TIFF Review: Michel Franco’s Memory is a Somber, Twisty Study of Love and Trauma
I’ve always defended Michel Franco, not that he requires further support from numerous areas of the industry. But he’s been something of a critical punching ba...
David Katz
Venice Review: William Friedkin’s The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is a Muscular Swan Song
Herman Wouk’s celebrated play and novel The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial couldn’t even be called “peak boomer”; it’s pre-boomer. And having been brought up in th...
Venice Review: Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance is a Fleet Investigation of Crimes and Misdemeanors
Tempting though it is to pen this review in the voice and style of Mort Rifkin, the most indelible Woody Allen character in years, the embattled New York-born ...
Venice Review: The Beast is a Spellbinding, Time-Shifting Coup for Bertrand Bonello
Where to begin with Bertrand Bonello’s wonderful The Beast? It’s been so gratifying to see the initial reaction to the French filmmaker’s tenth feature, after ...
Venice Review: Bradley Cooper’s Maestro is a Passionate But Sometimes Off-Key Biopic
Bradley Cooper is undoubtedly feeling the Bern. There’s something very endearing about Cooper’s star persona, not least the fact that, of all modern Hollywood ...
Klondike Director Maryna Er Gorbach on the State of the Russia-Ukraine War and Being Inspired by Maya Deren
If nothing else, Ukrainian director Maryna Er Gorbach’s first solo-helmed feature Klondike can be credited with uncanny timing. A vivid look at an ordinary far...
Cannes Review: Terrestrial Verses Finds Bureaucratic Comedy and Tragedy in Modern Iran
Iranian filmmaking’s reliance on formal restrictions and secrecy are given new variations in Terrestrial Verses, co-directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami,...
Cannes Review: Cobweb is a Dextrous but Overdrawn Meta-Filmmaking Exercise from Kim Jee-woon
With Cobweb, South Korean genre stalwart Kim Jee-woon falls back on that old piece of received wisdom: “movie people, ain’t they crazy?” When in self-satirizin...
Cannes Review: Close Your Eyes is a Rewarding Late Work From Víctor Erice
One of the most prized moments of Howard Hawks’ macho manifesto Rio Bravo is when Dean Martin’s Dude kicks back, gazes lightheadedly at the ceiling, and moseys...
Cannes Review: Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall is a Black Comic Legal Procedural
The ensuing days after a romantic breakup, even if it isn’t a cataclysmic one, are an uncanny time. Perhaps once the spell of verbal conflict and sparring's ce...
David Katz
David Katz has been a freelance film journalist for over a decade. Born in Columbus, Ohio and raised in London, he primarily writes for the trade publication Cineuropa, but also loves popping up at The Film Stage from time to time.