Author Archives: admin

Cabrini review: a reverent look at an irreverent saint

An ambitious day of biking will take me up the spine of Manhattan, from 6th Avenue past Central Park and up St. Nicholas to Edgecombe Avenue. At the Highbridge swimming pool I head west to Fort Washington Avenue, climbing that … Continue reading

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Berlinale Panorama review: Betânia

Shot largely in Brazil’s Lençóis Maranhenses park, Betânia follows a widow as she returns after many years to her ancestral home. The debut feature for writer and director Marcelo Botta, it screened in this year’s Panorama section of the Berlin … Continue reading

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Tak Sakaguchi is the One-Percenter

For several years Well Go USA has been one of the best distributors of genre films in the country. But the company finds itself in a bind with One-Percent Warrior (aka One-Percenter), a martial arts adventure starring Tak Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi … Continue reading

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New Mexico Noir: Loves Lies Bleeding

A solid, nasty film noir set in New Mexico, Love Lies Bleeding is a stylish blend of genre set pieces and director and co-writer Rose Glass’s distinctive vision of erotic bodybuilding. A tough sell to mainstream viewers, it will build … Continue reading

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New York Noir: 5lbs of Pressure review

Getting films completed and released is so difficult that finding fault with them is no longer appealing. As long as filmmakers are trying to be constructive, shouldn’t they be given some credit? Putting that theory to the test is 5lbs … Continue reading

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Float review: Adrift in life

A low-key romance set in the Pacific Northwest, Float rests almost entirely on the appeal of its two leads, Andrea Bang and Robbie Amell (also a producer). They play mismatched neighbors hiding personal wounds. Before the movie ends they will … Continue reading

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Owning up to darkness in The Breaking Ice

Quiet and unassuming, The Breaking Ice follows three dissatisfied twenty-somethings navigating a world that hasn’t turned out the way they expected. Written and directed by Anthony Chen, and featuring excellent lead performances, it is a delicate but beguiling film that … Continue reading

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MoMA’s To Save and Project returns for 20th Edition

One of the highlights of the cinematic year is To Save and Project: The MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation, this year in its 20th edition. A collection of preservations and restorations from around the world, the series is a … Continue reading

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Jason Statham back in business as The Beekeeper

Action icon Jason Statham stars as the titular Beekeeper, an assassin retired from a top-secret, off-the-books branch of government designed to eliminate threats when all else fails. Statham keeps his bees at retired teacher Phylicia Rashad’s farm. When evil scammers … Continue reading

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Andy Lau stars in I Did It My Way

Andy Lau continues his remarkable resurgence in the crime thriller I Did It My Way, yet another variation on Infernal Affairs. Lau plays George Lam, lawyer for a drug ring so powerful it has evaded legal consequences for its crimes. … Continue reading

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