Simone Bitton's Rachel took the bullet for Yoav Shamir's Hashmatsa / Defamation (2009), which I would have predicted to be the target of outrage at the 29th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF). By the time Defamation finally screened,... More >>

A former Bond girl in a female driven action film?  From Israel?  That's exactly what director Danny Lerner has delivered with Kirot.  Lerner's sophomore picture had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and stars former Bond...

[Our thanks to regular reader Agent Wax for sending in the following review from the Singapore Animation Nation Festival.]In many ways, this is the hardest review I've ever sat down and committed myself to writing. I regret watching Ari...

The 13th Arab Film Festival (AFF) kicks off tonight, October 15 and continues through Sunday, October 25 in San Francisco (Castro, Opera Plaza), San Jose (Camera 12 Cinemas) and Berkeley (Shattuck Cinemas). This year's line-up of films from the... More >>

Youth and the disenchanted will find their voice through whichever means they find themselves attracted to. A documentary about a punk music movement within the Islamic faith certainly sounds compelling. Taqwacore opens here in Toronto at the Royal Theatre... More >>

Hipsters (Russia, dir. Valery Todorovsky)--I never expected that my favorite film of the fest would be a splashy, wide-screen Russian musical set in 1955 Moscow, but there you go. Hipsters recounts the phenomenon of stilyagi, the name given to... More >>

With the 47th edition of the New York Film Festival currently in progress, I thought now would be a good time to follow-up on my response to Section One of Film Festival Yearbook 1: The Festival Circuit, edited by... More >>

The Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) announced its 2009 line-up last week, adhering to what has become a proven formula for the 32-year-old festival: Start with a dozen or so indie-ish, autumn-release prestige pics, often with stars and directors in... More >>

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?--William Blake, "The Tyger" Imagine for a moment, if you will, that the filmmaker's lens is William Blake's visionary eye, aiming... More >>

So is Bad Lieutenant:  Port of Call New Orleans a remake, a sequel, or what? Parse it any way you like (and I shall attempt this) but it is a dynamite piece of satire and perhaps something more.  Werner...