Author: Derrick Murray

There are so many layers to peel back in Todd Haynes “May December” that it can be difficult to extrapolate everything and understand each new revelation. It is even more difficult to summarize it all into a single review. Not only are its themes, narrative, tone and cultural critiques deeply affecting and profound, but its characters are equally as complex and complicated. “May December” is such a character driven piece of work that both the characters and performances themselves require a deeper dive, particularly because many of the leads are delivering some of their best work in years. There are…

“Poor Things” is a wonderful world of weird, packed to brim with stunning production design, laugh out loud humor, an odyssey of self reclamation and a sexual awakening with lots and lots and LOTS of sex.

“Our Son” layered emotional characters get more arresting, mixed with queer overtones that give the film its unique heart at the core.

“Silent Night” feels regressive in the most disappointing ways, delivering a few action set pieces that are decent enough but don’t wow and are surrounded by dull, muted (literally) melodrama that, when you strip away the shtick of silence, becomes no more than the sum of its redundant and uninspiring parts.

“American Fiction” is a can’t miss comedy and one of the best films of the year.

“Godzilla Minus One” is a thrilling action drama, packed with plenty of action, genuine emotion, characters you actually care about, and the meanest Godzilla you’ve ever seen.

It’s that time of year again. The time were we start to reflect on the films we’ve seen this year and begin to form lists and rankings that encapsulate a year in cinema. This has been quite the year for film, and an even more daunting undertaking for myself with two festivals and a goal of seeing 300 new films in a single year. Shockingly, I’m trending to end the year at nearly one new film a day, something I didn’t think I would be able to do let alone live to tell the tale. That’s a whole lotta time…

For all its provocation, “Saltburn” fails to cohesively reconcile its shock with its purpose, leaving its characters in a limbo of confusion instead of nuanced complexity.

“Napoleon” shines on the battlefield, but is so incoherent and messy elsewhere it becomes impossible to decipher what this nearly 3 hour historical epic is suppose to be.

There’s a much larger discussion to be had about Netflix’s role in film acquisitions out of festivals. What that means for distribution, theatrical releases, select and wide releases, marketing, award possibilities and the very fabric of how we consume cinema. The ramifications of streaming vs theatrical release continues to clash with every passing year, but one thing is clear: for better or worse, Netflix is here to stay. And my oh my did they put in work at festivals this year. Particularly out of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Netflix swooped up some of the most coveted titles including…