Reviews

Tribeca 2013: Critic's Choice - Shorts

Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw offers critic’s choices on the shorts program at Tribeca 2013.


If Kurt Brokaw could, he'd nominate "The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars" for an Oscar.

Kurt Brokaw's top shorts from Tribeca 2013 include The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars, Wilt Chamberlain: Borscht Belt Bellhop, Snow in Paradise, Fool’s Day and The Root of the Problem.

The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars
(Edoardo Ponti. 2012. Italy. 23 min.)

Tribeca 2013: Critic's Choice - Features

Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw reflects on Tribeca's changing terrain and offers critic’s choices from the 12th annual downtown fest.


Can Delpy and Hawke make it to 95 Up?

Tribeca Film Festival has wrapped but Kurt Brokaw's critic's choices from the fest will no doubt be in theaters near you and on the Oscar Red carpet. So far he's named his features: Before Midnight, Some Velvet Morning, Trust Me, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Shorts to come!

So what’s new at New York’s most ambitious gathering of all things cinematic?

New Directors/New Films 2013 - Critic's Choice

New Directors/New Films showcases emerging international cinema in New York from March 20-31, 2013.


Values clash in "A Hijacking." Photo by Magnus Nordenhof.

"Perhaps Fanni and Anna will soldier on down the road together, like an Austrian Thelma and Louise," writes senior critic Kurt Brokaw, about Soldate Jeannette, one of his critic's choices from New Directors/New Films 2013. Films about pirate hijacking, reality show competitors, and family secrets also make his cut.

Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw is viewing the 42nd annual New Directors/New Films (all 22 features plus 17 shorts) and presents his critic’s choices below.

A Hijacking
(Tobias Lindholm. 2012. Denmark. 99 min.)

Rendez-Vous With French Cinema 2013 - Critic's Choice

Kurt Brokaw reviews his top choices from the 18th annual showcase of contemporary French film.


Candy-colored nails sweeten "Populaire's" typists' chance at victory.

From speed typing to horse jumping, the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendez-vous With French Cinema serves up its 18th year from February 28th through March 10th. Kurt Brokaw chooses his favorites, at least one, he says, may make your heart melt "into your knees."

Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw is viewing the main slate of the 2013 Rendez-vous With French Cinema showing February 28th through March 10th at the Walter Reade Theatre, BamCinematex, and IFC Center. His critic’s choices include:

Populaire
(Régis Roinsard. 2012. France. 111 min.)

Sundance 2013: Grand Jury Prize Winner "Fruitvale"

Maddy Kadish attended one of the public "Fruitvale" screenings before it won two major awards.


Posted in
Michael B. Jordan as Oscar Grant in "Fruitvale."

You know the story, writes Maddy Kadish, about Fruitvale, but you also know THE story. Director Ryan Coogler's fictionalized account of the shooting of an unarmed young man in Oakland, California picked up two of Sundance's most prestigious awards.

Before I headed out to Sundance this year, director Ryan Coogler’s name had crossed my radar more than once. He was one of 12 filmmakers selected for the Sundance Institute January Screenwriters Lab in 2012. The lab, located at the Sundance Resort, is an immersive, five-day writers’ workshop for the purposes of developing a feature film script. The script Coogler was selected to develop?

Sundance 2013: Documentaries Depict Life, Raw and Unplugged

Neil Kendricks on three award-winning documentary features at Sundance.


"Boxing" painter Ushio Shinohara in "Cutie and the Boxer." Photo by Patrick Burns.

Neil Kendricks sizes up three award-winning documentaries from the Sundance line-up: Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer, Cutie and the Boxer, and American Promise. The latter two, he writes, "deliver life-affirming and memorable stories without surrendering to sentimentality or phony uplift."

PARK CITY, Utah – It’s a safe bet that most documentaries won’t make the leap from the film-festival circuit to a multiplex near you.

New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 - Critic's Choices

Kurt Brokaw selects "Koch," "Joe Papp in Five Acts," "AKA Doc Pomus," "Numbered," and "Audition" as his picks from the NYJFF.


Director Neil Barsky makes his filmmaking debut with a documentary about former NYC mayor Ed Koch.

"Koch is one of us. He's family," writes Kurt Brokaw about the documentary that lifts up the imperfect politician. Koch is among Brokaw's critic's choices from the 22nd New York Jewish Film Festival, screening at Lincoln Center from January 9-24, 2013.

The 22nd Annual New York Jewish Film Festival plays at Lincoln Center January 9-24, 2013. Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw samples 45 films from nine countries and presents his critic’s choices.

Koch
(Neil Barsky. 2012. USA. 95 min.)

DOC NYC 2012 - Critic's Choice

Kurt Brokaw weighs in with his top selections from the third annual, all-documentary DOC NYC.


David Bromberg, courtesy of Good Footage Productions.

Beth Toni Kruvant's David Bromberg: Unsung Treasure, Jorge Hinojosa's Iceberg Slim: Portrait Of A Pimp, and the pot-stirring Ken Burns/Sarah Burns/David McMahon doc, The Central Park Five, are Kurt Brokaw's critic's choices from DOC NYC. The third annual all-documentary festival takes place November 8-15, 2012.

Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw discusses critic’s choices from a sampling of DOC NYC’s 61 feature-length documentaries (plus five-day Doc-a-Thon of panels and classes) scheduled to take place at IFC Center and School of Visual Arts Theater, November 8-15, 2012.

David Bromberg: Unsung Treasure
(Beth Toni Kruvant. 2012. USA. 74 min.)

NYFF 2012 Critic's Choice - "Flight"


Denzel Washington in what Kurt Brokaw calls a career-defining performance.

The Independent's senior film critic, Kurt Brokaw, is viewing the entire main slate (plus) of the 50th New York Film Festival, showing at Lincoln Center September 28-October 14th. Below is one of several critic’s choices.

NYFF 2012 Critic's Choice - "Celluloid Man"


PK Nair is India's "Celluloid Man," protector of its film history.

The Independent's senior film critic, Kurt Brokaw, is viewing the entire main slate (plus) of the 50th New York Film Festival, showing at Lincoln Center September 28-October 14th. Below is one of several critic’s choices.

Syndicate content