Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Alice Drummond, Allison Janney, Amy Braverman, Anne Heche, Bettina Skye, Brenda Denmark, Catherine Keener, Harold Ramis, Heather Gottlieb, Joseph Siravo, Kevin Corrigan, Liev Schreiber, Lynn Cohen, Miranda Rhyne, Rafa Alvarez, Randall Batinkoff, Todd Field, Vincent Pastore
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Wadjda is a smart, spirited 10-year-old girl who wants nothing more than to own her own bike, something that is frowned upon in the Saudi Arabian suburb where she lives. While it’s not technically illegal for women to own bikes, it is thought of as something that is “dangerous to a girl’s virtue,” and it’s worth noting that this is a society where women are also not allowed to drive their own cars. Wadjda devises numerous schemes to earn enough money to buy a bike (selling bracelets, making mixes of Western pop songs, delivering clandestine messages between men and women), before getting caught by the headmistress at her school. It is then that Wadjda hits on the ultimate money-making scheme: there is to be a Koran-reciting contest at her school with a hefty cash prize, and she’s determined to win. There is a subplot involving a growing rift between Wadjda’s parents; while there is clearly a lot of love between both parties, it becomes increasingly clear that her father may be leaving her mother for another woman who could potentially bear him a son (a common practice). This subplot is handled with respect and little judgement though, as it is simply the way things work in this culture. Yet, as Wadjda is coming-of-age and learning about the limitations placed on her as a girl, she is obviously negotiating ingenious ways of pushing back against those limitations. The film is subtle and humane in how it handles the slowly changing cultural and gender dynamics in a traditionally conservative, patriarchal society. It wouldn’t work without a strong central performance from first-time actor Waad Mohammed though -- she is never less than believable as a clever, determined and joyful 10-year-old, and her journey towards adulthood is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd, Ahd Kamel, Alanoud Sajini, Dana Abdullilah, Haifaa Al-Mansour, Rafa Al Sanea, Reem Abdullah, Sultan Al Assaf, Waad Mohammed
Director: Haifaa al-Mansour
A slow-burning spy thriller set within the British intelligence service during the height of the Cold War, this complex drama is highlighted by Gary Oldman’s acutely understated performance. As a high level agent brought out of retirement to ferret out a mole within the MI5, he exudes intensity and intellect with unerring precision. The story itself is exceptionally complicated and yet highly engaging. I felt that casting and corresponding screen time made it clear whom the mole would turn out to be…but you may disagree.
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Actor: Amanda Fairbank-Hynes, Arthur Nightingale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian McKay, Ciarán Hinds, Ciarán Hinds, Colin Firth, David Dencik, Denis Khoroshko, Gary Oldman, Harvey Walsh, Ilona Kassai, Imre Csuja, Jamie Thomas King, Jean-Claude Jay, John Hurt, John le Carré, Kathy Burke, Katrina Vasilieva, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Laura Carmichael, Linda Marlowe, Mark Strong, Matyelok Gibbs, Michael Sarne, Peter Kalloy Molnar, Peter McNeil O'Connor, Peter O'Connor, Philip Hill-Pearson, Philip Martin Brown, Roger Lloyd Pack, Rupert Procter, Sarah-Jane Robinson, Simon McBurney, Stephen Graham, Stuart Graham, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Toby Jones, Tom Hardy, Tom Stuart, Zoltán Mucsi
Director: Tomas Alfredson
While it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out among a throng of Netflix True Crime specials, Till Murder manages to hold its own by squarely and concisely centering on the main conflict: Soering vs. Haysom. It’s his word and against hers, his show of love and logic versus her natural charm and charisma. Was he a hopeless romantic who was manipulated into slaying the two people he thought tormented his beloved? Or was she the victim of a murderous and obsessive boyfriend who couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else owning her? The framing, while simplistic and a tad sensational, helps in quickly grabbing your attention and holding it for all four hours.
Genre: Documentary
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Actor: Alexander Held, Amelie Kiefer, Christiane Paul, Cristina do Rego, Dennis Gansel, Elyas M'Barek, Elyas M'Barek, Fabian Preger, Ferdinand Schmidt-Modrow, Frederick Lau, Friederike Wagner, Hubert Mulzer, Jacob Matschenz, Jaime Krsto Ferkic, Jennifer Ulrich, Johanna Gastdorf, Joseph M'Barek, Jürgen Vogel, Karoline Teska, Lennard Bertzbach, Marco Bretscher-Coschignano, Maren Kroymann, Max Mauff, Max Riemelt, Maximilian Vollmar, Natascha Paulick, Odine Johne, Teresa Harder, Thomas Sarbacher, Tim Oliver Schultz, Tino Mewes
Director: Dennis Gansel
The lives of a single mother forced into prostitution and another woman who needs an operation to restore her virginity clash with the structure of Iran’s traditionally patriarchal society in Tehran Taboo. The result is a story that sheds light on the double standards women face, especially surrounding sex and sexuality, and overall what it is like to be female in a society practically founded on institutional misogyny.
