james carneiro
In-House Film Critic | Reviews: 7 | Letterboxd | Twitter
Initially caught the film bug while cruising for used copies of Bergman flicks/bootleg concert footage at Disc Replay. These days, he’ll review quite anything, though he is partial to Italian neorealism, American underground film, and whoever is using cinema as a method of interrogating power structures.
Review by James Carneiro | Mar 01, 2025
Set in Turin at the end of the 19th century, it stars Marcello Mastroianni as a labor activist who becomes involved with a group of textile factory workers who go on strike. The film had its premiere at the 35th Congress of the Italian Socialist Party. The script was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 37th Academy Awards.
Review by James Carneiro | Feb 23, 2025
When Isabelle and Theo invite Matthew to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and everything is possible. It is set against the backdrop of the 1968 Paris student riots. The film makes several references to various movies of classical and French New Wave cinema, incorporating clips from films that are often imitated by the actors in particular scenes.
Review by James Carneiro | Feb 14, 2025
Miso lives from day to day by housekeeping. Cigarettes and whiskey are the two things that get her through the day. As cigarette prices and rent start to rise, Miso decides to give up her house for cigarettes and whiskey, leading her to couch surf with old friends while reconsidering her place in life. Microhabitat is Jeon's feature debut, and it was produced independently by Jeon herself.
Review by James Carneiro | Jan 26, 2025
High school seniors and best friends, Sonny and Duane, live in a dying Texas town. The handsome Duane is dating a local beauty, while Sonny is having an affair with the coach’s wife. As graduation nears and both boys contemplate their futures, Duane eyes the army and Sonny takes over a local business. Each struggles to figure out if he can escape this dead-end town and build a better life somewhere else.
Review by James Carneiro | Jan 08, 2025
Bruno Stroszek is released from prison and warned to stop drinking. He has few skills and fewer expectations: with a glockenspiel and an accordion, he ekes out a living as a street musician. He befriends Eva, a prostitute down on her luck and they join his neighbor, Scheitz, an elderly eccentric, when he leaves Germany to live in Wisconsin. In 2002, Roger Ebert called it "one of the oddest films ever made" when including it as one of his "Great Movies".
Review by James Carneiro | Dec 22, 2024
A 1993 British black comedy drama film starring David Thewlis as Johnny, a loquacious intellectual, philosopher and conspiracy theorist. The film won several awards, including best director and best actor at Cannes. Naked marked a new career high for Mike Leigh as a director and made the then-unknown Thewlis an internationally recognized star. For his astonishing performance, David Thewlis won Best Actor award at Cannes Film Festival.
Review by James Carneiro | Dec 07, 2024
Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled. It premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or. It was named one of the top 10 films of 2024 by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute.