Cannibal (Cuenca, 2013)



Burt’s Buzz (Shapiro, 2013)


The film strives so hard to model its subject that its practically not there. [Read more...]

Manuscripts Don’t Burn (Rasoulof, 2013)


The setting of Manuscripts Don’t Burn may be painstakingly specific, but its themes are broad, perhaps even universal. How much are we willing to risk, to sacrifice, for freedom of speech? Why does one act of violence seemingly begin a never ending chain? [Read more...]

TIFF 2013: Last of the Unjust and Mission Congo

Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah is sui generis, a universally respected nine and-a-half hour documentary that may well be as close as one can get to a definitive historical account of the Holocaust. [Read more...]

Don Jon (Gordon-Levitt, 2013)

Don Jon is not as funny as it thinks it is. It is not nearly as daring as it thinks it is. And it is nowhere near as truthful as it thinks it is.  [Read more...]

Gravity (Cuarón, 2013)


Any good political pollster can tell you that the answer is influenced by the way the question is framed. Film critics usually think the question they are answering is, “Was it any good?” The question I get asked the most, however, is, “Did you like it?” [Read more...]