The Victors is Carl Foreman's and novelist Alexander Baron's probing essay on warfare that fearlessly confronts the hypocricies and indignities that are woven inextricably into the fabric of any military conflict. Set in World War II, the film, based on Baron's wartime experiences, is constructed as a series of discreet morality plays performed by an ensemble cast comprising a squad of American soldiers that travels on an odyssey through devastated and Italy. Meeting the squad on its journey are…

Judgment and condemnation hang over the characters in Sunset Song like a dead weight threatening to drop a bomb that controls, terrifies, punishes and destroys the people surrounding Chris Guthrie, the story's main character. Under that weight, life becomes tedium and it is impossible to see beyond the limits of obligation. Stirring in the pervasive male hegemony, she creates a small and fearful life from which we are begging and pleading Chris to escape. She holds within her the hope…

Might contain spoilers. Belle Vie is such a sad film. A hardworking immigrant from with a wonderful small bistro in West L.A. gets hit so hard by the pandemic that he is forced to close his doors. The film prompts so many questions about public health, politics and economics. How could we have done better? Were small businesses treated unfairly? What could we do in the future to protect people like Vincent Samarco? I'm sure that he will be…

The train wreck of Alberto's life is filled with such tantalizing absurdities that I couldn't help falling down the rabbit hole with him. He is on a journey of self discovery in a land of self absorption. His encounters include cell phone waiving careerist assholes, ex-girlfriends, self-help gurus lost in their delusions, ordinary folk working hard and staying under the radar, artists quietly making work without professional ambition and a woman who finds herself on the same road as Alberto.…

The Subject stumbles under its own weight as it tries to address a group of interrelated issues that prove too slippery to capture, analyze and resolve in one two hour film. A documentary filmmaker's responsibility to his or her subject is the largest elephant in the room, but it is ed by spinning the truth, minimizing transgressions, infidelity, white economic hegemony, white entitlement, and the simple act of owning what one does. The film gets traction and momentum with the…

I'm so happy to have finally watched Gal Young 'Un. Victor Nunez is batting 100% with me (I've watched 4 of his 6 films). Blessed with a stellar cast and the powerful writing of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and ed beautifully with a stripped down, unadorned aesthetic and dynamic camerawork with a very effective use of closeups, Gal Young 'Un is a heartfelt examination of longing, self worth and forgiveness (alongside a textbook case of evil deception and greed). As in…

Two stories, two careers, two minds, two lives are seamlessly interwoven in this brilliantly conceived film. The doubts, hopes, fears and optimism of two uncompromising intellectuals working on the philosophy and reality of political decisions are written and acted convincingly within an enthralling story arc. There is suspense, but this is not a political thriller. The core metaphor of the film lies in Alice's unexpected entry into the halls of power and her confident willingness to take on the responsibilities…