Film Reviews
Welcome to FilmFestSalon! Read our reviews on domestic films, foreign films and the classics.
Review: Biographical Films about Artists
Review of several engaging films about artists, ranging from Michelangelo to Jackson Pollack.
Film: “Climax”
After five features, it should be evident by now that the controversial French-Argentinian filmmaker, Gaspar Noe, is a rigid formalist. His latest, “Climax”, which was previewed at last year’s Cannes festival, is as formalized and anti-dramatic as any of his previous features. It presents sex and violence as irrevocably combined, resulting in destruction and guilt.…
Film: “Birds of Passage”
“Birds of Passage”, a Colombian crime drama which has gotten serious attention from critics, is both unusual and ambitious. Co-directors Cirro Guerra and Cristina Gallego, whose previous film was “Embrace of the Serpent”, have used a contemporary genre as a kind of anthropological document of a primitive society. From a script by Maria Camila Arias…
Film: “Velvet Buzzsaw”
Today, one of the most universally despised cultural targets is the art world, which seems to prosper from cynically exploiting the public’s appetite for the “new”, the undiscovered genius who will “disrupt” the snobby elites who control the business. This viewpoint has been expressed in recent films, including Ruben Ostlund’s “The Square” and “Boogie Woogie”.…
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and Oscar nominees
I usually see the latest Coen brothers movie as soon as it comes out. It’s like a food craving; I can’t wait for the next one. “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” is their latest. It’s six separate stories about the Old West. Well, the meal was a little unsatisfying this time. Still, one of the…
Film: “Take Point”
This is the first time I’ve ever written the words “you won’t be bored” and not meant it as total praise. In the case of “Take Point“, written and directed by South Korean Kim Byung-woo, the excitement comes at a cost. The excitement will likely be accompanied by a measure of confusion and frustration. In…
Film: “Cold War”
It seems there are critics who were expecting this film, probably due to its title, to be a serious historical drama, one that exposes the bureaucratic tyranny of the early communist regime in Poland. I think that audiences will be similarly disappointed if they go to it thinking it will illuminate that historical period, which…
Film: “Roma”
It’s no mystery why so many distributors wait until the very end of the year to release the most competitive quality films. This is certainly the case with Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, which is in very limited release, and can now be seen on Netflix. There’s little chance that a Spanish subtitled film, in black and white,…
Film: “The Favourite”
Directed by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favorite is a sly, mostly on-target story of royal back-stabbing under the reign of Queen Anne that has been getting a lot of critical praise. As satire, it sets a high standard for itself, and, more often than not, it reaches it. But, whatever its limitations as satire –…
Film: “Burning”
Lee Chong-dong’s brilliant film, Burning, from South Korea, is an international prize-winner. It is sure to be a strong contender for best foreign Oscar. It’s a genre film, in a way, the genre being stories based on William Faulkner’s famous line: “The past isn’t dead yet. It isn’t even past.”(from “Requiem for A Nun”). The…