Godzilla Minus One Review: A Sentimental, Scale-Shifting Kaiju Blockbuster
For much of Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One, Toho Studios' 33rd film in the beloved kaiju franchise, the iconic monster exists as an abstraction. After a...
Ryan Swen
West Side Story Review: Steven Spielberg Remakes the Classic Musical with Passion and Vitality
West Side Story—a curious exception in the modern glut of sequels and remakes, with its powerhouse combination of hallowed subject matter and director—announce...
Licorice Pizza Review: Paul Thomas Anderson’s Coming-of-Age Adventure is Funny, Romantic, and Danger-Filled
Paul Thomas Anderson has always been fascinated with pretenders, with people who use their assumed gigs and personas as a shield for their own deep insecuritie...
Ryan Swen’s Top 10 Films of 2020
Without going into the specifics of the obstacles that were overcome by the heroic efforts of film distributors, 2020 was a stronger year for films released in...
Goodbye, Dragon Inn: Tsai Ming-liang’s Elegiac Masterpiece Projects a Constellation of Complex Desires
Though far better known by its English title, the appropriately elegiac Goodbye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang’s 2003 masterpiece bears a rather different name i...
Berlin Review: The American Sector Explores the Symbolic Resonance of the Berlin Wall
Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez’s documentary The American Sector announces its intentions from the very beginning, starting with its first three juxtaposed ...
Locarno in Los Angeles Review: Ham on Rye Brings a Surrealist Touch to the Coming-of-Age Film
It’s fair to say that one of the most common genres dominating the American independent film realm is the coming-of-age film. From present-set, relentlessly up...
Ryan Swen’s Top 10 Films of 2019
Following our top 50 films of 2019, we're sharing personal top 10 lists from our contributors. Check out the latest below and see our complete year-end coverag...
‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ Director Bi Gan on Deconstructing the Noir Genre and Subverting Expectations
With just two feature films the young Chinese director Bi Gan has established himself as one of the true new masters of world cinema, melding a preternaturally assured knack for technical direction with a legitimate sense of evoking dreams and memories....
ND/NF Review: ‘Long Way Home’ is a Warm, Patient Study of the Rhythms of Everyday Life
Representing the rhythms of everyday life is, generally speaking, a particular concern of films situated outside the mainstream. Relatively free from the strict...
Ryan Swen
Ryan Swen is a Los Angeles-based freelance film critic. He also co-hosts the podcast Catalyst and Witness.