Reviews

This 1978 TV movie, Wes Craven's third horror, was based on a novel by Lois Duncan ("I Know What You Did Last Summer"). Although it's predictable, Linda Blair is a charm and the whole atmosphere quite cozy, making it worth watching.

This 1972 war drama by Soviet writer-director Stanislav Rostotskiy follows a small group of female soldiers as they defend their village in Russian Karelia from German paratroopers. Majestic b/w photo. Down-to-earth. Engaging.

The 30th feature film directed by Bergman, yet another one shot on the island of Fårö and centering on Ullmann and von Sydow (who are both great) - and it works again. As usual, Nykvist's cinematography is excellent.

Inspired by Émile Zola's novel Thérèse Raquin, Park Chan-wook and Jeong Seo-kyeong have written a beautifully weird film, with gorgeous aesthetics, admirably captured by cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon. There is an unexpected humour in it.

Once again, writer-director Ari Aster blows my mind. The effort and love he and his team has put into this is nothing short of amazing. The production design by Svensson, cinematography by Pogorzelski and score by Krlic are all astonishing.

Documentary "Superswede" portrays the life of Swedish Formula 1 star Ronnie Peterson and the golden era in Formula 1 racing.

The film gives a nice picture of Peterson and his life from childhood to his death at Monza in Milano at the age of 34. There are some interesting old photography of Peterson and his family and the interviews with a bunch of Formula 1 legends (including Niki Lauda) are quite touching and rewarding, but the film lacks pace and never really reaches the potential of the story it's telling, a little like Ronnie himself.

With this mesmerizing, beautiful Soviet epic from 1979, writer-director Andrey Konchalovskiy shows proof of his brilliance as a filmmaker. Despite its immense running time, it's truly captivating, thanks in part to Levan Paatashvili's photo.

This is the seventh feature film by Swedish director Åke Sandgren. PROS: Great acting from talented Sofia Ledarp, Jonas Karlsson and Rolf Lassgård. Balanced, spot on writing by Danish Kim Fupz Aakeson. CONS: A bit predictable at parts.

PROS: The performances from Miranda July, John Hawkes and the kids. The weird, funny writing and the good direction from feature debuting July. The way the film walks its own path. CONS: It sometimes falls a little out of tune.

Pros: Lanthimos' continous ingenuity. Colman = AMAZING. Weisz and Stone = great! Davis' and McNamara's brilliant writing. Ryan's gorgeous cinematography. The dashing production and costume design. Cons: Halted a tad towards the end.

Klaus Kinski and Jean-Louis Trintignant deliver memorable performances in Italian director Sergio Corbucci's Spaghetti Western, which also contains fine cinematography with amazing shots from the Dolomites in northeastern Italy.

James Franco again shows that he's not only a good actor but a talented director as well. This hilarious story is filled with warmth and love. The screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber is strong enough to give some nuance.

A more than decent action-thriller, "Killer Elite" is the feature film debut by Northern Irish television commercial director Gary McKendry. The fighting sequences are great. DP Duggan works fine and so does Statham, Owen, De Niro and the rest.

"Stalker", the sixth feature film by Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky, contains some beautiful imagery and an amazing score by composer Eduard Artemev. The film also benefits from the strong location shooting in Estonia, Russia and Tajikistan.

Considering the fact that "Capote" was director Bennett Miller's first non-documentary feature film, it's acclaim certainly is impressive. What's even more impressive is Philip Seymour Hoffman's lovely performance (God bless him in movie heaven).

When, 10 years ago, Swedish director Fredrik Edfeldt feature film debuted with the amazing "Flickan", I was totally blown away. Therefore, my expectations for "Faro" was high - but I was sadly let down. Here something is faltering, unfinished.

Dutch writer-director Alex van Warmerdam's 8th feature film "Borgman" is an incredible piece of cinema: weird, creeping, dark and at times even funny. The acting by Jan Bijvoet and Hadewych Minis is impressive and so is the direction and writing.

This was only the second time I watched a Kusturica film - and yet I cannot imagine a world without his movies! It's like finding the answer to an important question. Filled with such warmth and love of life! Great acting and writing.

The second non-documentary feature film by Sally Potter, "Orlando" features an interesting performance by Tilda Swinton and some nice costume and production design. The location shooting in Uzbekistan is a very pleasant bonus.

"Strange Days", the fourth feature film by Kathryn Bigelow (excluding co-directed "Black Leather), contains a colourful cast (Bassett's electric), a great use of the VR concept and overall high production values. If only it was a bit shorter.

Bale delivers a magnificent performance as Cheney, Adams shows she is his acting equal & the make-up is amazing, but the failure of writer-director Adam McKay to manage the theme (and its obvious parallels to Trump) with nuance hurts the film badly.

With his 3rd feature film, English writer and director Andrew Haigh shows proof of great filmmaking talent and writing skills. His portrayal of Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay's long-married couple (excellent acting from both) is magnificent.

Writer-director Cooper has created a true slow-burner of a movie, with strong performances from Pike, Studi and Bale, habile and nuanced writing, a beautiful score by Richter and lovely American landscapes captured skilfully by Takayanagi.

The twenty-fourth feature film by French-Armenian writer and director Henri Verneuil (born Ashot Malakian in Rodosto/Tekirdag in Ottoman Turkey), "The Sicilian Clan" is a stylish thriller with a nice score by legendary Ennio Morricone.

Although there are a few too many & too familiar genre traits in the film, it manages to engage enough too make you scared, thanks mostly to Hawke, about whom you care. Writer-director Derrickson's 4th full feature is an above-average horror.