The Criterion Collection may have surprised some collectors when they announced last May that they would be releasing two Albert Brooks movies on their label in August: “Real Life” and “Mother.” “Real Life” was not a surprise. An HD treatment was long overdue and had been a favorite for so many Brooks fans and fans

Nathalie Emmanuel (Ramsey from the later “Fast and the Furious” movies) plays the mysterious Zee, a stealthy assassin for a powerful organization run by the vicious Finn (Sam Worthington). The “Avatar” actor nails a certain kind of slimy power figure, the one who will pretend to have your best interests in mind but only as

The reason “Strange Darling” gets a marginal pass is that the film seems to truly believe that its subversions are empowering. Its intentions—and its disruptions—are straightforward, and it seems unaware of the implications of the specific ways in which it turns the audience’s expectations upside down. It’s not that deep, in short, and there are

What happens when you take DIY auteurs and put them on a professional movie set? That was what happened when Toby Poser and John Adams traveled to Serbia to make “Hell Hole,” the latest film from half of the team known as the Adams Family.  For those who haven’t met them yet, the Adams are

As the founder of Glass Eye Pix, writer-director Larry Fessenden has spent nearly four decades carving out a fiercely independent niche in American cinema—not only for himself, but also for the array of talented artists whose careers he’s supported through his storied New York film studio.  Since “No Telling,” his first feature on film, Fessenden

At the same time that I wanted my MTV in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I was also a movie-obsessed teenager who practically lived at the multiplex. The movie theater was my home away from home. I’d go see anything that piqued my interest. I routinely watched coming attraction trailers before the main event got underway.

In the script from Kristen Lazarian and Paulina Lagudi Ulrich, the fisherman, João, has suffered a devastating loss at the beginning of the film, making the surprising arrival of the penguin that much more poignant. Jean Reno gives a vulnerable, moving performance as João, a simple man broken by tragedy transformed by the thrill of this unexpected connection. He shows great range here, from sorrow to joy to an impish sense

Beth’s a breast cancer survivor, and Jay doesn’t really know how to talk with her about what she went through. She’s also plagued by nightmarish, PTSD-style images of her body rebelling against her, either during or following a traumatic medical procedure. Jay clearly wants to make Beth feel seen and appreciated but doesn’t seem to

Hunter, your character’s weapon of choice by the film’s end isn’t a gun but a butterfly knife. I love how you play an unconventional “scream queen” in that you have to survive with a lot of restrictions … you really just have your knife, sling, and iPod to fight with. Was there a skill that

The remarkably boring Charlotte Kirk plays Scarlett Monaghan, a woman approached by a suave gentleman named Robert McNaughton (Philip Winchester) while out with her deadly dull boyfriend at the club one night. Robert and Scarlett have instant chemistry, so they pretty quickly dispatch with Mr. Wrong and begin a steamy affair before Scarlett discovers how