film commentary
Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty) Talks F. Gary Gray’s Straight Outta Compton
A rap response to the box-office hit biopic about N.W.A.’s cultural ascent.
Stephen Winter (Jason and Shirley) Talks Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s Ten Thousand Saints
On the pleasures and pitfalls of contemporary indie nostalgia in this 1980s set coming-of-age drama.
Zach Clark (White Reindeer) Talks Xavier Dolan’s Tom at the Farm
A Dolan hater does a 180 on the French-Canadian wunderkind after seeing his audacious psychosexual thriller.
Michael Mohan (Save the Date) Talks Noah Baumbach’s Mistress America
The director and Greta Gerwig team up again for their most entertaining and impressive collaboration yet.
John Magary (The Mend) Talks Joel Edgerton’s The Gift
Among the virtues of this impressive debut feature is a resonant study of what it means to be an asshole.
Jim Strouse (People, Places, Things) Talks Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four
What do an indie director and his eight- and 11-year-old kids think of the latest (and famously troubled) Marvel movie?
Novelist and Screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis (The Canyons) Talks James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour
The literary icon offers his personal take on (and problems with) this new movie about the late David Foster Wallace.
Mark Neveldine (The Vatican Tapes) Talks Kim Seong-hun’s A Hard Day
In the car on the way to a Slipknot show, half of Neveldine/Taylor writes about this darkly humorous Korean thriller.
Joe Lynch (Everly) Talks Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Cruise's consistently strong auteur-driven action franchise enters its fifth phase, and is more full of character and individuality than ever.
Jennifer Prediger (Apartment Troubles) Talks John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein’s Vacation
A trip back home to see family also becomes a journey to see the new version of an old favorite movie (and then also the original).
Kentucker Audley (Open Five) Talks Brent Hodge and Derik Murray’s I Am Chris Farley
Will this documentary on the late legendary comedian and actor live up to the expectations of a devoted longtime fan?
Richard Shepard (The Matador) Talks Stevan Riley’s Listen to Me Marlon
In what is a great moment for documentary filmmaking, this idiosyncratic archival portrait of Brando reveals the acting legend as never before.