To make up for not being able to shoot in Tehran, director Ali Soozandeh chose to use the method of rotoscope animation: an unconventional style of animation that involves first shooting live actors in a studio and then inserting extra sounds and backgrounds in the editing process. Tehran Taboo is fearless in its exploration of the social and sexual restrictions imposed in modern Iran.
Genre: Animation, Drama
Actor: Adem Karaduman, Aida Loos, Alireza Bayram, Arash Marandi, Elmira Rafizadeh, Gernot Polak, Hasan Ali Mete, Klaus Ofczarek, Morteza Tavakoli, Şiir Eloğlu, Thomas Nash, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, Zar Amir Ebrahimi
Director: Ali Soozandeh
While not having world-ending stakes or large-scale operations, Sixty Minutes just works as an action movie. Sure, the plot is familiar and a little far fetched, but the film maximizes the potential of its premise, with excellently choreographed fight sequences working in tandem with the cinematography to reflect the MMA fighter leading the movie. Each moment isn’t wasted, with the action escalating each time Octa finds out about the hidden information kept from him about the match he’s planned to skip, and the film easily keeps track of his journey through neon-lit stopwatch faces and maps. And when we (and Octa) feel tired from all the fighting, the film ends right on time after sixty (and twenty nine) minutes.
Genre: Action, Drama
Actor: Alain Blazevic, Aristo Luis, Balázs Megyeri, Bettina Hoppe, Bruno Salgueiro, Dennis Mojen, Emilio Sakraya, Eniko Fulop, Florian Schmidtke, Georg Blumreiter, Harry Szovik, Janna Striebeck, José Barros, Laurent Winkler, Livia Matthes, Ludger Bökelmann, Marie Mouroum, Mehmet Ateşçi, Morik Heydo, Nyamandi Adrian, Paul Wollin, Philipp Droste, Steffen Jung, Tatjana Šojić, Tayssir Khalfallah, Vassilis Koukalani, Wanja Valentin Kube
Director: Oliver Kienle
Fourteen-year-old Segundo dreams of being just like his father Noé, a revered tableau artist in their small Peruvian town. The teenage apprentice follows Noé's every move and instruction, that is until one day, he discovers a shocking truth about Noé's identity. Hurt, angered, and incredibly confused, Segundo starts detaching from his family, as well as from the life he thought he'd wanted to live.
Retablo is a slow but vibrant film, set in Peruvian locales and spoken in the country's indigenous tongue, Quechua. Its limited dialogue smartly reflects the people's own silence when it comes to sex and gender ideas, although the movements themselves—from traditional parties to teenage fights—have a lot to say about masculinity, conservatism, and the dangers of their excess. Retablo might be a difficult watch for some, but it's just as necessary and enlightening.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Amiel Cayo, Claudia Solís, Coco Chiarella, Hermelinda Luján, Junior Béjar Roca, Magaly Solier, Mauro Chuchón
Director: Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio L., Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio
Visual artist Ann Oren's first foray into feature-length filmmaking is a sensual delight and a gift that keeps on giving. Oren approaches her film with sincere dedication to every single building block: Piaffe looks, sounds, and feels sensational while being a fairly modest production. A true indie film, Piaffe verges on experimentation as a young woman named Eva (Simone Bucio) takes over the job of a foley artist from her sister. Even though she's under-qualified, she tries her best t0 come up with the sounds for a horse-themed commercial to no avail. However, in the process, she notices a bump on her lower back that grows into a horse's tail. Piaffe is a tale of metamorphosis, not only of the flesh, but also of the heart, as the themes it explores are also directly related to sexuality, submission, and, of course, love as a manifestation of all those things.
