“Dreams” (2025) Review
A film about immigration, class divide, and racism with some heavy eroticism thrown on top shouldn’t feel like it’s infected with a muted malaise. I can only speculate that Dreams
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All Things Movies With Mark McPherson
“California Scenario” Review
The staging of California Scenario reminded me of Woody Allen’s Scenes from a Mall, where a specific location is as much a setting as a character. But while Allen’s film
“Bookends” (2026) Review
There’s a mantra throughout Bookends about slowing down. Nate, a writer played by the film’s screenwriter Noam Ash, is moving so fast he can’t finish his book. The discovery of
“Magellan” (2025) Review
Too often were colonial stories glazed with glorification that it makes sense why director Lav Diaz pours a gallon of demystification into his film adaptation of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
“H Is for Hawk” Review
It’s always tricky when a film tries to depict depression, from the subtleties of being distant to the darkness brought upon by a key event. There’s some admiration in trying
“The Secret Agent” (2025) Review
For trying to escape a Brazilian military dictatorship, the fugitive Armando (Wagner Moura) skates so close to danger as he tries to find a way out. In the opening scene,
“No Other Choice” Review
Capitalist satire often highlights the desperation of the poor amid the arrogance of the rich, as seen in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. But the comfy middle class might scoff at the
“Song Sung Blue” Review
What a bizarre musical biopic. Here is a story about a band trying to pay tribute to Neil Diamond, set in a movie framed as a typical musical biopic. In
“Resurrection” (2025) Review
Bi Gan’s Resurrection is a film that doesn’t so much try to decipher humanity’s existence as swim through its mysterious waters. There’s a scene where a child asks an adult
“La Grazia” Review
Italian President Mariano De Santis (Toni Servillo) has been nicknamed “Reinforced Concrete.” The name reflects how immovable he is due to his indecisiveness. La Grazia (Italian for “The Pardon”) finds