NYFF: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Before We Vanish"

by Jason Adams

I want you to close your eyes. I want you to close your eyes, and picture Love. Not Valentine's Day Heart Cards or little sugary candies that say Eat Me, and not the faces of the people you've held hands with on cold afternoon walks, although the latter will probably help you on your way of getting there. I want you to picture the entire concept of Love. The warmth and the palpable agony of it - the electricity of fingertips and further parts intertwining and entangling, and the aftershock of separation - the whole dang lot.

Now I want you to imagine the violence of all of that being torn out of your body...

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Review: Kirsten Dunst in "Woodshock"

by Chris Feil

“Remember when we used to play in the woods together?” Woodshock begins in dreamy, creepy breathiness. That breathy quality carries throughout the entire film, a curious debut from Kate and Laura Mulleavy (otherwise known as fashion wunderkinds Rodarte). The film itself plays in the woods, a little bit touched with mystical wonder and a little bit okay with getting lost. It’s kind of like having Alice recount her trip down the rabbit hole while coming down from some serious Wonderland substances, but without getting to witness the magical land yourself.

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The Martyr Mothers of Darren Aronofsky

by Jorge Molina

With his latest film mother!, Darren Aronosfky immerses us in a hellish landscape of biblical allegories, nightmarish house parties, and scenery-chewing performances. It's his most polarizing film so far, and he takes the audience to emotional and visceral places he hasn’t before (hello, newborn baby).

And yet, something remains hauntingly familiar about it. Aronofsky has mommy issues. Throughout his filmography, mothers are figures of unflinching and painful devotion. Women who lose themselves in the love they have to give, a trait which ultimately becomes their doom. They are designed to bestow upon...

 

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Doc Corner: 'Gaga: Five Foot Two' Does the Lady a Disservice

by Glenn Dunks

Lady Gaga can be a great musician, it’s true. But the new documentary about her, Gaga: Five Foot Two, would make anybody unfamiliar with her question why. The film follows a year with the singer as she records her latest album, Joanne (admission: I’m not a fan), and prepares for the big stage of the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Yet something about this film lingers as ever so slightly off.

Part of the problem with Chris Moukarbel’s film is that it’s never quite verite. The camera is never just a fly on the wall to Gaga’s world, but instead a witness to events that lack authenticity...

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IT 2 Floats, Too

Chris here. IT simply won't stop making money, recently passing The Exorcist has the highest grossing horror film in history (not adjusted for inflation, that is - no way Pennywise gets close to threatening Pazuzu's reign there). You would think that an announcement for a Chapter Two follow-up would have arrived much faster in this age of pre-planned sequels, but Warner Bros. just made it official: the latter half of Stephen King's massive text will come to the screens on September 6, 2019.

Director Andres Muschietti is expected to return to the sequel, which features the same characters all grown-up and returning to Derry to combat Pennywise's fated return. We can also expect Bill Skargård to come back for more clown eleganza extravaganza for his (underpraised, in my estimation) turn as Pennywise. But who can we hope to take on the adult Losers from the lively teen cast?

One name that has been bandied about is Jessica Chastain to replace the breakout actress Sophia Lillis as Beverly. Chastain has already gotten spooky for Muschietti in Mama and has remained supportive of the director, so I wouldn't consider it out of the question. Surely with the massive box office haul major names like Chastain could be more likely to appear unlike your standard genre fare - this is the makings of a major blockbuster sequel. If the film takes place roughly 27 years after the events of the first film, what ~40 year old actors would you like to see take over the IT sequel?