My first dispatch from the 58th New York Film Festival includes capsule reviews of Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock, Cristi Puiu’s Malmrkrog, Ephriam Askili’s The Inheritance, David Dufresne’s The Monopoly Of Violence and Ivan Dixon’s The Spook Who Sat By The Door.
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“Since launching in 2003 the festival has presented more than 1,650 films that would take 75 straight days to watch. In lieu of such an undertaking, I’ve selected a few favorite titles from over the years, so that through streaming services we might be able to create our own little IFFBoston at home. At least we have the movies to hold us over for now.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 04/22/2020
Had a slightly tipsy 2AM Mountain time chat with host Blake Howard about some highlights from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, including Eliza Hittman’s extraordinary Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Josephine Decker’s Shirley, Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson Is Dead and the regrettable fiasco of Dee Rees’ The Last Thing He Wanted. – The Take Podcast 01/31/2020
“They’ve saved the best for last, closing with Céline Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. It’s a swooningly romantic, thrillingly sexy movie with a lot on its mind about what it takes to really look at someone, and what it means to be truly seen. I can’t think of a better way to wrap up a weekend of movies than with one so adroit about the act of watching.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 10/28/2019
“This year’s roster is a characteristically eclectic mix, offering something for everyone to experience in a dark room with strangers who are just friends you haven’t met yet. IFFBoston thrives on this sense of community and camaraderie. We’re awfully lucky to have an event where people can put away their electronic devices and experience art with one another.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 04/22/2019
“But the festival’s outsized influence over the decades obviously hasn’t always been to everyone’s benefit. Sundance has helped cement the stereotype of an indie film director as a white boy genius with a beard and baseball cap. This legend is often dutifully transcribed by critics like myself, who also tend to be white dudes with beards and baseball caps.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 02/01/2019
“Featuring nine new features packed into three days at the Brattle, the autumn event is a straight-up binge for movie buffs. But while previous installments may have provided area audiences with our first looks at Moonlight, Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, there’s more to the series than just early peeks at Oscar contenders.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 10/16/2018
“Unspooling in the area’s most beautiful and historic independent venues, IFFBoston has a communal spirit I find restorative. It’s always my favorite week of the year. At a time when most folks like to stay in their houses and stream things, there’s no understating how great it feels to get out and share big-screen experiences with enthusiastic audiences.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 04/24/2018
“This year’s opening night belongs to Lady Bird, the solo directorial debut of actress Greta Gerwig. It’s a sort of homecoming, as Gerwig has been an IFFBoston staple for as long as she’s been onscreen. Her debut feature LOL played here back in 2006, followed by her first lead performance in Hannah Takes the Stairs the following year.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 10/20/2017
“We gotta mix it up. We leaned heavily on the classics last year, and I think next year we probably will return to a little bit more of that. If we get a lot of people for Top Gun or Wonder Woman and ten of them come back to see Cleopatra then my job is done. I’ve continued to keep these important movies in the consciousness.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 09/20/2017
