Joe Blessing, Author at The Playlist

‘The Moneychanger’: A White-Collar Criminal Gets In Over His Head In Federico Veiroj’s Latest [TIFF Review]

September 10, 2019 3:24 pm

Films have had a love affair with crime dating back over a century, but the misdeeds showcased are usually a flashy kind that’s grown rare in reality - gangsters, gunplay, and getaways. However, since the finan...

Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’ Director’s Cut Adds Depth, Not Scares, To His Beautiful Fairy Tale Nightmare [Review]

Joe Blessing

August 20, 2019 2:50 pm

News, Reviews

It’s not usually a good sign when people begin whispering about a director’s cut of a film while the original is still in theaters, but luckily, when Ari Aster took the stage at Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies XI...

‘Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love’ Is A Beautiful, Poignant Look At Love And Loss In A Bohemian Paradise [Review]

Joe Blessing

July 3, 2019 12:44 pm

News, Reviews

As rich as the field of documentary is, the realities of filmmaking usually prevent films from achieving the same intimacy, fluidity, depth, and scope as classic written memoirs. With Nick Broomfield’s “Mariann...

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‘Rolling Thunder Revue’: Martin Scorsese Embraces The Slippery Truths & Fictions Of Bob Dylan In Another Terrific Documentary [Review]

Joe Blessing

June 11, 2019 3:22 pm

Features, News, Reviews

Few cultural figures are so well known, yet fundamentally mysterious and unknowable, like Bob Dylan, which is probably why the music icon is such an irresistible subject for documentarians. Dylan’s career seems...

‘Photograph’: Reconciling Romance and Family in Mumbai [Review]

Joe Blessing

May 17, 2019 7:14 am

News, Reviews

After making his last two films in Britain and America, writer-director Ritesh Batra returns to India for his latest, “Photograph,” a gentle and nostalgic romantic comedy set in Mumbai. “Photograph” is a film o...

‘The Souvenir’ Director Joanna Hogg Discusses On-Camera Discoveries And Exploring Memory [Interview]

Joe Blessing

May 14, 2019 2:03 pm

Features, Interviews, News

Joanna Hogg has long been a critical favorite, but with her fourth film, "The Souvenir," which was picked up by A24 after impressing audiences at Sundance, she seems poised to pick up legions of new fans (our S...

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‘The Gasoline Thieves’: A Thriller With A Social Conscious [Tribeca Review]

Joe Blessing

May 9, 2019 6:10 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

“The Gasoline Thieves,” (‘Huachicolero’), the debut film from Mexican director Edgar Nito Arrache, explores modern social realities in a very traditional narrative, an extremely pure distillation of a crime sto...

‘Burning Cane’: A Mysterious, Oblique Exploration Of Faith & Family In Rural Louisiana [Tribeca Review]

Joe Blessing

May 6, 2019 7:04 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

“Burning Cane” is a film of contradictions. It’s made by a shockingly young director (now 19, Philip Youmans was 17 when this was shot), but with an aesthetic and themes that look to the past, exploring the old...

‘Making Waves’: An Insider Look at Sound in Movies [Tribeca Review]

Joe Blessing

May 3, 2019 5:15 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Sound is half of the film experience, but the subconscious, lesser understood half, as director Midge Costin both shows and helps to rectify in “Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound.” As both a longtime for...

‘Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream:’ Frank Beauvais Pulls From 400 Films In His Innovative Self-Portrait [Art of the Real Review]

Joe Blessing

April 19, 2019 2:22 pm

Festivals, Reviews

The religion of modern cinephilia was born in Paris, evangelized by men like Godard and Truffaut, who were able to transition from watching and arguing over two to three movies a day at the Cinémathèque Françai...

Author Joe Blessing