Shadow Play

Feb 12, 2019 — In a stark, forbidding prison, a nun ascends a staircase, framed by vertical bars, and walks down a corridor, unlocking cell doors. Women start coming out; two of them quarrel. Smoking on her bunk, one inmate sighs when told she...

Jan 23, 2019 — Checking in on how the nominees are currently faring with critics and awards prognosticators.

Jan 9, 2019 — The Sopranos Film Festival celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the landmark show. Plus news from Rotterdam, Berlin, Austin, and Park City.

Nov 26, 2018 — The legendary filmmaker possessed the greatest speaking voice in American cinema, and The Magnificent Ambersons represents the summit of his work as a vocal actor.

Nov 26, 2018 — Even as he chronicles the downfall of an American family, Orson Welles brings a sense of buoyancy to this grim saga through his virtuoso storytelling.

Sep 26, 2018 — The completion of the project Welles began in the 1970s is one of the major cinematic events of the year.

Sep 10, 2018 — Hopes were high in Venice this year, and for the most part, they seem to have been fulfilled.

Jul 26, 2018 — The Grim Reaper faces off against two wildly different sets of opponents in a new Criterion Channel double feature, celebrating the hundredth birthday of Ingmar Bergman.

Mar 24, 2018 — Just a day or two after Stephen Hawking left us on March 14, Isaac Butler called up Errol Morris for Slate to talk about A Brief History of Time (1991), the documentary that takes it title from Hawking’s surprise bestseller....

Mar 3, 2018 — So this is the weekend that finally brings awards season to an end. The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be presented tonight (and here’s an overview of the nominations), and tomorrow’s the Big Night (again, the nominations). The one piece...