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Film Review: “Vesper” Achieves a Unique Brilliance

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Film Review: “Vesper” Achieves a Unique Brilliance
By Adam Vaughn
September 29, 2022
Vesper (Kristina Buozyte/Bruno Samper, 2022) 3½ out of 4 stars. Set in a futuristic world where humanity has fallen victim to catastrophic viral outbreaks, and where Earth’s dystopian state causes the air to be almost unbreathable, Vesper showcases a vast array of alien-like plant life, many of them deadly to the remaining people. Young Vesper (Raffiella Chapman, Homebound) navigates this dangerous and foreign universe, aiding her paralyzed ... >>
Christopher Llewellyn Reed’s TIFF 2022 Wrap-Up
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 25, 2022
The Toronto International Film Festival (or TIFF) wrapped a week ago, on September 18, and though I am late to the wrap party, I still want to offer my favs from among what I watched. To take a look at the award-winners, check out the fest website (amazingly, I only saw one of them, While We Watched). If interested, you should also read my TIFF 2022 curtain raiser. It was great to be back in Toronto in person. I love both the festival and the ... >>
TIFF Review: “Nanny” Proves Pointedly Poignant
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 23, 2022
Nanny (Nikyatu Jusu, 2022) 3 out of 4 stars. Though Nikyatu Jusu’s debut feature, Nanny, sometimes strikes its messaging notes with a heavy hand, the film’s overall design and execution prove mostly mesmerizing. And though the ending rushes through an unspeakable tragedy, inadvertently seeming to minimize its impact, the gravity of the central conflict is never less than intense. Jusu offers a close analysis of the constant hazards faced by ... >>
TIFF Review: Cinematically Striking Treasures of “Corsage” Are Cold to the Touch
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 18, 2022
Corsage (Marie Kreutzer, 2022) 2½ out of 4 stars. There is much to admire in director Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, her fanciful take on Empress Elisabeth of Austria’s forty-first year, chief among its cinematic treasures the performance of Vicky Krieps (Bergman Island) in the lead. She plays her part with near-constant rage simmering just below the surface of restrained gentility, portraying a woman angry at her powerless place among the powerful. ... >>
TIFF Review: Hawkins Brings “The Lost King” Home
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 15, 2022
The Lost King (Stephen Frears, 2022) 3 out of 4 stars. How much do I love seeing Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) on screen? In role after role, she has demonstrated a remarkable ability to express a range of emotions and has perfected the art of projecting strength through vulnerability. In Stephen Frears’ new film, written, as was his 2013 Philomena, by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, she is marvelously at it again, playing the real-life ... >>

Film Review: “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon” Proves a Misfire
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Film Review: This Imperfect “Smile” Still Creeps You Out
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In Memoriam Rob Goald (1948-2022)
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