Hammer to Nail

Stop-motion animation filmmaker Duke Johnson is making his live-action feature debut with The Actor. Johnson, who co-directed the Oscar-nominated Anomalisa with Charlie Kaufman (also an executive producer), adapts Donald E. Westlake’s 2010 novel Memory into a visually beguiling film that...

German screenwriter Moritz Binder co-wrote the screenplay for the 2024 film September 5 together with director Tim Fehlbaum and American dialoguist Alex David. I reviewed the movie last fall and put it in my Top 10 for the year. In...

Flow has now come home. Gints Zilbalodis’ double Oscar nominee for Best Animated Film and Best International Feature Film is now streaming on Max, following an ongoing theatrical run and ahead of its eventual 4K Criterion Collection release. This bold,...

Brides, premiered in the World Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2025, marking the feature debut of acclaimed theatre director Nadia Fall. The film follows two teenage Muslim girls – Doe (newcomer Ebada Hassan) and Muna (Safiyya Ingar) – who run away...

Following its TIFF premiere last fall and upcoming screening at SXSW where it will close the festival, Daniel Minahan’s 1950s-set romantic drama On Swift Horses is making its way to U.S. theaters. Adapted by Bryce Kass from Shannon Pufahl’s 2019...

Tunisian director Amel Guellaty just premiered her feature-film debut, Where the Wind Comes From, at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival (where I reviewed it). The movie offers striking visuals and a compelling story of friendship in a road-trip structure, showing...

(Here at Hammer to Nail, we 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, Brad Cook hustles into...

Premiering in the World Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2025, Luz is an ambitious exploration of reality, connection and redemption from director Flora Lau (Bends). Set across Chongqing, Hong Kong and Paris, the film follows Wei (Xiao Dong Guo), a reformed...

(The 2025 Sundance Film Festival ran January 23- February 2 in and around gorgeous Park City, UT. HtN has you covered for all the hottest titles like M.J. O’Toole’s Love, Brooklyn movie review. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)...

(The 2025 Sundance Film Festival ran January 23- February 2 in and around gorgeous Park City, UT. HtN has you covered for all the hottest titles like Chris Reed’s Cutting Through Rocks movie review. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd...