Recap: The Curse (S1, Ep5) — Whitney Cracks Under Pressure in Tense, Excellent Episode
Just as I thought the first season of The Curse was meandering a little, it sucks me right back in. Things have been looser after the pilot episode, as the […]
Dispatch: 2024 Sundance Film Festival Opens with Varied, Vibrant Independent Cinema
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival opened in Park City, Utah, on January 18 with hundreds of films set to premiere over the next ten days. Several Third Coast Review critics […]
Recap: True Detective (S4, Ep1) — Mystery Series Returns as Night Country in Solid Premiere After Five-Year Hiatus
If you ignore the murder, tormented police, and general unpleasantness, True Detective is a show about the mystery of its protagonists. Whether they are good or bad, nihilistic or hedonistic, […]
Review: The Power of Film Is an Engaging, Easygoing Miniseries About the Cycles of American Cinema
It’s easy to forget that we all start somewhere. When I was 13, I discovered Yorgos Lanthimos’s horrific fantasy-comedy The Lobster on Netflix and became, for better or for worse, […]
Review: The Settlers Lays Bare a Hidden Chapter of Chile’s Genocidal Past
While American cinema has now begun to slowly (although not necessarily surely) reckon with the legacy of colonialism and white supremacy, Latin American cinema has long decried its brutal legacy. […]
Review: A Blossoming Friendship Is at the Heart of Spirited, Sweet Driving Madeleine
From the director of the Oscar-nominated Joyeux Noel, Christian Carion’s latest work is a far more intimate but equally moving affair. The film kicks off by placing Madeleine (Line Renaud), […]
Review: As Earth Devolves into War, An American and Russian Space Crew Clash in I.S.S.
More an ethical puzzle than a proper film, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (known for the docs Blackfish and The Grab, as well as the narrative feature Megan Leavey), works from a […]
Review: Kevin Hart Dials Back the Antics for Lift, a Serviceable, Airborne Heist Movie
It’s a new month, so it’s time for a new Kevin Hart movie on Netflix. This time around, Hart forgoes comedy for something in the action-heist genre with Lift, in […]
Recap: Fargo (S5, Ep4) — Two Tense Home Invasions Frame Another Great Episode
The truth is undoubtedly Fargo‘s largest overarching theme. The original movie and now every episode of the show opens with text that declares that we are watching something that actually […]
Review: Astounding and Grossly Captivating, The Zone of Interest Is Challenging, Frustrating and Essential Art
It may sound like an unlikely endorsement for a film, but stay with me here: The Zone of Interest will make you want to puke from discomfort and anxiety. Or […]
Review: In Occupied City, Filmmaker Steve McQueen Recounts Amsterdam’s History Through Its Present
In one of the most unique examinations of the past almost entirely using images of the present, director Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave, Widows) brings us a provocative and […]
Review: Actor Jake Johnson Moves Behind the Camera for Original, Likable Self Reliance Co-Starring Anna Kendrick
Marking his debut as a writer/director, actor Jake Johnson brings us his funny and mostly charming take on reality shows, Self Reliance, in which he plays Tommy, a middle-aged guy […]