ND/NF Review: ‘Honeyland’ is a Vérité Documentary of an Idyllic Existence Upturned
The issue of matching approach to subject is always a central concern in documentary filmmaking, even moreso than narrative films. Due to the truth claims invol...
Ryan Swen
ND/NF Review: ‘Belonging’ is a Bold Grappling with Love, Death, and Memory
The nature of promise displayed by a new filmmaker can sometimes be an inherently risky proposition. For every Orson Welles or Jacques Rivette, who burst out of...
Review: ‘The Competition’ is a Gratifying, Nerve-wracking Look at France’s Top Film School
In the age-old divide (perhaps most evident in the United States) between film production and criticism, crossed by certain pioneers yet often left unbridged, i...
Ryan Swen’s Top 10 Films of 2018
Featuring films by Lucrecia Martel, Hong Sangsoo, Robert Greene, and more....
Review: ‘The Wild Boys’ is a Gleefully Transgressive, Phantasmagoric Experience
It is always a suspect decision to call a film “indescribable,” at least when assessing it as a whole. Certain aspects may and often do elude one’s ability to c...
Review: ‘Notes on an Appearance’ is a Tantalizing, Intelligent Feature Debut
Over the past few years, Ricky D’Ambrose has established himself as one of the more intriguing independent American directors. His shorts, especially Six Cents ...
Review: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is a Muddled, Shallow, and Empty Step Backwards for Asian-American Representation
The story is older than Shakespeare: two star-crossed lovers attempt to make things work despite a family’s best (worst) efforts. The difference here, as Hollyw...
BAMcinemaFest Review: ‘Two Plains & a Fancy’ is a Different Kind of Revisionist Western
It is infrequent -- but not totally rare -- to come across a film where a singular, simple formal decision fully encapsulates the underlying ethos and intention...
BAMCinemaFest Review: ‘Feast of the Epiphany’ is a Continually Surprising Drama in Two Parts
The history of film critics contributing to or creating actual films is long and storied. From the groundbreaking works of Cahiers du cinéma writers that made u...
Ryan Swen’s Top 10 Films of 2017
Appropriately enough for one of the oddest years in recent memory, my favorite films from 2017 are a motley, often contradictory mix....
Ryan Swen
Ryan Swen is a Los Angeles-based freelance film critic. He also co-hosts the podcast Catalyst and Witness.