Festivals

FilmFestivals

Udo Kier, Edgar Wright, and more delightful surprises as we wrap up SXSW 2021

Alvin Toffler would have been horrified by the SXSW app. Toffler was talking about consumer choice—i.e., a dozen…

Katie Rife

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Natalie Morales gives Language Lessons as SXSW grapples with COVID-era filmmaking

Listen, I know how it sounds. I know the words “COVID drama” make you want to run screaming in the other direction.…

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Bloodthirsty housewives, ultraviolent animation, and pagan folklore haunt SXSW’s midnight slate

At Cannes, one can expect major works from internationally famous auteurs. Oscar hopefuls vie for spots on the TIFF…

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A punk icon, a pop princess, and a ’90s “it” girl speak their truths on SXSW, day 1

This past week, Timehop apps across the world have been cheerfully notifying users that yes, it has been an entire…

Katie Rife

3/17/21 4:00PM

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FilmFestivalsSundance

The best films of Sundance 2021

Sundance 2021 wrapped up last night, though the exact time the screening system went dark depended on when you…

A.A. Dowd

2/04/21 4:00PM

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FilmFestivalsSundance

Questlove’s joyous dream-festival concert film is as good as Sundance (and everyone else) insists

Sundance is ending exactly as it began: with the virtual equivalent of a standing ovation for the film that kicked…

A.A. Dowd

2/03/21 4:00PM

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FilmFestivalsSundance

The highlight of Sundance ’21 is a transfixing portrait of creepypasta obsession

Judas And The Black Messiah, Shaka King’s propulsive drama about Black Panthers chairman Fred Hampton and the months…

A.A. Dowd

2/02/21 7:25PM

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FilmFestivalsSundance

Nic Cage’s testicle-bomb <i>Mad Max</i> samurai Western is less fun than we’re making it sound

FilmFestivalsSundance

Nic Cage’s testicle-bomb Mad Max samurai Western is less fun than we’re making it sound

There are few things more alienating to a moviegoer than being the only person in a theater not having the time of…

A.A. Dowd

2/01/21 4:15PM

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FilmFestivalsSundance

Two Sundance dramas, one better than the other, shudder with the chilly influence of Michael Haneke

Attending a film festival can feel like an extended game of Spot The Influence. That’s perhaps especially true at a…

A.A. Dowd

1/30/21 6:30PM

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FilmFestivalsSundance

An atypical Sundance opens with typical indie drama and a hallucinatory midnight movie

Funny how pet peeves become fond memories the moment you’re denied them. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug that way.…

A.A. Dowd

1/29/21 4:20PM

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FilmFestivalsNew York Film Festival

The New York Film Festival makes its French exit with a labored comedy and more Steve McQueen

Movies come from all over the globe to play the New York Film Festival every year. 2020’s mostly virtual edition,…

A.A. Dowd

10/10/20 9:00PM

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FilmFestivalsNew York Film Festival

Three major directors work in the shadow of their past triumphs at the New York Film Festival

Tsai Ming-liang’s Days (Grade: B+), which premiered in Berlin earlier this year and now plays as part of the New…

A.A. Dowd

10/02/20 6:45PM

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FilmFestivalsNew York Film Festival

A wordless <i>Babe</i> and the year’s wordiest drama spar for attention at the New York Film Festival

FilmFestivalsNew York Film Festival

A wordless Babe and the year’s wordiest drama spar for attention at the New York Film Festival

Of all the pleasures that go missing when a film festival goes virtual, true post-movie discussion might be the…

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The best films of Toronto 2020

Toronto ends this year not with a check out, a wave through a taxi window, and a short flight home, but with the…

and Katie Rife

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Road tripping with Werner Herzog as TIFF meanders to the finish line

Whether a critic likes it or not, Twitter reactions are the new first-look reviews at film festivals. As soon as the…

Katie Rife

9/17/20 6:40PM

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FilmFestivalsNew York Film Festival

<i>Widows</i> director Steve McQueen kicks off the New York Film Festival with dance and romance

FilmFestivalsNew York Film Festival

Widows director Steve McQueen kicks off the New York Film Festival with dance and romance

Every film festival has an identity, even if that identity is “We don’t have an identity!” The New York Film…

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Mark Wahlberg, of all stars, marches for tolerance in the maudlin TIFF premiere Good Joe Bell

It’s comforting that not everything is different this year at TIFF. The lineup may be smaller and the screenings may…

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Chloë Grace Moretz goes to war and a revenge thriller goes to the extreme at Midnight Madness

Although the Toronto International Film Festival isn’t strictly a genre fest, when it comes to horror, sci-fi, and…

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Frederick Wiseman and a portrait of Martin Luther King lead TIFF’s documentary slate

When people insist that a movie must be seen in a theater, what they’re usually talking about are its visual…

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Idris Elba saddles up and Rosamund Pike works a long con in two true-ish stories out of TIFF

An enjoyable (and frequently noted) side effect of unhinging one’s brain-jaw and inhaling movies like you’re No-Face…

Katie Rife

9/15/20 6:47PM

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