the monthly review 2021
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93 titles
- DirectorPedro CostaStarsVitalina VarelaVenturaManuel Tavares AlmeidaA Cape Verdean woman navigates her way through Lisbon, following the scanty physical traces her deceased husband left behind and discovering his secret, illicit life.january 8/10
- DirectorAlbert SerraStarsLluís CarbóLluís Serrat BatlleLluís SerratThree wise men embark on a journey to see the newborn Jesus Christ.january 6/10
- CreatorGianluca NeriStarsVincenzo AndreucciAntonio BoschiniFabio CantelliAmidst a heroin crisis, Vincenzo Muccioli cared for the addicted, earning him fierce public devotion -- even as charges of violence began to mount.january 6/10
- DirectorChristian PetzoldStarsPaula BeerFranz RogowskiMaryam ZareeUndine works as a historian lecturing on Berlin's urban development. But when the man she loves leaves her, the ancient myth catches up with her. Undine has to kill the man who betrays her and return to the water.january 5/10
- DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsFatoumata CoulibalyMaimouna Hélène DiarraSalimata TraoréWhen a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.january 7/10
- DirectorBrandon CronenbergStarsAndrea RiseboroughChristopher AbbottJennifer Jason LeighAn agent works for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies - ultimately driving them to commit assassinations for high-paying clients.(Uncut) january 5/10
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsWillem DafoeCristina ChiriacAnna FerraraThe story of an American artist living in Rome with his young European wife Nikki and their 3-year-old daughter, Dee Dee.january 6/10
- StarsMa Anand SheelaPhilip ToelkesJane StorkWhen Osho, the world's most controversial guru, builds an Utopian city deep in the Oregon country, conflict with the locals escalates into a national scandal.january 6/10
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudAlbert RémyClaire MaurierA young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.january 8/10
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCharles BoyerIngrid BergmanJoseph CottenTen years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband. His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane.january 8/10
- DirectorMarco FerreriStarsMaruschka DetmersMichele PlacidoJuan DiegoThe humanitarian aid expedition "Angeles Azules" (Blue Angels), comprising twelve Europeans and six trucks loaded with provisions to alleviate hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa, advances across the continent. As a result of the difficulties the team encounters, disorganization gradually takes over the convoy. Each of the members of the group, little by little, yield to their petty, selfish impulses: violence, power, nostalgia - The breakdown of one of the trucks forces Michele and Nadia to wait at an oasis for the arrival of spare parts. But a starving local tribe settles threateningly near them. The chief of the tribe makes a speech they don't understand, which is followed by a macabre purification ceremony.january 7/10
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJoan CrawfordSterling HaydenMercedes McCambridgeAfter helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.january 8/10
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsBruce WillisMadeleine StoweBrad PittIn a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.january 6/10
- DirectorRobert FuestStarsVincent PriceJoseph CottenVirginia NorthDoctor, scientist, organist, and biblical scholar Anton Phibes seeks revenge on the nine doctors he considers responsible for the death of his wife.january 7/10
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsJieh-Wen KingKuei-Ying HsuAnnie Shizuka InohA glimpse at the lives of two petty criminals in Taipei.january 8/10
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsAlain DelonJeanne MoreauFrancine BergéIn German-occupied Paris, an immoral art dealer, Robert Klein, leads a life of luxury, until a copy of a Jewish newspaper brings him to the attention of the police, linking him with a mysterious doppelgänger. Will Mr. Klein clear his name?january 6/10
- DirectorGiuliano MontaldoStarsIngrid ThulinStefano Satta FloresMichele PlacidoAn old couple, Agnes and Palita, lulled by their quiet routine, seem almost unaware of the war surrounding them, but soon the conflict breaks into their lives. The Germans come to take Palita, a supporter of the Resistance, and Agnes already knows in her heart that she will never see him again.january 6/10
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsFrançois TruffautJean-Pierre CargolFrançoise SeignerIn a French forest in 1798, a child is found who cannot walk, speak, read or write. A doctor becomes interested in the child and patiently attempts to civilize him.february 7/10
- DirectorPiero NelliStarsRada RassimovEmanuela BarattoloGiancarlo Zanettifebruary 5/10
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGary OldmanWinona RyderAnthony HopkinsThe centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.february 8/10
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsSarah PattersonAngela LansburyDavid WarnerA teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.february 8/10
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsRobin HillRobert HillJulia DeakinA crime family looks to unmask the police informant in their midst who threatens to take down their business.february 6/10
