Hammer to Nail

Though we will for once not have boots on the ground for SXSW 2025, that doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking about the festival in this 31st iteration of its Film & TV conference, which runs March 7-15. As always, SXSW...

Two Women, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, marks the latest feature from acclaimed Quebec filmmaker Chloé Robichaud (Sarah Prefers to Run, Boundaries). The French-language comedy, adapted from Catherine Léger’s stage play, inspired by the 1970s films of...

(We here at Hammer to Nail are all about true independent cinema. But we also have to tip our hat to the great films of yesteryear that continue to inspire filmmakers and cinephiles alike. This week, “The Curbside Criterion” continues...

New Directors/New Films is coming back for its 54th edition. Since 1972, it has showcased work from the likes of Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Kelly Reichardt, Pedro Almodóvar, Souleymane Cissé, Jia Zhangke, Spike Lee, Lynne Ramsay, Michael Haneke, Wong Kar-wai,...

Argentinian director Laura Casabé (The Returned) premiered her latest feature, The Virgin of the Quarry Lake, at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival (where I reviewed it). Based on two short stories—“Our Lady of the Quarry” and “The Cart”—by author Mariana...

(Photo credit Mike Coppola/Getty Images) After truly independent filmmaker Sean Baker won the freeking Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, he was fast-tracked to Oscar nominations galore! Amazing! Tonight, Baker won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, Editing and Directing...

Michael Angarano is back in the director’s seat for his sophomore feature. Sacramento is a coming-of-age road trip comedy that stars Angarano and Michael Cera as old friends Rickey and Glenn who take an impromptu road trip to the titular...

“You know, you’re Irish, so when I’m saying Dédalus you’re probably thinking Joyce.” It’s early December in Avelino and Arnaud Desplechin isn’t really talking Ulysses. The French director’s latest, Spectateurs!, reintroduces the his own Dédalus: an intrepid cinephile who already...

The 2025 Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 2, and as always, 15 short films compete across 3 categories—animation, documentary, and live action—for the golden statuette in their respective areas. Every year, I watch all of them and then...

(Check out Don Lewis’s movie review of Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary and Pavement Jed I. Rosenberg’s doc on the early days of the band Pavement. It’s available now to own or stream via Factory 25. Seen it?...