Michael Frank

Cine-File continues to cover streaming and other online offerings during this time of covidity. We will list/highlight physical screenings at the top of the list for theaters and venues that have reopened, and list streaming/online screenings below. Cine-File takes no position on whether theaters should be reopening, nor on whether individuals should be attending in-person. Check the venues’ websites for information on safety protocols and other procedures put in place.
PHYSICAL SCREENINGS
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Azazel Jacobs grew up in the world of film, understanding its importance from his father, experimental filmmaking pioneer Ken Jacobs. His newest feature, French Exit, stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, and Tracy Letts, giving Jacobs his biggest stage and audience yet as the Closing Night selection of the 58th New York Film Festival.
Following a mother, a son, and a cat who flee to Paris after losing their fortune, the film presents a jump in scale and pressure for Jacobs, marking his late...

At a glance, Azazel Jacobs’ French Exit seems trivial, especially at a time when billionaires exist in droves, and the wealth divide continues to drastically widen. As the director’s second official collaboration with novelist and screenwriter Patrick deWitt, the closing film of the New York Film Festival cannot be confined to its logline: “A close-to-penniless widow moves to Paris with her son and cat, who also happens to be her reincarnated husband.” Opening with a written, serif font title...

French filmmaker Eugène Green, like many directors, has a distinct style. His characters speak directly to the camera. They stand in the center of the screen, often emotionless, in a manner similar to the earlier films of Yorgos Lanthimos. He attempts to modernize myths, with an edge of satire and oddball comedy that seeps through in his oft-one-lined dialogue. Sometimes, all of this works, bringing his films to great heights. Other times, as in the case of Atarrabi and Mikelats, his style be...

In reimagining one’s history, you suspect your role in the proceedings. If you’re American, you put yourself in the heart of the battle, at the Constitutional Convention, and (hopefully) fighting for the northern states during the Civil War. The more you learn, the easier it becomes to question what you’ve heard in the past, raising more questions than answers. You begin to see the age-old phrase in motion, “History repeats itself.”
For the Haitian, French, and UK theatre troupe The Living an...

Children think anything and everything is possible. Kids possess the ability to picture a future in which they are astronauts, professional athletes, presidents, rockstars, and kajillionaires. Dreams are a part of everyday life. As time wears on, most of these children shift in their thinking, focusing in on smaller goals and less exciting dreams. Get a job. Find a decent apartment. Pay credit card bills on time. Provide for a family. A few still follow these childhood ambitions, though, taki...

Humans want to believe in meaning and mystery. At times, an overwhelming sense of certainty can fill one’s mind––about an idea, a truth, a religion, or a significance in the sightings confined within daily life. Her Name Was Europa explores this certainty in the context of the aurochs, an extinct breed of wild cattle and the people hoping to resurrect them. Filmed, or constructed, by Berlin-based OJOBOCA––the filmmaking duo of Anja Dornieden and Juan David González Monroy––the documentary loo...

Cine-File continues to cover streaming and other online offerings during this time of covidity. We will list/highlight physical screenings at the top of the list for theaters and venues that have reopened, and list streaming/online screenings below. Cine-File takes no position on whether theaters should be reopening, nor on whether individuals should be attending in-person. Check the venues’ websites for information on safety protocols and other procedures put in place.
CINE-FILE SELECTS: JÁN...

Bleed with Me, the first feature from writer/director Amelia Moses, remains one of the standouts from this year’s virtual Fantasia Film Festival. Set in an isolated cabin, the film follows a young woman who becomes increasingly aware of her precarious surroundings, and her odd relationship with her best friend. At a snappy 79 minutes, Bleed with Me grabs hold of you, bringing you on a methodical, maddening ride into the psyche and perspective of its lead character. Film Inquiry had the chance...

After a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last January, Dinner in America, a punk comedy-drama writer/director Adam Rehmeier, came to genre-focused audiences at the virtual version of the Fantasia Film Festival. Film Inquiry chatted with Rehmeier about Mac Demarco, a good mixtape, and finding the right lead actors.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Michael Frank: How did you come across the two leads of the film?
Adam Rehmeier: It’s funny because Kyle Gallner was one...

When you hear the name David Arquette, you might think of the actor from the Scream franchise. You might think of the Hollywood wrestler who won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 2000, a fluke and an absurdity to many in the wrestling community. You might think of the ex-husband of Courteney Cox and the brother to constant award-winner Patricia Arquette. Arquette’s career has spanned several decades, minor peaks and the deepest valleys, lost titles, and possibly wasted potential. Afte...

The actor David Arquette has appeared in nearly 140 titles. The wrestler David Arquette had one big win: the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 2000. Almost two decades later, Arquette hoped to change the narrative that swirled around him, one focused on his lack of experience and care for wrestling, and his lack of seriousness in Hollywood. A new documentary from David Darg and Price James, You Cannot Kill David Arquette (review), explores Arquette’s journey on the independent wrestling c...