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsJô ShishidoNagisa KatahiraShingo YamamotoKomori Tiaki is a budding tennis student. However, one day in training her coach hits the ball into her eye accidentally. She is taken to hospital but is advised that she will never regain the sight in her eye.february 7/10
- DirectorKenneth AngerStarsSamson De BrierMarjorie CameronJoan WhitneyHistorical, biblical, and mythical characters gather in the pleasure dome and become part of a visual feast of superimposed images, hallucinations, and decadence.february 8/10
- DirectorCheol-soo JangStarsSeo Yeong-hieJi Seong-wonMin-ho HwangA woman subject to mental, physical and sexual abuse on a remote island seeks a way out.february 5/10
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsMatt DamonKate WinsletJude LawHealthcare professionals, government officials and everyday people find themselves in the midst of a pandemic as the CDC works to find a cure.february 3/10
- DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsA. Michael BaldwinBill ThornburyReggie BannisterA teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.february 6/10
- DirectorJRAgnès VardaStarsAgnès VardaJRJeannine CarpentierDirector Agnes Varda and photographer/muralist J.R. journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.february 7/10
- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsToshirô MifuneKeiju KobayashiMichiyo AratamaFebruary 17 to March 3, 1860, inside Edo castle. A group of assassins wait by Sakurada Gate to kill the lord of the House of Ii, a powerful man in the Tokugawa government, which has ruled Japan for 300 years. They suspect a traitor in their midst, and their suspicions fall on Niiro, an impoverished ronin who dreams of samurai status, and Kurihara, an aristocratic samurai who befriends Niiro. Niiro longs to identify his father, knowing he is a high-ranking official who will disclose himself only if Niiro achieves samurai status. With American ships in Japan's harbors, cynicism among the assassins, and change in the air, Niiro resolves to reach ends that may prove ephemeral.february 8/10
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsKen OgataSumiko SakamotoTonpei HidariIn a poor 19th century rural Japanese village, everyone who reaches the age of 70 has to climb a nearby mountain to die. An elderly woman is reaching close to her cut-off age during her last days with her family.february 8/10
- DirectorRose GlassStarsMorfydd ClarkCaoilfhionn DunneJennifer EhleA pious nurse becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.february 6/10
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsPola NegriVictor JansonPaul HeidemannA charismatic lieutenant newly assigned to a remote fort is captured by a group of mountain bandits, thus setting in motion a madcap farce that is Lubitsch at his most unrestrained.february 8/10
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsPinaki SenguptaSmaran GhosalKamala AdhikariFollowing his father's death, a boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone.february 9/10
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsOrson WellesJoan FontaineMargaret O'BrienAfter a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house, to care for his young daughter.march 5/10
- DirectorMarco FerreriStarsJerry CalàSabrina FerilliValentino MacchiAlthough he has great sex with Luigia, grifter Benito becomes obsessed with sex and starts fantasizing about and bedding every woman he sees. Eventually, this obsession consumes him.march 8/10
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanAkerman spends a month in Tel Aviv, in an apartment by the sea, contemplating her family, her Jewish identity and her childhood.march 6/10
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsAnne TeyssèdreHugues QuesterFlorence DarelSimple conversations engender complicated human interactions. Jeanne is open and even-tempered, a philosophy teacher at a lycée. Her fiancé is away and she doesn't want to stay at his messy flat; she's loaned hers to a cousin, so she accepts the invitation of Natasha, a music student whom she meets at a party, to sleep in her father Igor's bedroom because he's always with his young girlfriend, Eve. Natasha tells Jeanne a story of a missing necklace and her suspicions of Eve. They all meet at dinner, then again at Igor's country house. Is Natasha scheming to get Igor and Jeanne together alone? Once alone, what determines how they choose to act? And the necklace, what of it?march 6/10
- DirectorMitra FarahaniStarsBahman MohassesA documentary on provocative artist Bahman Mohassess, the so-called "Persian Picasso," whose acclaimed paintings and sculptures dominated pre-revolutionary Iran.march 7/10
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsStéphane AudranJean YanneAntonio PassaliaAn unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.march 9/10
- DirectorMichael MannStarsWilliam PetersenKim GreistJoan AllenFormer FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.april 8/10
- DirectorKeishi OtomoStarsTakeru SatohEmi TakeiYû AoiA former assassin who has resolved to never kill again has his vow sorely tested.april 5/10
- DirectorKen RussellStarsKathleen TurnerAnthony PerkinsBruce DavisonA mysterious woman, fashion designer by day and prostitute by night, is hounded by two men: a married father of two children and a sexually repressed preacher.april 6/10
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsTim O'KellyBoris KarloffNancy HsuehAn aging horror star questions his place in modern Hollywood, while a disturbed young man goes on a killing spree.april 8/10
