James Ivory and Ismail Merchant were famous for their period costume dramas such as “Howard’s End” and “The Remains of the Day,” but the pair worked together for decades prior to those hits and Academy Award-winners—and they enjoyed an even more fascinating history and relationship off-set. Ivory, from Oregon, met Merchant, a Muslim from India, in New York (at the Indian embassy, no less), and soon they were making films together. By

If you like your martial arts movies fast, violent and brutal, then “Mayhem!” is for you. The new film from French filmmaker Xavier Gens (“Gangs of London”) stars Nassim Lyes (“Cardo,” “Overdose”) as Sam, a recently-paroled inmate trying to walk the straight line outside prison walls. However, an encounter with his former underworld friends turns violent, forcing Sam and his family to leave France for a peaceful life in Thailand.

If you've wanted to be a fly on the wall for a conversation in a theological vein between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis, the playwright Mark St. Germain brings it to the stage in "Freud's Last Session," now a film directed by Matt Brown ("The Man Who Knew Infinity").

Anthony Hopkins achieves yet another pitch-perfect performance as Sigmund Freud

2021's Western "The Harder They Fall" was writer/musician/filmmaker Jeymes Samuel's feature-length directing debut and an intoxicating film full of energy and ideas. For the most part, the same can be said of his latest, "The Book of Clarence." While the film is clever and holds one's interest, it suffers from a cinematic Multiple Personality Disorder, as its later half finds jarringly abrupt tonal changes that blunt

We’re used to watching Jeremy Piven be funny. His darkly humorous turn during eight seasons on “Entourage,” to say nothing of his earlier work in “PCU” and “Grosse Pointe Blank,” have made the Chicago native a favorite of directors seeking to realize edge, slightly (or more than slightly) dangerous obsessives fond of four-letter vocabulary.

Indeed, while appearing on

Sav Rodgers discovered Kevin Smith’s “Chasing Amy” at a crucial time in his life. Rodgers connected with Smith’s comedy about a straight comic book artist (Ben Affleck) who falls for a fellow artist (Joey Lauren Adams) who also happens to be a lesbian. Hijinks ensue, leading to a bittersweet ending not atypical of Smith’s work.

Rodgers watched the film dozens of times, if not more. However, as the fanboy came into adulthood, he began to see “Chasing Amy,” perhaps, as somewhat “problematic.” For one, the idea

Nearly four years ago, I watched one of the most incredible films I’ve ever seen at Sundance. Cedric Cheung-Lau took to the stage at a theater in central Salt Lake City to introduce “The Mountains Are a Dream That Call to Me,” which I described at the time as “hypnosis in motion.” I shook his hand after the screening, thanking him for this unique cinematic experience.

I named it my best film of 2020