“The self-described ‘sensory bacchanalia from beyond the mainstream’ takes over the Brattle Theatre for five days of movie mayhem. This year’s BUFF lineup offers another smorgasbord of outré delights, stomach-churning horrors, celebrity guests and celebrations of bad taste. As always, the festival prides itself on pushing the limits of propriety with panache.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 03/17/2025
My second dispatch from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival includes capsule reviews of Hailey Gates’ Atropia, Charlie Shackleton’s Zodiac Killer Project and Sierra Falconer’s Sunfish (& Other Stories From Green Lake).
My first dispatch from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival includes capsule reviews of Josh Osit’s Predators, Albert Birney’s OBEX and Alireza Khatami’s The Things You Kill.
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”IFFBoston program director Nancy Campbell and executive director Brian Tamm knew they wanted to do something big for the tenth annual Fall Focus. So, how big did they go? They’ve managed to fit 14 films into the festival’s five days, closing with a special 70mm screening of all 26 reels and 300 lbs. of The Brutalist, literally the most massive movie of the year.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 10/29/2024
””It’s interesting to think about a time when Hollywood made movies for adults,’ explains Tamm. ‘What does it say about the end of the 20th century that 25 years on, we’re not making movies like this anymore? Is that necessarily a good thing? I don’t know. There are some deeper, thornier questions in these films that mainstream movies aren’t asking anymore.’” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 07/10/2024
“’Festivals offer the opportunity to use film as a catalyst so that we can all be in one place, in person, to have a conversation and feel that energy in the room,’ said Simmons. ‘It’s important for filmmakers to screen their films in front of an audience that gets to ask them questions, to see the reactions, to get that feedback. That’s an important part of being an artist.’” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 06/19/2024
”The festival is about more than just watching movies, it’s about joining a room full of strangers and experiencing our common humanity together. As a culture, we had to get used to staying home alone, and I think there’s considerable evidence that it made people kind of crazy and mean. Events like IFFBoston remind us that we’re part of a larger community.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 04/29/2024
“Killer spiders, pregnant nuns, ex-con Juggalos and humanist vampires, oh my. It must be BUFF season again. Now in its twenty-fourth year, the self-described ‘annual sensory bacchanalia from beyond the mainstream’ is back at the Brattle Theatre to celebrate the oddest and most outré cinematic offerings covering the whole waterfront of weird.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 03/18/2024
My second dispatch from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival includes capsule reviews of Nathan Silver’s Between The Temples, Josh Margolin’s Thelma and India Donaldson’s Good One.
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My first dispatch from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival includes capsule reviews of Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, Michael John Warren’s Lolla: The Story Of Lollapalooza and Theda Hammel’s Stress Positions.
