Hirokazu Koreeda’s (是枝 裕和) “After the Storm,” the story of a divorced family having a reunion as a storm loomed large on the horizon, ran in competition at the Cannes Festival two years ago. “The Third Murder” was presented at the Berlinale last year, a rather twisted police procedural. And now, a “A family affair,” a film that’s centered on the intimate relations of the Shibatas, a small group of thieves in which women, men

Other film critics have been remarkably kind to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the biopic about Freddie Mercury, frontman for Queen, for whom the word legendary would have had to be invented if it didn’t exist already. Why the Bryan Singer film hardly deserves praise: 1. It’s a by-the-book biopic, hitting all the predictable spots, erasing any point of contention or lingering on possible painful or controversial topics. God forbid

It is a fact, sadly, that addiction will touch almost everyone’s lives, even the most accomplished among us. This is what happened to Nic Sheff, a top-of-his-class teen who started experimenting with pot before moving into harder drugs, gradually spiraling into a harrowing cycle of highs, lows, homelessness, sobriety and relapse. His father, Rolling Stone writer David Sheff, could only watch helplessly as Nic’s roller-coaster ride became worse

Much praise has been heaped on "BlacKkKlansman" the new Spike Lee feature based on a daring tale as told in the book by the same name by author Ron Stallworth. The action takes place in the seventies, in the heady times of Vietnam War protests, desegregation and black power movements. These last, as we now know, went nowhere. The lucky African-Americans fill prisons, the less lucky ones are murdered on street corners

For better or for worse, Ian McEwan doesn't see much virtue in religious beliefs or faith. To him, they are a hindrance at best, an absurdity at worst. Founders and practitioners of various religions and cults come up with a logic completely devoid of reason, one that’s meant only to establish their power on the sheep that follow them. Not mincing words, he makes the point in “The Children Act,” for which McEwan wrote the script on the

There were many films at the Tribeca Festival, many about women, and many others directed by women. “Mary Shelley,” starring Elle Fanning, is not only both, but perhaps was one of the best films at this year’s Tribeca Festival, which ended recently. As the title suggests, "Mary Shelley" tells the story of the nineteenth century-author who penned the horror classic “Frankenstein.” And in a case of irony as poetic

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, the originator of the materialist conception of History. Rising inequality, nearly everywhere around the world, with the richest one percent having now accumulated more wealth than everyone else, means that Marx's ideas are as relevant as ever. We live in an era where the structural crises of the world systems have helped maintain the worst features

Such is Spielberg’s draw that even film lovers with little interest in dystopia or sci-fi hesitate only a couple of days before dutifully making their way to the nearest movie theater. So, does it deserve the praise? Not really. Special CGI-enhanced effects, spectacular as they are, pall after a while and become repetitive although to the end there are lovely surprising images such as the disco scene with the dancing couples floating in an endless colorful vortex.

He arrived. We do not know where from, nor how. With his round face marked by blows, this teenager looks like a kid and a tough guy all at once. We do not know where he comes from, but we know what he’s become a product of: his addiction to hard drugs. We don’t know how he got there, but we understand where he hails from: a community of men living in the mountains, aging addicts, now devoted to prayer, work and to the rediscovery

More than thirty years after his first Oscar nomination, James Ivory has finally been honored with his first win at the Oscars on Sunday, that of Best Adapted Screenplay, for "Call Me by Your Name." In his acceptance speech, Ivory called the film, about first love, “a story familiar to most of us, whether we’re straight or gay or somewhere in between.” In "Call Me By Your Name," adapted from André Aciman’s namesake