My Opinion: 8.8 || A moving meditation on aging, loss, and family ties. The story can feel languid, but this is slowness with a purpose: producing steady imersion and leading to a resonant end. A triumph of quietly precise characterization and delicate storytelling.
My Opinion: 8.8 || A simple premise explored brilliantly. Inventive story structure, absorbing camera work, and profound feeling. Excellent film.
My Opinion: 9.5 || I don’t think I can provide a commentary that will do the movie justice (though I’ll try). It’s perfect.
My Opinion: 8.1 || A direct and unadorned story about abandonment and kindness. Free of melodrama and predictable story turns, it has the tone and structure of a great documentary. If there’s a flaw, it’s that we never understand the motivations of the pivotal character.
My Opinion: 9.2 || Impressive on every level — a great film.
My Opinion: 8.3 || Harrowing, unique, and deeply insightful. Gets into the marrow of a political and military conflict like no other film I’ve seen. Gripping documentary-style realism and admirable evenhanded in depicting both… Continue reading
My Opinion: 8.0 || Not perfect, but nevertheless astonishing. The last third is particularly impressive, with a succession of brilliantly crafted images: easily among the best directed sequences I’ve ever seen. Thre are some… Continue reading
My Opinion: 8.0 || Peculiar, bold, fascinating film — never seen anything quite like it. I can easily imagine people hating the movie’s oddness or finding it dull, but I was absorbed from start… Continue reading
My Opinion: 9.3 || Outstanding film. Like Tree of Life or Annie Hall or Persona, it’s impossible to identify a boundary between script and direction — it’s so obvious that they spring from a singular, cohesive vision.… Continue reading
I'm an author and consultant in Portland, Oregon. My novel 'Beheld' will be published this June.
