Jay Weissberg

‘Sunset’ review: From Hungary, an exploration of war and family

March 28, 2019 at 3:55 p.m.

Expectations were always going to be too high for "Sunset," László Nemes' follow-up to his extraordinary Oscar-winning "Son of Saul." Given how his first feature re-invented the Holocaust film genre,...

‘The Heiresses’ review: Passion, status and secrets in Paraguay

January 24, 2019 at 4:55 p.m.

Given how many film labs were involved in the development of "The Heiresses," it's remarkable this finely crafted, beautifully realized debut by Marcelo Martinessi feels so organic and personal. A...

‘Good Manners’ review: Werewolf mythology a commentary on class, desire and difference

December 12, 2018 at 10:41 p.m.

Some genre films are enjoyable to watch but leave no trace in the brain's synapses, whereas others dig deeper, playing with fantasy elements to address issues that matter in the...

Nick Cave has been singing about mortality for decades, and he's really good at it. Whether the narratives are biblical or pulpy, the victims innocents or death row convicts, the circumstances comprehensible or cruelly random, Cave's songs are on intimate terms with the infinite ways a life can be extinguished. And yet, "Skeleton Tree", his latest album with his estimable band, the Bad Seeds, is a relatively concise song cycle shadowed by death that feels different than all the rest. <a href="http://bancodeprofissionais.com/entertainment/music/kot/sc-music-nick-cave-skeleton-tree-ent-0916-20160916-column.html" target="_blank">Read the full review.</a>

‘Leisure Seeker’ review: Mirren, Sutherland on a long journey to predictability

December 14, 2018 at 10:00 p.m.

There are Alzheimer's movies that cut to the quick, like "Still Alice," and then there are Alzheimer's movies that pander to the worst sort of cheaply manipulative old-folks cutesiness, like...

‘Bilal: A New Breed of Hero’ review: Violence, never-ending platitudes impede plot

May 13, 2019 at 3:44 p.m.

Dubai's first animated feature puts top-class artwork to use in a story designed to preach about the inclusive, non-discriminatory aspects of the Muslim faith to younger audiences. Loosely based on...

‘The Future Perfect’ review: A delightfully rich immigrant experience in Argentina

December 17, 2018 at 9:28 p.m.

A sixty-five minute film is always a difficult commodity to place, yet "The Future Perfect" is such an unpretentious delight. By replicating the quasi-stilted dialogue and stiffness of language classes,...

‘Super Dark Times’ review: Suburban teens’ loss of innocence turns tragically violent

June 2, 2018 at 10:37 a.m.

The fecund coming-of-age story receives a genre-twisting injection of violence in debuting director Kevin Phillips' alternately sensitive and gory "Super Dark Times." Jarring in the way it jumps whole hog...

‘The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis’ review: Deception and distrust in Buenos Aires

June 3, 2018 at 12:55 a.m.

A dark journey of the soul constitutes "The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis," the atmosphere-driven, haunting feature debut of co-directors Andrea Testa and Francisco Márquez. Set in 1977 when Argentina...

‘The Ornithologist’ review: A playful, sometimes blasphemous take on St. Anthony of Padua

June 3, 2018 at 4:33 p.m.

The distinct individualism of Joao Pedro Rodrigues' worldview is turned inward via an unflaggingly intriguing poetical riff on the life of St. Anthony of Padua in "The Ornithologist." While possibly...

‘Behemoth’ review: Inner Mongolia fraught with environmental destruction

June 5, 2018 at 10:08 p.m.

Maverick indie director Zhao Liang continues his muckraking tour of China's social and environmental woes with the stunning, cumulatively moving "Behemoth." Acting as a modern-day Dante on a tour through...

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