Featured Specialty | Film Festival Today

AFI DOCS Review: “Courtroom 3H” Shows What Compassionate Legal Professionals Can Do

July 5, 2021

AFI DOCS Review: “Radiograph of a Family” Offers a Moving, Intimate Account of the Iranian Revolution

July 2, 2021

AFI DOCS Review: “The First Step” Offers Cinematic Praise for Van Jones

July 1, 2021

Tribeca 2021 Recap

June 29, 2021

Tribeca Review: “Claydream” Has an Amusing and Insightful Story That is Weighed Down by Drama

June 25, 2021

Film Review: “Sisters on Track” Leaves You Rooting for Team Sheppard

June 24, 2021

Tribeca Review: Although “Catch the Fair One” Is Intense and Entertaining, the End Could Be Better

June 24, 2021

Tribeca Review: Entertaining and Informative from Start to Finish, “Father of the Cyborgs” Triumphs

June 23, 2021

Tribeca Review: While Often Chilling and Mesmerizing, “Shapeless” Takes Too Long to Get Its Point Across

June 22, 2021

Tribeca Review: “Do Not Hesitate” Explores the Extraordinarily Ordinary Sins of Humanity

June 21, 2021

Tribeca Review: “See for Me” Is Thrilling, Clever and Delivers a Fresh New Thriller Experience

June 21, 2021

“Boorman and the Devil” Compels You
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 26, 2025
Boorman and the Devil (David Kittredge, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars Of this I am certain: one need not be a fan of a movie to enjoy its making-of tale. Especially when that documentary is more than a compendium of trivia, becoming instead a rumination on art and its place in the world. Such is David Kittredge’s Boorman and the Devil, which chronicles the production of one of the worst films I have ever seen, Exorcist II: The Heretic. ... >>
TIFF Review: “A Private Life”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 15, 2025
A Private Life (Rebecca Zlotowski, 2025) 3 out of 5 stars There is one primary reason to see A Private Life, from director Rebecca Zlotowski (Just the Two of Us), and that is Jodie Foster (Nyad), whose riveting performance is further enhanced by the fact that she speaks French throughout. Well, make that two reasons, as Daniel Auteuil (An Ordinary Case), in the role of her ex-husband, is equally compelling. Together, they provide the highlights ... >>
TIFF Review: “A Pale View of Hills”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 15, 2025
A Pale View of Hills (Kei Ishikawa, 2025) 3 out of 5 stars Born in 1954 in Nagasaki, Japan, Nobel-prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro emigrated to England in 1960. His subsequent bicultural upbringing has given him a unique perspective on the world that has informed much of his writing, specializing in the emotional reserve that humans layer on top of experience to avoid looking closely at hard truths. His novels The Remains of the Day (1989) ... >>
TIFF Interview: “Steal Away” Co-Writer Tamara Berger and Director Clement Virgo
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 14, 2025
Toronto-based director Clement Virgo just premiered his latest feature, Steal Away, which he co-wrote with wife Tamara Berger, at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (where I reviewed it). They previously collaborated on the 2005 Lie with Me. This new project is an adaptation of Karolyn Smardz Frost’s 2017 nonfiction book Steal Away Home and is set in a world that is neither the here nor the now, but possibly both, an amalgam of times ... >>
TIFF Review: “Franz”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 10, 2025
Franz (Agnieszka Holland, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars The writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924), though he died far too young (of tuberculosis), left behind a literary legacy that has lasted into our present. Works such as his story “In the Penal Colony,” his novella The Metamorphosis, and his novel The Trial have proved enormously influential, even though most of his works were only published after his death. We have his friend Max Brod to thank for us ... >>

10 Picks for TIFF 2025
September 1, 2025
The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (or TIFF) ...>>
Films to See at Fantasia 2025
July 15, 2025
For fans of the weird, wild, and wonderful, the 29th ...>>
“Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” Interview with Director and Star
June 12, 2025
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Five Films to See at Tribeca 2025
June 4, 2025
This year, as always at the Tribeca Festival (formerly ...>>
Our Coverage of 2025 Oscar Nominees
January 25, 2025
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and ...>>