Treasure of the Rice Terraces is more than just a documentary, it’s a heartfelt exploration of identity, heritage, and the delicate act of preserving cultural traditions in a rapidly modernizing world...

The Smashing Machine attempts to deliver a hard-hitting portrait of Mark Kerr, the legendary mixed martial artist whose career was shadowed by opioid addiction and turbulent relationships. While stori...

I’m usually the first to champion an abstract film that leans on allegory, but If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is a big swing with too many foul tips, ultimately striking out.The story follows Linda (Rose ...

The Smashing Machine attempts to deliver a hard-hitting portrait of Mark Kerr, the legendary mixed martial artist whose career was shadowed by opioid addiction and turbulent relationships. While stories of troubled athletes aren’t new, director Benny Safdie blends narrative storytelling with documentary-style filmmaking in an effort to give the tale a fresh impact. The result, however, feels less like a knockout and more like a flurry of light jabs.For Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the film was pos

What makes a masterpiece? Is it the defining performance of a cast’s career? A witty, thought-provoking script? The way a camera glides to punctuate a story beat? A score that not only sets the tone b...

ALT: a man in a suit runs in front of a rolex sign

Cinema 21 in Portland is ringing in its 100th year with a month-long film festival running through September 28th, featuring classics like Duck Soup, Notorious, Harold and Maude, Do The Right Thing, M...

Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk breathes life into Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband), a spiritual love story that fuses history, culture, mythology, and romance into something both timeless and deeply hu...

Incredible festival experience and many of these may be tied or swapped around, but as of my last day of screenings, this is my list. I’d aspire to say anything 3.5 rating or above I would recommend w...

Spanish filmmaker Ulises Porra’s latest film is a tense and moving exploration of colonialism in the early 19th-century Caribbean. At its heart is the uneasy alliance between three displaced souls: a ...

We’ve all longed to escape, whether from the weight of responsibility, the harshness of reality, or the invisible shackles that bind us. Irkalla: Gilgamesh’s Dream takes that universal yearning to ano...

MICHAEL uses Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists. 2,035 films watched. Favorites: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Boogie Nights (1997), GoodFellas (1990), Hereditary (2018). Bio: ...