
My Pure Land movie review: meet a real-life heroine in a land that really doesn’t want her
Behold a modern-day feminist western set in deeply patriarchal Pakistan. Stark and spare, with a heroine full of mean grace, it’s even a true story.

Behold a modern-day feminist western set in deeply patriarchal Pakistan. Stark and spare, with a heroine full of mean grace, it’s even a true story.

An action masterpiece newly remastered in gorgeous 4K (and rejiggered for superfluous 3D) reveals how fresh it remains not only technically but thematically.

Simply a lovely film, with some of the most striking — and haunting — animation I’ve ever seen, and full of a remarkable and palpable warmth and humanity.
Collected from my new @flickfilosopher Twitter feed…

Now updated with winners…

My favorite of the nominees is “Sing,” a movie for right-now with its pushback against a bullying authority figure and its gently effective defiance.

My pick: “Pearl,” blending new VR tech with old-fashioned characters and emotions, demonstrating storytelling possibilities that are beginning to open up.

Poignant and hilarious and wise, a melancholy ode to a moment when when the world was changing for women (and men)… and how it still and always is.

I would give the Oscar in a three-way tie to the Syrian-themed nominees, which offer stunningly intimate observations on the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

This delicately realized portrait of an intellectual Tehran couple could easily be taking place in New York, London, or Tokyo. The empathy machine strikes again.