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NYFF / Sirāt Review: Pulses in the Desert – Surrender to Oliver Laxe’s Brilliant Beat

©Courtesy of Neon Rave culture has always thrived outside the mainstream, an underground heartbeat pulsing against the silence of daily life. For many, the rave isn’t just music—it’s rebellion, refuge, and pilgrimage. The ravers of “Sirāt“, Oliver Laxe’s Cannes Jury Prize winner and Spain’s Oscar contender, now creating buzz at the New York Film Festival,…

NYFF : ‘Anemone’ Works Because of an Intense Daniel Day-Lewis and a Surprising Sean Bean

@Courtesy fo Focus Features Daniel Day-Lewis is back from retirement, and this is fantastic news for anyone who loves movies.  But which Daniel Day-Lewis is back? It is indeed a legitimate question, since in my opinion there have been at least two different kinds of performer that he was able to develop in his extraordinary…

NYFF, ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ Is a Conventional Biopic Saved By Iconic Music

@Courtesy of 20 Century Studios The core of the story is simple and universal: a man in his early thirties is deeply haunted by the ghosts of his past, especially an abusive father figure who made his childhood a mix of joy and deep sorrow. After all those years he still doesn’t know how to…

NYFF: ‘Angel’s Egg’ is an Artistic, Mysterious Allegory on the Nature of Existence

©Courtesy of GKIDS An isolated scream of personal despair can ultimately become the voice of a generation that’s contending with the nature of their existence. The anguish felt in the reverberating cry of the young heroine in the fantasy anime movie, Angel’s Egg, echoes the crisis of faith many adolescents face as they come of…

NYFF: Resurrection By Bi Gan Is a Hypnotic Ballad About the Love For Cinema

@Courtesy of NYFF Winner of the Jury Special Prize at the last Cannes Film Festival, the visionary tale directed by Bi Gan lands at the New York Film Festival as one of the most innovative feature-films seen in the 2025 edition.  Conceived as a science fiction movie, Resurrection is set in a future where mankind…

NYFF: Noah Baumbach’s ‘Jay Kelly’ Falls Short Despite Offering a Few Nice Moments from George Clooney

Over the years, Noah Baumbach has been hit or miss, from his side hustle collaborating with Wes Anderson, most notably on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, to his more fruitful collaborations with partner Greta Gerwig. Marriage Story might end up being the benchmark for everything Baumbach has done since, because it was clearly something…

NYFF: ‘A House of Dynamite’ Delivers a Powerful Nightmare About Nuclear Annihilation

@Courtesy of Netflix A House of Dynamite is the best and most important movie about nuclear threat since Dr. Strangelove: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb by Stanley Kubrick. Working on the articulate screenplay by Noah Oppenheim, Kathryn Bigelow has directed a high-tension drama that explores the danger and dilemmas of…

One Battle After Another: Video Review by Matthew Schuchman

©Courtesy of Warner Bothers I’ve been following Paul Thomas Anderson’s career from square one. My friend’s and I rented Sydney (I know they named it Hard Eight, but I still call it Sydney), when it his video stores shelves. Whether we were rolling on the floor laughing at a matchbook spontaneously combust in John C….

NYFF/The Mastermind Review: Masterful Kelly Reichardt and Josh O’Connor’s Subtle Sting

©Courtesy of MUBI She has been called the quietest of the great American directors. Kelly Reichardt doesn’t rush. She clears away the unnecessary and takes her time capturing the American soul. Now she returns with something as unusual and unlikely as an observational heist movie. Her style works wonders. Set in a sleepy Massachusetts suburb…

TIFF/Christy Review: Sydney Sweeney Packs a Punch in Biopic Boxing Drama

Photo by Eddy Chen – © courtesy of Black Bear Boxers have always been symbols of grit in a cinema. They fight not just opponents, but demons of pride, poverty, and identity. From Sylvester Stallone’s underdog triumph in “Rocky“ (1976) to Robert De Niro’s bruising portrait of self-destruction in “Raging Bull“ (1980), the ring becomes a…

Rhode Island International Film Festival Review: Nate and Moriah in Venice is a Slow-Burning Portrait of Love Lost and Found

There are some fantastical, romanticized love stories that burn fast and bright. There are other love stories, notably the new dramedy Nate and Moriah in Venice, that are instead textured and imperfect. Writer-director Austin Balke crafted a mesmerizing romantic story that highlights the quieter spaces of connection. The titular characters thrive in the stolen glances,…