MVFF48: !VIVA EL CINE!—THE SECRET AGENT (2025) / SIRÂT (2025) / MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO (2025) / YANUNI (2025)—REVIEWS Sponsored by the Instituto Guimarães, Canal Alliance, The Consulate General of Brazil in San Francisco, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce...

My review of four of the films in the "Viva Al Cine!" sidebar of the 48th edition of the Mill Valley FilmFestival is up at The Evening Class: bit.ly/4gYyUFr

THE ICE TOWER (2025)—REVIEW Winner of the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at its 2025 Berlinale World Premiere, with subsequent wins at the Neuchâtel ...

Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s dark enchantment “The Ice Tower” opens today in limited engagements. It's a fascinating treatment of Hans Christian Andersen's beloved fairy tale "The Snow Queen." My review at The Evening Class: bit.ly/4gUMkm4

MVFF48 CAPSULE REVIEW—EVERYWHERE MAN: THE LIVES AND TIMES OF PETER ASHER (2025) Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller invariably accomplish artful profiles of the luminaries of my generation. This go-round they aim their talent...

Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) kicks off in a couple of days. Here's my Evening Class capsule review for "Everywhere Man: The Life & Times of Peter Asher": bit.ly/472Fk38

"Non-binary Disorientation" (2025). Vintage 1937 paper, 4.25" x 5.5" U.S. Priority Mail label. Boise, Idaho. Tuesday, September 9, 2025. Collagist: © Michael Guillén. All rights reserved.

"Anything Can Be A Hat" (2025). Vintage 1937 paper on 5"x2" prescription labels adhered to 8" x 5.75" card stock. Boise, Idaho. Monday, September 8, 2025. Collagist: © Michael Guillén. All rights reserved.

"Gender Education" (2025). Vintage 1913 and 1946 paper; 11"x14" card stock. Boise, Idaho. Monday, August 25, 2025. Collagist: © Michael Guillén. All rights reserved.

Everyone Is Welcome Here. Scribe's Garden, Boise, Idaho. Friday, August 22, 2025. Photo: © Michael Guillén. All Rights Reserved.

FRIGHTFEST 26 (2025)—THE HAUNTED FOREST (2025): REVIEW As a World Premiere at Frightfest 26, the UK-based international horror, fantasy, and thriller film festival held in London’s Leicester Squa...

As a World Premiere at Frightfest 26, the UK-based international horror, fantasy, and thriller film festival, Keith Boynton’s "The Haunted Forest" (2025) immerses you in a scary theme park with all the jump scares that you wish were coming to **your** town on Halloween. bit.ly/4mv3vMV

RELAY (2024)—REVIEW Some years back I befriended a deaf mute named Mike. Our friendship was revelatory in that he exposed me to the various technologies within...

Emulating surveillance thrillers from the 1970s, David Mackenzie's "Relay" (2024) succeeds halfway. My Evening Class review: bit.ly/3UDRKHQ

EDEN (2024)—REVIEW The “Galapagos Affair”, as it came to be known over the years, has captured the imaginations of writers and filmmakers for decades, from the...

The "Galapagos Affair" in whole is, without question, a great story, which was made into a great documentary "The Galapagos Affair: Satan Comes to Eden" but unfortunately into a good—but not a great—film. My review of Ron Howards' "Eden" (2024). bit.ly/4mupuUj

THROWBACK THURSDAY: THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: SATAN COMES TO EDEN (2013)—THE EVENING CLASS INTERVIEW WITH DAYNA GOLDFINE AND DANIEL GELLER Originally published by Fandor in April 2014, the release of Ron Howard’s Eden (2025) calls for another look at the conversation I had wi...

Ron Howard’s EDEN (2025) calls for another look at the conversation I had w/ Dayna Goldfine & Daniel Geller (The Galapagos Affair: Satan Comes to Eden, 2013). It’s hard not to think of Howard’s fictionalization as a “remake.” bit.ly/45w3Lp3

FANTASIA 29 (2025)—FLUSH (2025): REVIEW The Fantasia International Film Festival (“Fantasia”) World Premiere of Grégory Morin’s Flush (2025) scored the Audience Award for Best In...