- DirectorMuschaStarsFM EinheitWilliam RiceChristiane FelscherinowA noise enthusiast discovers that by changing the background music from pleasantly calming to industrial "noise" music, he can incite riots and a revolution against the looming power of the government.april 6/10
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsGlenn CorbettPatricia BreslinEugenie LeontovichThe brutal stabbing murder of a justice-of-the-peace sparks an investigation of dark family secrets in a sleepy small town in Southern California.april 6/10
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsLino VenturaPaul MeurisseJean-Pierre CasselAn account of underground resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France.april 6/10
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsMichel SuborGrégoire ColinYekaterina GolubevaAn emotionally cold man leaves the safety of his Alpine home to seek a heart transplant and an estranged son.may 6/10
- DirectorMike LeighStarsSally HawkinsAlexis ZegermanSamuel RoukinA look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.may 6/10
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJoan CrawfordJack CarsonZachary ScottA hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.may 7/10
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsJuliette BinocheWilliam ShimellJean-Claude CarrièreIn Tuscany to promote his latest book, a middle-aged British writer meets a French woman who leads him to the village of Lucignano. While there, a chance question reveals something deeper.may 6/10
- DirectorJeff BarnabyStarsMichael GreyeyesElle-Máijá TailfeathersForrest GoodluckThe dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi'kmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague.may 5/10
- DirectorYasuzô MasumuraStarsYukio MishimaAyako WakaoEiji FunakoshiTakeo is a young yakuza who renounces his former criminal activities after being released from prison. But sometimes escaping the past is not so easy.may 6/10
- DirectorCraig ZobelStarsBetty GilpinHilary SwankIke BarinholtzTwelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are, or how they got there. They don't know they've been chosen - for a very specific purpose - The Hunt.may 5/10
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.june 9/10
- DirectorMichael TolkinStarsMimi RogersDavid DuchovnyDarwyn CarsonA telephone operator living an empty, amoral life finds God and loses him again.june 9/10
- DirectorKang-sheng LeeStarsKang-sheng LeeHui-Jen LiaoDennis NiehA bankrupt Taiwanese man loses everything including girlfriend. He still has a key to his luxury condo, where he grows and smokes marijuana. He spends time with a woman on suicide hotline and a lingerie clad woman selling cigarettes.june 7/10
- DirectorLulu WangStarsShuzhen ZhaoAwkwafinaX MayoA Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.june 5/10
- DirectorNelson YeoRepurposing and manipulating classic film footage and the filmmaker's personal footage, the film weaves a phantasmagoric narrative of a Chinese lady named Ma Li who dreams she is a Caucasian named Mary.june 7/10
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsSylvia KristelCharles VanelFernand LedouxAlice Carol leaves her husband one rainy night, telling him that she does not love him anymore. She travels alone but when her windscreen breaks on a lonely road, she has to stop and seek help. She goes to a creepy manor and is welcomed by the owner, Henri Vergennes, and his butler, Colas. Alice is invited to spend the night in the house. The next morning, Alice can't find the two men from he previous night but finds her car surprisingly fixed. She tries to leave but cannot find the gate. She stops the car and walks around the wall trying to find an exit but becomes increasingly worried with what she finds.july 5/10
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsToshirô MifuneYôko TsukasaGô KatôThe mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back.july 6/10
- DirectorFrank PerrySydney PollackStarsBurt LancasterJanet LandgardJanice RuleA man spends a summer day swimming as many pools as he can all over a quiet suburban town.july 6/10
- DirectorBertrand BonelloStarsFinnegan OldfieldVincent RottiersHamza MezianiSome young folks, tired of the society they're living in, plan a bomb attack over Paris before taking shelter for a night in a shopping center.august 6/10
- DirectorQuentin DupieuxStarsJean DujardinAdèle HaenelAlbert DelpyA man's obsession with his designer deerskin jacket causes him to blow his life savings and turn to crime.august 5/10
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeGerda MaurusWilly FritschThe mastermind behind a ubiquitous spy operation learns of a dangerous romance between a Russian lady in his employ and a dashing agent from the government's secret service.august 7/10
- DirectorMarcello AliprandiStarsGabriele FerzettiCochi PonzoniVeronica Larioaugust 4/10
- DirectorSion SonoStarsHiroki HasegawaKumiko AsôMotoki FukamiBullied and diminished by his fellow employees, demure and bashful Ryoichi Suzuki finds support in an unusual friendship with a turtle. Together they will share many adventures and finally conquer the world.august 6/10
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsRentarô MikuniChôichirô KawarasakiHideko OkiyamaAn engineer from Tokyo arrives on a drought-ridden tropical island to drill a well to power a nearby sugar mill. He meets the inbred Futori family, hated by the locals for breaking religious customs.august 9/10
