own time in the limelight, which immediately resonates with those who’ve borne witness to his career.” @martintsai.bsky.social on George Clooney . . . oops, we meant "Jay Kelly." bit.ly/4oFQMbr #filmsky @netflix.com

“With [Sean] Baker as its editor, 'Left-Handed Girl' definitely shares the hyperkinetic energy emblematic of his work.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews. bit.ly/4oFctbA #filmsky @netflix.com

it took two decades of trying for me to land a piece in @sightsoundmag.bsky.social at this rate i will be 60 before i get a staff job somewhere. anyway. i'm not going shut up about my review of "peter hujar's day": bit.ly/47utCi1 #filmsky @filmforumnyc.bsky.social @filmlinc.bsky.social

“Though 'Sentimental Value' doesn’t center on a romantic relationship as its predecessor did, it nevertheless rehashes some of the same dynamics and feelings of guilt and regret.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews. bit.ly/47rTICk #filmsky @neon-rated.bsky.social

“The film challenges the superhero genre narrative that is so deeply ingrained in us and the latent sexist feelings toward successful woman go-getters, all while reenforcing and reaffirming these tropes.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews #BUGONIA. bit.ly/3Wd9pHd #filmsky @focusfeatures.bsky.social

“The film challenges the superhero genre narrative that is so deeply ingrained in us and the latent sexist feelings toward successful woman go-getters, all while reenforcing and reaffirming these tropes.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews #BUGONIA. bit.ly/3Wd9pHd #filmsky @focusfeatures.bsky.social

Not to be THAT dictionary, but… It’s ‘per se,’ not ‘per say.’ It’s ‘dog-eat-dog world,’ not ‘doggy-dog world.’ It’s ‘hunger pangs,’ not ‘hunger pains.’ It’s ‘one and the same,’ not ‘one in the same.’ It's 'buck naked,' not 'butt naked.'

“There’s no horror or suspense whatsoever, just magical dismemberments under golden hues and glittering harps on the soundtrack. It’s all kind of perverse, and I’m not sure if Mr. del Toro really meant it that way.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Frankenstein." bit.ly/4qd5Azq #filmsky @netflix.com

“It’s especially timely to us in the West, as our political climates grow more tenuous.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "It Was Just an Accident." bit.ly/4obfJe2 #filmsky @filmforumnyc.bsky.social @filmlinc.bsky.social @neon-rated.bsky.social

“There’s no horror or suspense whatsoever, just magical dismemberments under golden hues and glittering harps on the soundtrack. It’s all kind of perverse, and I’m not sure if Mr. del Toro really meant it that way.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Frankenstein." bit.ly/4qd5Azq #filmsky @netflix.com

“It’s especially timely to us in the West, as our political climates grow more tenuous.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "It Was Just an Accident." bit.ly/4obfJe2 #filmsky @filmforumnyc.bsky.social @filmlinc.bsky.social @neon-rated.bsky.social

“'A House of Dynamite,' is, for the most part, one of those end-of-days Armageddon movies, except it never actually culminates in special effects-laden spectacles of total obliteration.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews. bit.ly/4q5ZeSf #filmsky @netflix.com @paristheaternyc.bsky.social

“The script’s ambiguities regarding the perpetrator and the victim are very nuanced, and Mr. Guadagnino seemingly backs away, possibly due to the optics of victim blaming.” @martintsai.bsky.social reviews #AfterTheHuntMovie. bit.ly/3Wx2wjT #filmsky

"There’s an existing, well-worn trope of underdog stories in sports. Mr. Safdie resists a lot of that low-hanging fruit." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "The Smashing Machine." bit.ly/485YFS2 @a24movies.bsky.social #filmsky

"There’s an existing, well-worn trope of underdog stories in sports. Mr. Safdie resists a lot of that low-hanging fruit." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "The Smashing Machine." bit.ly/485YFS2 @a24movies.bsky.social #filmsky

Chantal Akerman’s 1994 coming-of-age masterwork, “Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 60s in Brussels,” can’t be reissued because of its needle drops. But a complete retrospective of the director’s work at MOMA offers two rare screenings.

"Hosoda employs traditional hand-drawn style for the characters but places them against immersive photo-realistic C.G.I. backdrops. While this is nothing new, his particular art style creates interesting contrast and juxtaposition." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Scarlet." bit.ly/41G0BMZ #filmsky

"Roman Vasyanov’s cinematography feels too precious, unable to convey the grittiness and dark humor in Tosches’s work." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews Julian Schnabel's "In the Hand of Dante" at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/46if4RU #filmsky

"Indeed, he nails precisely what makes the film so resonant with those who have been wronged by powerful entities and the sense of helplessness carved deep into their psyches." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews Gus Van Sant's "Dead Man's Wire" at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/3UWZoxa #filmsky

" 'A House of Dynamite,' is, for the most part, one of those end-of-days Armageddon movies, except it never actually culminates in special effects-laden spectacles of total obliteration." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/3UZA8Gv #filmsky @netflix.com

"There’s an existing, well-worn trope of underdog stories in sports. Mr. Safdie resists a lot of that low-hanging fruit." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "The Smashing Machine" at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/47nKUOg #filmsky @a24movies.bsky.social

"The script’s ambiguities regarding the perpetrator and the victim are very nuanced, and Mr. Guadagnino seemingly backs away, possibly due to the optics of victim blaming." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews #AfterTheHuntMovie at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/3UX39CG #filmsky

"There’s no horror or suspense whatsoever, just magical dismemberments under golden hues and glittering harps on the soundtrack." @martintsai.bsky.social on Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein" at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/4lUnLXo #filmsky @netflix.com

"Unlike Costa-Gavras, Mr. Park frames the protagonist as more blue-collar. He also cast Mr. Lee, excellent as a villain in 'Squid Game,' over someone amiable like José Garcia of 'Le couperet.' " @martintsai.bsky.social on "No Other Choice" at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/4mP6AYn #filmsky

"The perennially debonair leading man brings with him substantial baggage from his own time in the limelight, which immediately resonates with those who’ve borne witness to his career." @martintsai.bsky.social on "Jay Kelly" at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/47efutA #filmsky @netflix.com

"The film challenges the superhero genre narrative that is so deeply ingrained in us and the latent sexist feelings toward successful woman go-getters, all while reenforcing and reaffirming these tropes." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews "Bugonia" at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/4fWX3Mp

" 'La grazia' is the antithesis of 'Il divo' and 'Loro,' his previous features centering on political leaders." @martintsai.bsky.social reviews Paolo Sorrentino's latest at #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82. bit.ly/3JAMoLd #filmsky