Winner of the Audience Award for Best International Feature at the 29th edition of the @fantasiafestival.com, Grégory Morin’s "Flush" (2025) ain't your daddy's Roto-Rooter!! My review at The Evening Class: bit.ly/4lv7cRu

FANTASIA 29 (2025): SPANISH CINEMA—THE WAILING (2024) / CIELO (2025) / I AM FRANKELDA (2025): REVIEW By “Spanish” I mean Spanish-speaking, of course, as The Wailing (2024) is a co-production from France, Argentina and Spain; Cielo (2025) ...

I caught three Spanish-speaking films at @fantasiafestival.com: "The Wailing" (2024), "Cielo" (2025) and "I Am Frankelda" (2025) from Mexico. Though their language was shared, their visions were uniquely distinct.

My write-up for The Evening Class: bit.ly/4mFwwVN

FANTASIA 29 (2025)—DOG OF GOD / HELLCAT: REVIEW Dogs and cats kenneled at the 29th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival (“Fantasia”).  Anadromatic and inversive at its core,...

Dogs and cats kenneled at the 29th edition of the @fantasiafestival.com. My reviews of "Dog of God" and "Hellcat" at The Evening Class: bit.ly/4lmXCjp

FANTASIA 29 (2025)—FANTASIA RETRO: THE DEVIL’S BRIDE (1974) / THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS (1976) / THE NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (1980)—REVIEWS As committed as the Fantasia International Film Festival (“Fantasia”), now in their 29th edition, has been in securing the premiering edge o...

What does a Lithuanian rock opera, a giallo fantastico and an '80s crime thriller have in common? @fantasiafestival.com. My reviews at The Evening Class: bit.ly/3UmWNfB

FANTASIA 29 (2025)—STUNTMAN: REVIEW Skillfully pitched between sentiment and action, Stuntman (2024) —the debut feature from Herbert Leung Koon-Shun and Albert Leung Koon-Yiu—...

Famed Hong Kong action choreographer Stephen Tung lends authenticity to "Stuntman" (2024), which recently screened at the 29th edition of @fantasiafestival.com. My review at The Evening Class: bit.ly/45ljRQU

HEMA HEMA: SING ME A SONG WHILE I WAIT (2016)—REVIEW What can be said of a person who—in the act of trying to conceal himself with a mask—reveals who he really is? I first tackled that conundr...

What can be said of a person who in the act of trying to conceal himself with a mask reveals who he really is? Nine years after premiering at Locarno, Bhutanese director & Buddhist Lama Khyentse Norbu's "Hema Hema" screens at the Quad Cinema in NYC this Friday, 08/08/25. My review: bit.ly/4mfULdi

FANTASIA 29 (2025)—TOUCH ME (2025): REVIEW Sporting its Canadian premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival (“Fantasia”) after a robust festival run that included premiering...

Let’s talk frankly about intergalactic interspecies sex, shall we? I compare "Touch Me" (2025), which just screened at @fantasiafestival.com with this summer's blockbuster "Superman" (2025) at The Evening Class: bit.ly/46ECD8e

FANTASIA 29 (2025): KOREAN CINEMA—OMNISCIENT READER: THE PROPHECY (2025); HOLY NIGHT: DEMON HUNTERS (2025)—REVIEWS In contrast to the Korean psychological thrillers slated in the 29th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival (“Fantasia”) via Fi...

South Korean webtoon adaptations "Omniscient Reader: A Prophecy" and "Holy Night: Demon Hunters" entertain audiences at the @fantasiafestival.com . My reviews at The Evening Class: bit.ly/46JKQIn

FANTASIA 29 (2025)—BURNING (2024) / STINKER (2025): REVIEWS Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Kyrgy...

