The Film Stage

Sundance Review: OBEX is an Inventive, Lo-Fi, and Otherworldly Adventure 
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While the likes of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and Steven Lisberger’s TRON have examined the thrills and fears of humanity’s relationship with screens since the early ‘80s, there’s been a recent, renewed interest as the number of screens in one’s life...
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Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another Test Screens, Confirmed to Be Modern Update on Vineland
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“I need to start figuring out what the f— to say,” Paul Thomas Anderson recently said when it came to his biggest project yet, a $115 million Warner Bros. summer tentpole with a cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Regina...
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Sundance Review: Cinderella Gets a Gruesome, Empathetic Body Horror Twist with The Ugly Stepsister
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If the disheartening lack of creativity in Disney’s live-action remakes leaves one thinking these timeless stories have, in fact, run their course, leave it to Norwegian director Emilie Blichfeldt to find new life (and blood) with the Cinderella tale. Her...
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NYC Weekend Watch: Michael Roemer, Wandering Women, David Lynch & More
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NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings. Film ForumMichael Roemer’s Dying and Pilgrim, Farewell, screen (watch our exclusive trailer debut); AI: From Metropolis to Ex Machina continues; a print of The Music Man screens on Sunday. Anthology Film ArchivesWandering Women features...
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Flight Risk Review: Mel Gibson’s Claustrophobic Thriller is Never as Campy as It Should Be
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It’s more than a little odd when a director’s follow-up film to an Oscar-nominated hit is being offloaded onto theaters in the frozen tundra that is “dumpuary.” It’s weirder, still, when press materials make an effort to essentially erase the...
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New to Streaming: Nosferatu, Oh, Canada, The Girl with the Needle & More
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Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here. Blink Twice (Zoë Kravitz) Over a close-up of a turtle, ominous sound design builds...
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Rose Review: Françoise Fabian Gets Lost in a Bouquet of Clichés
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Not to judge a film from the synopsis established by its marketing team, but those expecting director Aurélie Saada’s debut Rose––a 2021 Locarno premiere only now arriving on U.S. shores––to be a more explosive character drama in the vein of...
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The Everyman Appeal of Gerard Butler
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Why do we like Gerard Butler? As of the publishing of this piece, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is performing as expected, looking to become yet another reliable, mid-budgeted programmer hit for the movie star. It’ll round out nicely in...
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Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio Eye The Devil in the White City as Next Collaboration
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Martin Scorsese’s schedule has been uncertain of late. When we talked to Rodrigo Prieto in November he revealed they were supposed to be at work on a new project––not Home or Life of Jesus, which had both generated much heat...
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Companion Review: Smug Sexbot Horror Feature is Low on Thrills
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In the fall of 2017 I worked at a media startup that covered the tech world. Having attended many tech conferences in that span of time, the panel that retains all these years later is one where I saw a...
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