Reviews

I Didn’t Really Get ‘Tár’

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We begin with Lydia Tár visibly anxious. She’s rubbing her hands together, taking shuddering breaths, and swallowing some unnamed pills from her young assistant. She’s nervous about something, though we don’t know what quite yet. Then, she’s introduced to the audience by “New Yorker” writer Adam Gopnik, who plays himself. He interviews Tár, played by Cate Blanchett, in front of an eager audience. Read More >>

A person walking through the destruction from a volcano.

DOC NYC Nov. 9-27

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No, your reviewer didn’t actually haul a sleeping bag into the IFC Center, Cinepolis Chelsea or the SVA Theatre (16 screens in total). And even if the most fanatic cinephiles had elected all-day, all-night viewing—cinema-crawling from lower 6th Avenue up to West 23rd Street and back, then home-viewing til dawn—they’d have missed some of the… Read more »

Leonard Cohen Doffing his hat

Tribeca Festival June 8-20

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‘The city that never sleeps’ has awakened to two renamed institutions since the onset of Covid: The 92nd Street Y is now known as 92NY, signaling a momentous decision to begin streaming much of its top-drawer cultural programming to the world. And the former Tribeca Film Festival’s 22nd season of multiple events on a myriad… Read more »

“The Lobster”: When the Sin of Being Single Is Unforgivable

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 Dystopian films are no doubt a popular genre, especially among young adults. From “The Hunger Games” which reflects the animalistic tendencies of teenagers to “Divergent” which emphasizes their rebellious nature,  dystopian films tend to be similar to one another. “The Lobster,” however, includes elements of dark comedy and science fiction, bringing something new to the… Read more »

“Fresh” Bites off More than it Can Chew

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“I love hot sauce. I literally just put it on every single thing I can find.” Anyone familiar with the messy world of online dating has heard this before, and “Fresh” knows it. Its opening scene features two strangers, a man and a woman, meeting for the first time over dinner. The woman, Noa, picks… Read more »

“Master” Explores Old Ideas in a New Setting

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Racism is horror. This is the idea behind creative masterpieces such as Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” and Bernard Rose’s “Candyman” (which later inspired Nia Dacosta’s 2021 spiritual remake). These films explore Black trauma through a generational lens, often coming to the same conclusion: nothing has changed. Whether it’s police violence or malicious tokenism from white… Read more »

New Directors/New Films April 20–May 1

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A major international hotel chain some years ago positioned its appeal to travelers as “the best surprise is no surprise.” The premise was that most vacationers want the predictability of home wherever they go. That line didn’t play well in Manhattan, where surprise is the order of every day. Most of us moved here to… Read more »