Kinophilia: Cinema, Curated

07/01/2025

The unsolicited rants, reviews, and ravings of an unapologetic cinephile. Film critic and writer at Kinophilia. Festival Programmer. One-Half of Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast.

05/01/2025

In this edition of The Filmic 5 by Hanley On Film we honor the film Iran doesn't want you to see; we examine a "REC meets Euphoria zombie one-shot wonder" from France; we come not to praise the Dylan biopic but to look at Bob at the movies; we read about the films we love to hate; and we gift you the 30 Best Films of the 2010's.

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Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley I. Film I Am Loving This Week THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (Iran) Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof One of my proudest moments during my tenure with the Crested Butte Film Festival was the programming push made by myself and

03/01/2025

16/12/2024

Reflecting on the films that deeply resonated with me over the past year...I hope you have the chance to experience them as well—and that some, or even all, find a home within you too.

Jack Hanley's Ten Best Films of 2024
(by US theatrical release date) for Hanley On Film

I SAW THE TV GLOW (US) Dir. Jane Schoenbrun

HanleyOnFilm.com

16/12/2024

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09/12/2024

by Jack Hanley

02/12/2024

Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley I. Film I Am Loving This Week Nicely surprised by WICKED- while I still hold a bit of a grudge against the McGuire source material for ushering in our over-saturated era of needless classic-canon revisionism that undermines some of

26/11/2024

Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley I. Film I Am Loving This Week ANORA (Dir. Sean Baker) The most politically consequential film since PARASITE and unequivocally the best film of 2024. Sean Baker has long proven to be our most vital (and empathetic) American Neoreal...

31/10/2024

In this special Halloween edition of Flicker with Jack & Scott we announce the launch of a NEW horror podcast: The History Of YOU In 5 Horror Films!

23/10/2024

Slamdance, the almost 30-year old fringe film festival, will host an annual awards show The Indies celebrating "truly" independent cinema.

20/10/2024

This Week On The Filmic 5 By Hanley On Film, Saturday Night Live puts on a show; Dir. Ali Abbasi plays Frankenstein; we celebrate the history of Black Horror; we celebrate the Leading Ladies of The Academy; and EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about Giallo but were afraid to ask.

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Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley I hope this finds you all well! I'm thrilled to be back from a bit of a sabbatical working and attending some Fall Film Festivals (my favorite time of year!). Let's get into the 5 for the final stretch

19/10/2024

October "31 Days Of Horror" Film Challenge!

Oct. 15th viewing: G***A & HESS (USA, 1973) Dir. Bill Gunn

19/10/2024

THE APPRENTICE (Dir. Ali Abbasi) 2024

Filmmaker Ali Abbasi (Shelly, Border, Holy Spider) is in the business of deconstructing monsters- and while his latest horror masterwork THE APPRENTICE offers little new nuance about OUR Monster, it refreshingly places the focus on its creator Roy Cohn- the proto-fascist specter that has somehow haunted our nation through at least four administrations.

This grimy Shakespearean American horror story is anchored less by a grand narrative and more on assured and stylistic filmmaking and the simply transcendent performances of Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong (both due all the nominations and accolades that will elude them).

Is there ultimately anything new here under the sun? Serious and informed students of American history should not be shocked to discover that this 21st century Monster cobbled from corpses and let loose to wreak havoc on the countryside was itself animated by a 20th century post-modern Prometheus with a fe**sh for frog figurines.

Perhaps most devastating to MAGA acolytes will be the "emperor-has-no-clothes" revelation that their savior ultimately proves little more than a wholly unremarkable little meat-puppet fiendishly operated from the beyond by the gnarled and ghoulish claw of perhaps America's greatest villain...and perhaps OUR most devastating moment is the realization (and grand indictment) that we have failed future generations in our inability- or refusal- to finally exorcise the demon Cohn from our grand experiment.

THE APPRENTICE is a vital modern-horror masterwork that is equal parts essential and nauseating that feels a bit like staring transfixed in horror at the spider you encounter in the shower as you slowly turn on the hot water to dispatch it- an exercise both grotesque and appalling, yet utterly necessary.

18/10/2024

The Better Things alum makes a stunning star turn as a brassy s*x worker in Sean Baker’s new film.

18/10/2024

Don't let the initial spate of mostly insipid and cynical critical takes dissuade you- Saturday Night is superbly acted, impeccably paced, and meticulously crafted. More importantly, it's also just a goddam delight to relish in the madness- and miracle- that is a live production.

Reliable auteur Reitman (JUNO, YOUNG ADULT, UP IN THE AIR) always unabashedly wears his heart on his sleeve- and it works perfectly for this frenetic experiment. In an ensemble where EVERY performance is brilliant, look for standout turns by Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith (who eerily channels the best- and worst- of Chevy Chase), Dylan O'Brien, Tommy Dewey, and the marvelous Nicholas Podnay (although I am convinced Billy Crystal somehow time traveled back for this production).

If you have EVER pulled off a live event against the odds, or been that underestimated soul who wrestled a moment of greatness from the anarchy, or have ever been that eager theater kid who finally found their family, then this film is for you.

Hilarious, heartfelt, and joyful, Reitman reminds us of the old showbiz adage that many of my fellow critics seem to have forgotten- that it takes "a lot of hard work and to make something look so goddam easy".