A Fantastic Woman (2017)

A current Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Sebastian Lelio's A Fantastic Woman is perhaps an even stronger work than his previous Gloria, though both are nuanced, interior portraits of people who judged as outsiders before they've even had a chance. A Fantastic Woman opens as divorced 57-year-old Orlando (Francisco Reyes) tries to find some important papers before heading to a nightclub. He pauses to watch a pretty singer, Marina (Daniela Vega), before we realize that he has a date with her. read more...

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Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

While still in his twenties, Steven Soderbergh wrote this screenplay, and made his feature directorial debut, quickly and cheaply, but with an impressive level of artistry. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) — sometimes, for some reason, written out all in lowercase — won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and when it opened in theaters (fairly close to Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing) it contributed to a general and growing excitement over independent film, and the bright future it promised. Nowadays, it's impossible to escape from the 1980s look of the film, and it doesn't feel as timeless as it once might have. read more...

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To Sleep with Anger (1990)

I was lucky enough to see Charles Burnett's To Sleep with Anger during its all-too-brief 1990 theatrical release. I loved it then, and my memory of that time is frosted with Burnett coming to my college to speak (I attended with only a handful of other students), and my first and only meeting with Danny Glover (he was very friendly and gave me an autograph). But I never took any notes on the film and as the years passed and I wanted to write up a review, I found my memory of it a little too faded. Worse, it had become something of a lost film, never released on DVD and quite difficult to find. Now, in what will surely be one of the most essential Blu-rays of the year, the Criterion Collection has finally righted this wrong. read more...

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Sister (2012)

If you fell in love with blue-haired Léa Seydoux in this year's Blue Is the Warmest Color, or if you recognized her from her appearances in American films (Inglourious Basterds, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol), or if you just like a good arthouse movie, then you'll enjoy Ursula Meier's Sister. read more...

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Remember (2016)

Canadian director Atom Egoyan offers his best work in ages with this quietly observant drama. Paying special attention to sounds, places, and tones, the movie turns unexpectedly moving and powerful. Remember recalls Egoyan's best films, Exotica, Felicia's Journey, and the Oscar-nominated The Sweet Hereafter; like those, it's an exploration of unsettling things simmering under the surface. A lesser director could have played this like a cheap thriller, with more suspense, but Egoyan explores the deeper meanings of things. read more...

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