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Blitz: Saoirse Ronan Humanizes Steve McQueen’s Poignant War Drama

©Courtesy of Apple TV+ Offering a critical exploration into how human cruelty and its resulting suffering can fuel resilience and courage into its victims has helped turn filmmaking into an emotional, realistic art form. Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave director-producer, Steve McQueen has once again thrived in exploring how devastating cultural situations have long impacted…

DOC NYC: ‘Surveilled,’ Ronan Farrow Exposes Spyware

Investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, after exposing the sexual abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, has focused on a new topic that concerns us all. In the HBO documentary Surveilled — directed by Matthew O’Neill and Perri Peltz — we are taken on a journey, from New York City all the way to Tel Aviv,…

Spellbound Review : Starring Rachel Zegler

©Courtesy of Netflix  Mary, Queen of Scots was six days old when she ascended to the throne. It did not work out very well, especially for her. In contrast, Ellian, the Princess of the Kingdom of Lumbria turns a relatively mature fifteen, right as the film opens. However, she is not yet emotionally prepared to…

Wicked Video Review : Above the Live vs Below the Line- Episode 47

Check out more of CinemaDaily US’ video interviews on our YouTube channel Film Critic Serena Davanzo Serena Davanzo, a Pennsylvania native, graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a BA in Journalism and a BA in Theatre in December 2022. She currently works full time as a weekend anchor/producer and MMJ’s weekdays. She aspires to…

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: Black Dog is a Visually Gorgeous But Emotionally Dark Comedy Thriller

©Courtesy of Huayi Brothers The most surprising characters can often embark on the road to redemption in movies fueled by grandeur realism. The new dark comedy, Black Dog, is one such heartwarming feature that’s driven by its equally grandiose sentimentality and stark absurdism of its titular character. Chinese filmmaker Guan Hu directed the intimate tale…

‘Flow’ is the Most Immersive and Transfixing Animated Film of the Year

©Courtesy of Janus Films  For some, it will be hard to ignore the Biblical implications of this new animated tale. After all, it follows a rag-tag group of animals, who survive a sudden apocalyptic flood aboard a floating sanctuary. Yet, other viewers will see it as a cautionary environmentally-themed beast fable, somewhat in the tradition…

DOC NYC/ Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Review / Timely and Heartbreaking Portray of the Great South African Photographer

©Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures When filmmaker Raoul Peck took on the iconic James Baldwin (1924-1987), in his Oscar-nominated documentary I am Not Your Negro (2016), he wanted the writer himself to tell the story, not by a narrator like in a regular biography. Samuel L. Jackson read Baldwin’s profound words like he was him and…

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet Champions Hollywood Icon-Turned-Activist

The most extraordinary, trailblazing pioneers are often under-rated throughout their lives, as society can be afraid of the changes they’re striving to make. The late Stella Stevens, who died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease last year at the age of 84, was one such innovator throughout her career. The courageous steps she took in her…

‘Ghost Cat Anzu’ : An Anime Feature for the Whole Family

©Courtesy of GKIDS  By feline standards, Anzu is unusually lively. This might sound ironic, since he is a “ghost cat.” However, in this context, instead of denoting an undead state, his “ghostliness” means the thirty-seven-year-old will probably continue to live forever in his current roly-poly state of arrested emotional maturity. However, a pre-teen girl stands…

‘Bogart: Life Comes In Flashes,’ A Riveting Doc Driven By Women

NBCUniversal brings to the silver screen the first doc about legendary Hollywood icon Humphrey Bogart endorsed by his estate. Bogart: Life Comes In Flashes, is the latest work by BIFA-winning, IDA-nominated, and BAFTA Breakthrough-selected filmmaker Kathryn Ferguson. The motion picture provides an inside look at the icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age, narrated in Bogart’s own words. We retrace…

Gladiator II Video Review: Above the Line vs Below the Line Episode 46

24 years ago, filmmaker Ridley Scott tackled his first Roman epic with Gladiator, a movie that won five Oscars, including Best Picture and an Oscar for Russell Crowe for his performance as Roman General turned gladiator, Maximus.  Few people thought we’d ever see the sequel that’s been bandied about ever since those Oscar wins, but…