Director Gerardo Chijona liberally name-drops a plethora of Hollywood films in “The Human Thing”: “3:10 to Yuma” (1957), “The Godfather Part 2” (1974), “Terminator 2” (1991), and even 'The Sopranos.' One would expect that with such a macho pedigree of visceral violence “The Human Thing” would be some kind of high-octane thriller or cinematic homage. But it’s neither. The film is one of words and literature centered on

Sophia Takal’s “Always Shine” and Deb Shoval’s “AWOL” have many things in common. For starters, both are films about a duo of women by female directors—the former a jagged psychological thriller about two actresses, the latter a bittersweet lesbian romance. Both female duos find themselves pushed to the edge by a domineering patriarchy, the former by the demanding and objectifying world of fashion and filmmaking, the latter

Steve Aoki is one of the most influential DJs in the history of electronica, being one of the first artists to combine hardcore punk with dance music to create a genre unlike anything heard in the U.S. before. After a decade of grinding his way through underground gigs and festivals he has become one of the biggest acts on the planet. Playing over 300 shows a year, he has been touted as one of the most recorded people in history.

The comedy HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE which played at Tribeca on Thursday has made me want to go back and explore the filmography of director Taika Waititi. Because if HUNT is any indication, Waititi is likely destined to become New Zealand’s answer to America’s Wes Anderson and England’s Edgar Wright—a highly-idiosyncratic and stylized comedic filmmaker. But whereas the bulk of Anderson and

I remember those nights of iodine streetlights and black-suited riot […]

Ever notice that it’s almost always a bad sign when an R-rated animated movie brags about being an R-rated animated movie? The one exception might be SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT (1999), but other than that the pickings are slim. I had this realization watching Chris Prynoski’s NERDLAND, a very graphic animated comedy filled to the brim with boobs, boners, and buttholes. The first feature film by animation house Titmouse

I think it was the moment when Gilbert Gottfried showed […]

There were walkouts at my screening of Ben Wheatley’s HIGH […]

Andrew Rossi’s new documentary THE FIRST MONDAY IN MAY is gorgeous, sumptuous. It’s also undercooked. The film follows the inception, creation, and opening gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2015 fashion exhibition “China: Through the Looking Glass.” The exhibit itself was a massive celebration and rumination on the tenuous relationship between Western fashion and Chinese culture curated by the renowned

There are years when everyone knows which film will win. 2015 was not one of them, although there was some consensus among the major press that CAROL and MIA MADRE were the strongest films, cinematographically and stylistically and the Hou Hsiao-Hsien-directed THE ASSASSIN, the rare film by a filmmaker who's completely in control of his art, would not go home empty-handed. We expected the Coen Brothers-led jury would award them but not