FORGOTTEN ISLAND – Review by Valerie Kalfrin
Friends can be closer than family, creating memories that make us who we are. Forgotten Island, the new DreamWorks animated
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Dolly De Leon
MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 14, 2024: GHOSTLIGHT
The crushing weight of grief and the healing power of theater are explored with touching authenticity in Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s poignant dramedy Ghostlight. As it gradually reveals the heartbreaking loss at the center of its main characters’ lives, the film shows how the impact of that loss has left them all reeling, unable to move forward until one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays helps them find a way to process it together.
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GHOSTLIGHT – Review by Loren King
This tender drama about a family grappling with grief is a paean to the transformative power of theater. If that sounds lofty, Ghostlight is anything but. It’s grounded in believable, well defined characters led by Keith Kupferer as Dan Mueller, a father fumbling through life in the wake of a tragedy but who begins to comes alive when he stumbles upon a community theater troupe and gets cast in their production of Romeo and Juliet.
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GHOSTLIGHT – Review by Pam Grady
A distinguished Chicago theater family and The Triangle of Sadness’ Dolly De Leon unite in this cinematic tour de force in which grief finds an outlet in the mounting of a play. Construction worker Dan (Keith Kupferer) copes with the loss of a family member by not really coping at all. He’s barely hanging on at his job, is increasingly remote from his wife Sharon (played by Kupferer’s real-life partner Tara Mallen), and at odds with his troubled teen daughter Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer, who is the real life daughter of Keith and Tara). What remains of his energy is reserved for a long-odds wrongful death lawsuit that will never make him whole again even if it succeeds.
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TRIANGLE OF SADNESS – Review by Susan Granger
I was stunned that Ruben Ostlund’s tedious Triangle of Sadness not only won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival but went on to snag three Academy Award nominations for Picture, Director and Original Screenplay. The Swedish writer-director begins this gross social satire by introducing two vapid, if photogenic models, an amiable elderly English weapons-dealing couple and a Russian oligarch, among others, aboard a doomed luxury yacht that is captained by a drunk Marxist (Woody Harrelson). Triangle of Sadness is smug and self-indulgent. But, obviously, my negative opinion is in the minority on this one.
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Ten Female Performances to Watch from NYFF 2022 – Liz Whittemore reports
I always begin my annual list with a caveat. My thoughts are based solely on the films I actually saw at the festival. I’ve heard the buzz surrounding Danielle Deadwyler’s performance in Till. It was unanimous among my fellow journalists that this was a star-making turn. I cannot wait to see it for myself. Until then, here are ten female performances that I cannot shake from the 17 films I saw.
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THE TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (TIFF 2022) – Review by Ulkar Alakbarova
The Triangle of Sadness perfectly captures the balance of power and how it can shift. It all comes down to what you know, what you can do and what you cannot. Humans are corrupt, whether rich or poor. And when the poor gets a chance to stand out, they’re abused, taken advantage of, and the actual humiliation starts. Is the story about the poor going rogue? No. But it shows how we people do not realize one thing – for a better outcome, collaboration is required. And when we don’t work together but instead try to overpower each other, the result will be the exact the same – good or bad, wealthy or poor, we all become as corrupt as everyone else.
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