- DirectorLamberto BavaStarsBernice StegersStanko MolnarVeronica ZinnyA middle-aged woman, traumatized from the death of her adulterous lover, moves into a room at a New Orleans boarding house where the blind landlord becomes suspicious to her activities of continuing her affair with her dead lover.august 6/10
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsSteve RailsbackMathilda MayPeter FirthA race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, beginning an apocalyptic descent into chaos.august 7/10
- DirectorWaad Al-KateabEdward WattsStarsWaad Al-KateabSama Al-KhateabHamza Al-KhateabFOR SAMA is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war.august 5/10
- DirectorMaurice PialatStarsIsabelle HuppertGérard DepardieuGuy MarchandA bored wife leaves her husband for an unemployed, petty criminal.september 7/10
- DirectorNicolas GessnerStarsJodie FosterMartin SheenAlexis SmithA thirteen-year-old girl, who lives with her absentee father, befriends a disabled teenage amateur magician and invites him, gradually, into her tenuous struggle against a predatory local neighbor.september 5/10
- DirectorKatrin GebbeStarsJulius FeldmeierSascha Alexander GersakAnnika KuhlInspired by horrifying true events, Nothing Bad Can Happen follows Tore, a young lost soul involved with an underground Christian punk movement who falls in with a dysfunctional family who test his seemingly unwavering faith.september 3/10
- DirectorRingo LamStarsChow Yun-FatYueh SunDanny LeeAn undercover cop infiltrates a gang of thieves who plan to rob a jewelry store.september 7/10
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsJoel FryReece ShearsmithHayley SquiresAs the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the forest for a routine equipment run.october 7/10
- DirectorJóhann JóhannssonStarsTilda SwintonTwo billion years ahead of us, a future race of humans finds itself on the verge of extinction. Almost all that is left in the world are lone and surreal monuments, beaming their message into the wilderness.october 7/10
- DirectorFred WaltonStarsCarol KaneCharles DurningRutanya AldaA psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again.october 4/10
- DirectorJosé GiovanniStarsAlain DelonJean GabinMimsy FarmerA former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed by an old cop from his past.october 6/10
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsVicky KriepsDaniel Day-LewisLesley ManvilleSet in 1950s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.october 7/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsIngrid BergmanLiv UllmannLena NymanA devoted wife is visited by her mother, a successful concert pianist who had little time for her when she was young.october 7/10
- DirectorPeter StricklandStarsSidse Babett KnudsenMarianne Jean-BaptisteJulian BarrattIn Fabric is a haunting ghost story set against the backdrop of a busy winter sales period in a department store and follows the life of a cursed dress as it passes from person to person, with devastating consequences.november 7/10
- StarsLee Jung-jaePark Hae-sooDylan BesseauHundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes: a survival game that has a whopping 45.6 billion-won prize at stake.november 5/10 (1st season)
- DirectorNino OxiliaStarsLyda BorelliAndrea HabayUgo BazziniA Faustian tale about an old woman who makes a pact with Mephisto to regain her youth, in return she must stay away from love. After the deal she meets two brothers who fall in love with her.november 7/10
- DirectorErmanno OlmiStarsSandro PanseriLoredana DettoCorrado AprileBursting with big dreams and plans, an Italian teen goes to Milan to work in a big impersonal corporate office, where he becomes disillusioned and drained of all his individualism.november 8/10
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsDoze NiuShih ChangChung-Hua TouAh-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of Kaohsiung to look for work. They find an apartment through relatives, and Ah-Ching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. There they face the harsh realities of the big city.november 8/10
- DirectorMichael SarnoskiStarsNicolas CageAlex WolffAdam ArkinA truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregon wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped.november 2/10
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsAnthony HopkinsJohn HurtAnne BancroftA Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.december 9/10
- DirectorWerner SchroeterStarsIsabelle HuppertLisa KreuzerMathieu CarrièreA female writer and her relationships with two different men, one joyous and one introverted.december 7/10
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsIsaach De BankoléGiulia BoschiFrançois CluzetA French woman returns to her childhood home in Cameroon - formerly a colonial outpost - where she's flooded by memories, particularly of Protée, her servant.december 7/10
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsIan McKellenMartin FreemanRichard ArmitageThe dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.december 6/10
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsIan McKellenMartin FreemanRichard ArmitageBilbo and company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the Lonely Mountain from falling into the hands of a rising darkness.december 6/10
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsElijah WoodViggo MortensenIan McKellenGandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.december 6/10
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsCary ElwesMandy PatinkinRobin WrightA bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.december 6/10