Central Asia is represented at the 29th edition of @fantasiafestival.com in "Burning" and "Stinker". My reviews at The Evening Class: bit.ly/46JWO4K

FANTASIA 2025—TRANSCENDING DIMENSIONS (2025): REVIEW As Theodoor Steen has dispatched to Screen Anarchy from the 2025 Rotterdam International Film Festival, during the Q&A session following t...

You never feel that you’re achieving an answer even as you are very much enjoying exploring the question. "Transcending Dimensions" premieres in Canada at @fantasiafestival.com. My Evening Class review: bit.ly/41jD8AT

<b>FANTASIA 29—KOREAN CINEMA: <i>THE WOMAN</i> (2025), <i>FRAGMENT</i> (2025), <i>NOISE</i> (2024)—REVIEWS</b> Many thanks to Ara Shin of Finecut Co., Ltd. (“Finecut”) for providing streaming links for The Woman (2025) , Fragment (2025) , and Noise...

There was an entire sidebar on Korean cinema at the 29th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival and I watched several of them, including three distributed by Finecut: "The Woman" (2025), "Fracture" (2025) and "Noise" (2024), reviewed at The Evening Class: bit.ly/4mgnazG

<b><i>2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA</i> (2025)—REVIEW</b> “There were many words that you could not stand to hear and finally only the names of places had dignity.” —Ernest Hemingway, 1929.   In 202...

"2000 Meters to Andriivka" provides necessary attention where attention is due. Winner of the Directing Award for World Cinema Documentary at Sundance. My Evening Class review: bit.ly/44SQ2s8

You're gonna love Montreal. It's one of my favorite places. Michael and I are doing well here in Boise, Idaho. Once or twice a year we housesit for a friend of ours in SF so that keeps us in touch with the old crew. I took a break from film writing for a few years, but am slowly edging back.

No, not this year. I'm accredited for remote coverage. How you been, guy?

<b>FANTASIA 29 (2025)—CURTAINRAISER FOR THE THIRD WAVE</b> Fucktoys (2025) —At RogerEbert.com , Matt Zoller Seitz writes: “Annapurna Sriram’s feature debut Fucktoys , about a sex worker earning a l...

In anticipation of @fantasiafestival.com 29, here's an Evening Class curtainraising 5-pick from the third wave of title announcements: bit.ly/3TEebMC

<b>FANTASIA 29 (2025)—CURTAINRAISER FOR THE SECOND WAVE</b> Eddington (2025) —In their second wave of announcements, Fantasia International Film Festival (“Fantasia”) situated Ari Aster’s Eddington ...

In anticipation of @fantasiafestival.com 29, here's an Evening Class curtainraising 5-pick from the second wave of title announcements: bit.ly/4lAsmhK

<b>FANTASIA 29 (2025)—CURTAINRAISER FOR THE FIRST WAVE</b> The Fantasia International Film Festival (“Fantasia”) will celebrate its upcoming 29th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, ...

In anticipation of @fantasiafestival.com 29, here's an Evening Class curtainraising 5-pick from the first wave of title announcements: bit.ly/4nGGDuV

STRING THEORY || OFFICIAL VISUALIZER || HENRY MANSFIELD Some string lights, a basement and a few friends. That's how the best nights are made. SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2ZW9b5zYynDiNMwc78MSOP INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/henryplayspiano

Enforcing the Boisean belief that "all are welcome here" (despite what the West Ada School District asserts), Treefort Music Fest welcomes Henry Mansfield to their line-up this year, playing Thursday, March 27, 8:50PM at the Olympic. Check out his video for "String Theory": bit.ly/4cp27rb

<b>TREEFORT 2025—<i>RAÍCES: The Evening Class</i> Interview With Miguel Almeida</b> Miguel Almeida is an illustrator / muralist based in Boise, Idaho. He works both digitally and traditionally to create colorful illustratio...

Artfort is one of the many "forts" at the Treefort Music Fest, now in its 13th edition in Boise, Idaho. It begins today and I'm JACKED! Here is my conversation with local muralist Miguel Almeida: bit.ly/4by72W3