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Years Before The Rise of Fake News, Shattered Glass Threw The Spotlight On A Serial Fabulist
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The Downtime Guide to: Flipping Cards
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JamFam Q&A: Jordan Coley
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JamFam Q&A: Meg Zukin
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JamFam Q&A: Dee Lockett
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Big Love for Tiny Horse
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Letters of Rec
The Brother From Another Planet Reimagined What It Meant To Be Lost In America
Adam Nayman
Feb 24, 2023
Letters of Rec
To Be Known: Revisiting the Quiet Romance of The Bridges of Madison County
Caitlin Quinlan
Feb 22, 2023
Home Movie: 35 Shots of Rum Remains One of Claire Denis’ Most Personal Works
The story of a codependent father-and-daughter relationship pays tribute to the work of Yasujirō Ozu’ and Denis' own mother.
Matthew Eng
Mar 10, 2023
Letters of Rec
Seconds Is One Of The Darkest, Most Prescient Movies Of The '60s
Dan Schindel
Feb 17, 2023
Letters of Rec
Strange Days Warned That The End Is Near
Charles Bramesco
Feb 15, 2023
Letters of Rec
Home Movie: 35 Shots of Rum Remains One of Claire Denis’ Most Personal Works
Letters of Rec
The Brother From Another Planet Reimagined What It Meant To Be Lost In America
Letters of Rec
To Be Known: Revisiting the Quiet Romance of The Bridges of Madison County
Letters of Rec
Seconds Is One Of The Darkest, Most Prescient Movies Of The '60s
Upgrade Your Downtime
Letters of Rec
Luz Takes Possession To A Whole Other Level
This German supernatural horror film employs an outré sound design to convey the experience of hypnosis.
Madeleine Wall
Jan 20, 2023
Letters of Rec
When 3 Become 1: Shapeshifting in Robert Altman's Low-Desert Dreamscape 3 Women
Altman's classic '70s psychological drama tackles gender as a Gothic team sport.
Sofia Majstorovic
Jan 16, 2023
Letters of Rec
The Savages Admirably Avoids Clichés Around Death And Dying
At first glance, Tamara Jenkins' sophomore feature resembles a typical "Sundance film," but it's much thornier than typical indie fare.
Vikram Murthi
Dec 30, 2022
Letters of Rec
The Future Is Now: On The Hudsucker Proxy
The Coen Brothers' 1994 screwball comedy uses its heightened reality to tackle corporate greed and consumerist folly.
Kent M. Wilhelm
Dec 16, 2022
Letters of Rec
Ragged Generosity: Exploring The Films of Boris Barnet
The work of an unsung, but essential Soviet director is ripe for discovery via a YouTube channel.
Patrick Preziosi
Dec 9, 2022
Letters of Rec
The Kingdom: Exodus is Twin Peaks: The Return with seasonal affective disorder
After a 25-year-long hiatus, Lars von Trier returns to the haunted hospital of his landmark supernatural miniseries.
Katie Rife
Nov 25, 2022
Letters of Rec
Elaine May's Lacerating Class Comedy A New Leaf Has Barely Aged A Bit
May's sharp satire of the wealthy refuses to pull any punches while also chronicling a sincere personal transformation.
Sophie Monks Kaufman
Nov 9, 2022
Letters of Rec
The Classic Ramen Western Tampopo Will Make You Rethink How You Eat
Juzo Itami's freewheeling, genre-bending comedy turns cuisine into a meditation on craft and culture.
Dan Schindel
Oct 31, 2022
Letters of Rec
The Kids Are Alright: 40 Years Of Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Amy Heckerling's indelible debut feature captures early-80s adolescence in all of its complex glory, minus the judgement or sanctimony.
Elizabeth Nelson
Oct 10, 2022
Letters of Rec
Tin Men Is Barry Levinson's Best Baltimore Movie — And A Cogent Critique Of Male Arrogance
The second in Levinson's Baltimore tetralogy follows two aluminum siding salesmen whose rigid worldviews finally fall under a spotlight.
Noel Murray
Sep 30, 2022
Letters of Rec
Toronto International Film Festival 2022: The Banshees of Inisherin, Godland
In his final dispatch, our humble correspondent reviews an Irish comedy of discontent and an Icelandic religious drama.
Vikram Murthi
Sep 19, 2022
Letters of Rec
Toronto International Film Festival 2022: How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Viking
Our humble correspondent reviews an urgent environmental thriller and a Canadian existential space comedy.
Vikram Murthi
Sep 15, 2022
Letters of Rec
Toronto International Film Festival 2022: The Fabelmans, Glass Onion
Our humble correspondent reviews Steven Spielberg's coming-of-age memoir and the new Knives Out sequel.
Vikram Murthi
Sep 13, 2022
Letters of Rec
Toronto International Film Festival 2022: Triangle of Sadness, Moonage Daydream
In Downtime's first TIFF dispatch, our humble correspondent reviews a farcical satire of the super-rich and a collage-style David Bowie doc.
Vikram Murthi
Sep 12, 2022
Letters of Rec
Years Before The Rise of Fake News, Shattered Glass Threw The Spotlight On A Serial Fabulist
The rise and fall of Stephen Glass serves as a cautionary tale about the hesitancy of the media class to investigate their own.
A.A. Dowd
Aug 23, 2022
Letters of Rec
If You Want To Feel French For Three Hours, Watch My Sex Life... Or How I Got Into An Argument
The essential post-New Wave comedy-drama follows an ensemble of restless Parisian academics falling in and out of careers and love.
Gabrielle Marceau
Aug 10, 2022
Letters of Rec
Give Yourself Away Like The Sea: Revisiting the Sexy, Downbeat Pleasures of Y Tu Mamá También
Alfonso Cuarón's risqué road movie emphasizes sexual exploration as well as life's ephemeral nature
Christina Newland
Aug 3, 2022
Letters of Rec
Dead Pixels: Why the Forgotten Cyberhorror FearDotCom is Actually Worth Your Time
Its trashy, fetishistic imagery and borderline dream logic are features, not bugs.
Ethan Vestby
Jul 13, 2022
Letters of Rec
Reliquary of the Slacker: On Joel Potrykus’ Relaxer
Potrykus specializes in offbeat, regionally-focused portraits of post-Linklater slackers on the edges of 21st century society.
Dom Sinacola
Jun 30, 2022
Letters of Rec
All Hands On Deck Celebrates The Pleasures (And Pitfalls) Of Summer Risk-Taking
This charming Rohmerian comedy follows three buddies looking for love in the south of France
Susannah Gruder
Jun 17, 2022
Letters of Rec
The Wind Has All The Hallmarks Of Trashy Summer Fun (Minus The Outdoors)
Stay inside and avoid the heat with this zesty, shaggy psychological thriller.
Danielle Burgos
Jun 10, 2022
Letters of Rec
The Five Obstructions Allows Lars Von Trier's Mentor to Remake His Best-Known Film Five Different Ways
Von Trier's mentor Jørgen Leth must adhere to a different "obstruction" each time he remakes the film
Jody Dvorak
May 27, 2022
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