Author Carlos Aguilar

March 4, 2021 9:57 am

The first thing to understand about the social dynamics in Mexico around police is that they differ greatly from how the public in the United States relates to law enforcement officers. Stateside, both the...

‘Wild Indian’: Unfocused Saga of Generational Violence Features A Strong Michael Greyeyes Performance [Sundance Review]

January 31, 2021 7:35 pm

Abuse leaves scars unseen but permanent in director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.'s debut “Wild Indian,” a character study wrapped in larger observations on the generational effects of violence and religious guilt...

‘I Was A Simple Man’: Hawaiian Ghost Story Recalls Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Earthly Dreamscapes [Sundance Review]

January 29, 2021 6:25 pm

Set on the trench that divides waking reality from the subconscious, director Christopher Makoto Yogi’s moody sophomore effort “I Was a Simple Man” achieves the narrative fluidity of dreams in a multigeneratio...

‘Cryptozoo’: Dash Shaw’s Spectacular Animated Adventure Is the ‘Jurassic Park’ Of Mythical Creatures [Sundance Review]

January 29, 2021 4:35 pm

Outside episodic television, adult animation is seldom procured at studios in the U.S. Still; the medium has found stateside keepers of mature content among independent creators. Dash Shaw, alongside fiercely ...

Sophia Loren and Ibrahima Guey in The Life Ahead

‘The Life Ahead’: Sophia Loren Beams with Stern Grace in Emotional Crowd-Pleaser [Review]

November 1, 2020 12:56 pm

Sophia Loren’s expressive eyes are one of cinema’s greatest treasures, and in her first feature in a decade the icon’s gaze swiftly reclaims our attention as if she’d never been absent. “The Life Ahead,” an It...

‘Tragic Jungle’ Is An Alluring Mexican Adventure Centered On Black & Indigenous People [NYFF Review]

October 13, 2020 2:26 pm

Lush foliage paves the frames of Mexican director Yulene Olaizola’s entrancing feature “Tragic Jungle.” Backdrop to violence and the supernatural, the eponymous ecosystem traps us in its mystifying maw for an ...

‘Night Of The Kings’ Is A Striking Tribute To The Power Of Storytelling Set In An Ivorian Prison [NYFF Review]

September 27, 2020 10:28 am

Philippe Lacôte understands the cyclical nature of human conflict and how invaluable the stories people tell about their collective past are. In the remarkable “Night Of The Kings,” the Ivorian director’s foll...

‘Wolfwalkers’: Animated Irish Myth Is A Stirring Masterwork [TIFF Review]

September 12, 2020 9:23 pm

Irish mythology has found glorious ambassadors in director Tomm Moore and the team at animation studio Cartoon Saloon. Their Oscar-nominated titles “The Secret of Kells” (2009) and “Song of the Sea” (2014) are...

‘New Order’: Unflinching Mexican Dystopian Film Shocks With Blistering Purpose [Venice Review]

September 10, 2020 3:00 pm

Serious discussions on the perpetuated correlation between race and class in Mexico have dominated the country’s collective consciousness over the last few years. Cinema has actively participated in such recko...

‘Never Gonna Snow Again’ Is A Hypnotic Sci-Fi Drama Centered On An Enigmatic Immigrant With Soothing Powers [Venice Review]

September 7, 2020 1:25 pm

Close your eyes and imagine what Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin” would evolve into if its tone were more uplifting than unsettling and its protagonist wasn’t preying on humans but trying to heal them. That ...

Netflix’s ‘Immigration Nation’ Exposes The Horrors Of ICE & Reaffirms The Need For Its Abolishment [Review]

August 4, 2020 2:09 pm

News, Reviews, Television

Maximum cruelty has always been the directive behind ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement), the monstrous federal apparatus created in 2003 to terrorize undocumented communities under the pretense of prote...

‘A White White Day’: Icelandic Knockout Examines Grief Manifested as Rage [Review]

April 25, 2020 10:20 am

Grief manifested as festering rage haunts a self-righteous man in Hlynur Palmason’s “A White White Day,” a knockout of precise tension that falls in line with the director’s previous study on distraught blue-c...

‘And Then We Danced’: Georgia-Set Gay Drama is a Cinematic Act of Kinetic Defiance [Review]

February 16, 2020 8:54 am

With arms stretched and firm steps, majestic and yet light on their feet, the men in Georgian dance carry the weight of the country's heritage on their shoulders, as well as its rigid ideals of masculinity. Fo...

‘Ruben Brandt, Collector’ is a Masterful Animated Pastiche of Fine Art, Classic Cinema, and Surrealist Visions [Review]

March 1, 2019 6:26 pm