Steve James | Film Festival Today

Jay Berg’s AFI DOCS 2018 Top Five

July 4, 2018

Tribeca Review: “A Tree Fell in the Woods”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 20, 2025
A Tree Fell in the Woods (Nora Kirkpatrick, 2025) 3 out of 5 stars There’s a lot of fraught and frantic activity in A Tree Fell in the Woods, writer/director Nora Kirkpatrick’s feature debut. Some of it proves comically effective, while other parts come across as merely hyperactive. When the magic works and the ensemble comes together, it’s an entertaining romp about relationships and cheating; when neither go quite according to plan, it drags. ... >>
Tribeca Review: “Widow Champion”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 19, 2025
Widow Champion (Zippy Kimundu, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars Throughout human history and across cultures, the institution of marriage has almost always been a means by which property is carefully controlled (usually by men). Amongst royals and the nobility, such title transfers might involve vast estates, territories, or even entire countries. In poorer communities, the acreage may be smaller, yet the stakes are no less high for those involved. ... >>
Tribeca Review: “Oh, Hi!”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 18, 2025
Oh, Hi! (Sophie Brooks, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars At the start of Sophie Brooks’ sophomore feature, a young woman, Iris (Molly Gordon, Theater Camp), frantically greets a friend, Max (Geraldine Viswanathan, Thunderbolts, who has come to the door late at night, apparently in answer to a summons for help. So when we then quickly cut to “33 hours earlier,” we know that the romantic idyll we watch unfold, between Iris and her beau, Isaac (Logan ... >>
Tribeca Review: “Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 13, 2025
Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print (Cecilia Aldarondo/Alice Gu/Salima Koroma, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars The groundbreaking, feminist Ms. magazine (groundbreaking because it was feminist), founded in 1971, changed the media landscape by bringing women’s concerns directly into the mainstream (where they should always have been). Though the publication faced some initial misogynist pushback, it quickly caught on and became one of the decade’s success ... >>
Interview with “Prime Minister” Directors Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 12, 2025
In Prime Minister (which I reviewed at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival), directors Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe craft an engaging portrait of former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Using a wealth of archival material—much of it captured by Utz (and her husband) and Ardern’s partner (now husband), Clark Gayford, over the years—Utz and Walshe humanize their subject while exploring her politics and governance record. In a world of ... >>

“Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” Interview with Director and Star
June 12, 2025
Director Shoshannah Stern makes her feature debut with ...>>
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 ...>>
10 Films to Watch at Sundance 2025
January 21, 2025
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival runs in-person January ...>>
Chris Reed’s Top 10 Films of 2024
December 31, 2024
This was another good year for movies, though perhaps ...>>