Genre: Thriller
Actor: Bjørn Melhus, Josef Ostendorf, Lea Draeger, Nico Ehrenteit, Sebastian Rudolph, Simon(è) Jaikiriuma Paetau, Simone Bucio, Tristan Bumm
Director: Ann Oren
Loosely based on the 1909 novel, Martin Eden is a stunning film about the hollow success of individualism. The plot points remain the same: Eden, a self-taught sailor, wants to win the heart of the wealthy Elena Orsini. To do this, he strives to break into the upper class with his writing. However, in this film, writer-director Pietro Marcello adds another dimension to the anti-individualist story: he transports Eden from his original California setting to Naples—allowing for views of different cultures, languages, and classes. By intercutting between old film stock and lingering close-ups, Marcello draws from his documentary background to masterfully evokes the process of remembering. And in refusing to define the time period, Marcello recognizes that Eden's struggle is still ongoing today—and that his success is still hollow.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Aniello Arena, Carlo Cecchi, Carmen Pommella, Chiara Francini, Edoardo Sorgente, Elisabetta Valgoi, Franco Pinelli, Gaetano Bruno, Jessica Cressy, Lana Vlady, Luca Marinelli, Marco Leonardi, Maurizio Donadoni, Pietro Ragusa, Rinat Khismatouline, Sergio Longobardi, Vincenza Modica, Vincenzo Nemolato
Director: Pietro Marcello
Stereotypically made to look like one-note villains in many other films, the kinds of characters who lead Land and Freedom are rightfully depicted as people acting out of a desire for something constructive and good. Through director Ken Loach's trademark approach to no-frills storytelling, the complex ideologies motivating each of these factions against the common enemy (and against each other) are laid out with crystal clarity. In fact, the most exciting confrontations in the film aren't the skirmishes between the fascists and the revolutionary militias, but the debates held between allies, as they figure out the next best steps forward for every liberated person involved.
Genre: Drama, History, Romance, War
Actor: Angela Clarke, Daniel Muñoz, Eoin McCarthy, Francesc Orella, Frédéric Pierrot, Ian Hart, Icíar Bollaín, Jordi Dauder, Pep Molina, Rosana Pastor, Suzanne Maddock, Tom Gilroy
Director: Ken Loach
In Fatih Akin’s In the Fade, Katja is seeking justice after the killings of her Turkish husband and their young son in a terrorist bomb attack. Diane Kruger in the role of Katja delivers a powerful and rather grueling performance, for which she was awarded Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival. Her grief is vivid and forces viewers to bear witness to her inescapable pain. In the Fade also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, beating astonishing films such as Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless. This moving story about a fearless woman determined to take justice into her own hands to fight the cruelty of others delivers a message that needs to be heard.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Actor: Adam Bousdoukos, Aysel Iscan, Denis Moschitto, Diane Kruger, Edgar Selge, Hanna Hilsdorf, Henning Peker, Johannes Krisch, Karin Neuhäuser, Laurens Walter, Numan Acar, Samia Chancrin, Şiir Eloğlu, Ulrich Brandhoff, Ulrich Tukur, Uwe Rohde, Yannis Economides
Director: Fatih Akin
In this raw, psychedelic drama, an American drug dealer living in Tokyo with his sister is killed at a night club. His spirit continues to float above the city and past, present, and future are woven together to complete the tale of his life. Taking a page from the Tibetan book of the dead, the film aims to explore one answer to life's most epic question: What happens when we die? Definitely not for the faint of heart, there is drug use, gore, and challenging themes throughout the movie. Its unique cinematography also captures Tokyo quite well.
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Actor: Cyril Roy, Ed Spear, Emiko Takeuchi, Emily Alyn Lind, Janice Béliveau-Sicotte, Jesse Kuhn, Masato Tanno, Nathaniel Brown, Nobu Imai, Olly Alexander, Paz de la Huerta, Sakiko Fukuhara, Sara Stockbridge
Director: Gaspar Noé
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Barbara Sukowa, James D'Arcy, Jonathan Banks, Julian Looman, Noomi Rapace, William Catlett
A crazy, high-speed movie about double-dealing crooks and thieves living along the Danube River in Serbia. Such a description probably makes this movie sound dark and menacing, trust me it is anything but. It is filled to the brim with delightful music, slapstick humor, bizarre contraptions, shotgun weddings -- with a sweet romantic caper at its center. If winter weather is getting you down, consider watching this film as a fun & sunny antidote.
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Romance
Actor: Bajram Severdžan, Bajram Severdzan, Branka Katić, Branka Katic, Florijan Ajdini, Jasar Destani, Jashar Destani, Ljubica Adžović, Ljubica Adzovic, Miki Manojlović, Predrag Laković, Sabri Sulejmani, Salija Ibraimova, Srdjan 'Zika' Todorovic, Srdjan Todorovic, Srđan 'Žika' Todorović, Srđan Todorović, Zabit Memedov
Director: Emir Kusturica