Hello Reader, As we teased in episode 161, this is the time of year when the best international films of the year come out in cinemas. One of the year's best films, the queer French erotic thriller Misericordia by Alain Guiraudie, is out in cinemas this week. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's an extremely well-made film that takes unexpected turns and is often very funny. Episode 165: Alain Guiraudie's Misericordia Today, on the podcast, I briefly discuss why I liked the film and...

Hello Reader, It’s not very often that we get a movie for adults that’s smart and fun and screening theatrically. But Steven Soderbergh’s London-set spy thriller Black Bag fits this bill and opened in North American cinemas last weekend. The film features major stars like Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, who play the married couple around whose relationship the film pivots, and major lesser-known talents like Tom Burke and Naomie Harris in key supporting roles. As a card-carrying...

Hello Reader, Joan Micklin Silver was writing and directing movies in 1970s America when very few women were. Elaine May’s A New Leaf came a few years before Silver’s first feature, but Silver pre-dated filmmakers like Claudia Weill, Nora Ephron, and more who followed in her footsteps. Her four features are all excellent, and a great B Side to the era's films — the Jewishness of a Woody Allen movie without all the creepiness, the emancipated women of Mazursky but told by a woman. But what...