“Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” arrives like the last chime of an old mantel clock—measured, sentimental, and confident that the household has earned its happy ever after. Julian Fellowes understands the ritual by now: a flourish of silver plate covers, a scramble of white gloves downstairs, an upstairs noses tilted just so. The pleasure is […]
FIREBRAND (R) Dir. Karim Aïnouz A film that is divorced of history and beheaded of meaning but manages to just about survive, but without much fanfare… C+ Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand is a frustratingly peculiar film as dramas go; with a composition of luscious lighting and camera work paired with club-footed dialogue and an anemic script,
Benediction is not your usual war story. It starts out in London in 1914 with a poem about war written by Siegfried Sassoon (played by Jack Lowden as the younger and Peter Capaldi as the older), the protagonist whose life is chronicled beginning with his years as a young man when he and his brother are
The audience was virtually silent when this comedy debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and initially no distributor was interested in releasing it. Eventually it was picked up by IFC films. It is often difficult to market such obtuse films as this historical slapstick comedy. “I’ve had nightmares that made more sense