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The CriterionCast

The CriterionCast is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Joshua Brunsting.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
Nothing Compares (2022) Joshua Brunsting The greatness of Ferguson’s film isn’t so much in the craft of the film, although it is engaging, but instead it’s in the choice to focus not on the moments that made her famous and instead focus on the lead up to these moments.
Posted Dec 15, 2022  Edit critic review
After Blue (2021) Joshua Brunsting Mandico's latest film is inarguably his most accomplished and is a thrilling, engrossingly surreal answer to the question of what may just happen to us as we near end times. A thrilling, captivating piece of filmmaking.
Posted Sep 14, 2022  Edit critic review
Please Baby Please (2022) Joshua Brunsting Please Baby Please is a gleefully campy thriller that is maybe too ambitious for its own good but examines gender norms and dynamics in a way that’s both thrilling and thought-provoking
Posted Aug 12, 2022  Edit critic review
Out in the Ring (2022) Joshua Brunsting The film is a powerful, if maybe simply told, meditation on a much too overlooked aspect of pro-wrestling history. Must watch for anyone who even has the most passing of interest in pro-wrestling.
Posted Aug 12, 2022  Edit critic review
Flux Gourmet (2022) Joshua Brunsting Flux Gourmet is a gloriously over-the-top rumination on creativity and authorship that emphasizes all of Strickland's kinks, culminating in a one-of-a-kind piece of gastro-baroque filmmaking.
Posted Jul 05, 2022  Edit critic review
Riotsville, USA (2022) Joshua Brunsting The film is an endlessly captivating time capsule of a moment this country is repeating as we speak. An essential piece of modern political art.
Posted Feb 03, 2022  Edit critic review
The Cathedral (2022) Joshua Brunsting Something of an elevated photobook of sorts, DAmbroses second feature is a deft, deeply felt family study that feels as personal as it does dream-like.
Posted Feb 03, 2022  Edit critic review
After Yang (2021) Joshua Brunsting After Yang is a meditative, tranquil and melancholic rumination on life, loss, grief and family thats truly one of a kind
Posted Feb 03, 2022  Edit critic review
Isabella (2020) Joshua Brunsting Exploding themes Pineiro has himself been riffing on for much of his career, the experimenting with tone and narrative make the director's latest film feel utterly essential.
Posted Sep 02, 2021  Edit critic review
Test Pattern (2021) Joshua Brunsting Test Pattern is an incredibly taut narrative despite a non-linear structure, with jumps in time feeling natural because Ford has complete control over their story.
Posted Mar 20, 2021  Edit critic review
Yung Lean: In My Head (2020) Joshua Brunsting This new documentary shines a light on one of modern rap music's more influential, and controversial, figures, chronicling the rise and all of a troubled young artist.
Posted Jan 17, 2021  Edit critic review
Somebody's Hero (2012) Joshua Brunsting Featuring a handful of great performances, it may not be the most rewarding watch ever, but I'll be damned if this one doesn't win you over by the time the credits roll.
Posted Dec 05, 2020  Edit critic review
Proxima (2019) Joshua Brunsting It's a muted film, a mature and intimate film that doesn't lean into histrionics, instead finds beauty in the bonds of a mother and a child...
Posted Nov 14, 2020  Edit critic review
Epicentro (2020) Joshua Brunsting A brazenly experimental feature, Epicentro is a textured and provocative look at the trail left by a history of colonialism, both literal and more figuratively.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
She Dies Tomorrow (2020) Joshua Brunsting She Dies Tomorrow is at points a film about the way one deals with mortality, collective trauma and mass psychosis, making it an essential work of 2020 pop culture.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
My name is Margiela (2019) Joshua Brunsting The direct involvement of Margiela may have forced the director's hand in tone and structure, but this type of almost hagiography feels fitting of a designer with less energy.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
Rebuilding Paradise (2020) Joshua Brunsting Equal parts tender and terrifying, Rebuilding Paradise is a gorgeously rendered documentary, playing as a tense, engrossing and crisply shot study of a community torn apart.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
Shine Your Eyes (2020) Joshua Brunsting A shockingly considered and mature film...
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
The Rental (2020) Joshua Brunsting This is a lean and mean slasher film, an engaging deconstruction of a time-worn genre that's been rebuilt for an aspect of everyday life that rightly deserves a good skewering
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
Guest of Honour (2019) Joshua Brunsting While it may not ultimately amount to much on a thematic level, Egoyan's latest is a fascinating experiment from a director who has seemingly found the spark once again.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
Relic (2020) Joshua Brunsting Driven by a whip-smart script from James and co-writer Christian White, Relic is a rich and layered text that's both harrowing and emotionally nuanced and textured.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
Fourteen (2019) Joshua Brunsting Fourteen feels almost like a collection of journal or diary entries, devastating moments in these lives that will flash forward at the drop of a hat
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
The Vast of Night (2019) Joshua Brunsting Very clearly an atmosphere piece, the film does have an oddly rigid narrative, owing more to things like War of the Worlds than just the radio station's WOTW call sign.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
Shirley (2020) Joshua Brunsting Decker and DP Sturla Brandth Grovlen turn this fictional recounting of a moment in the life of Shirley Jackson into and expressionist rumination on truth, storytelling
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
The Trip to Greece (2020) Joshua Brunsting It's a road film, a buddy comedy and a rumination on age and mortality, all rolled into a quaint and gorgeously crafted piece of food porn that's endlessly watchable.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
Ahead of the Curve (2020) Joshua Brunsting Curve is an incredibly enjoyable and lively film (albeit simply told), the conversation within it just plays a bit too broad. More than worth one's time, despite that however.
Posted Sep 10, 2020  Edit critic review
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) Joshua Brunsting Bad proves Minnelli to be one of the most assured and powerful names in the world of cinematic melodrama, and his ability to bring to the genre the sense of tension found more often in noir pictures, really makes this film a singular and esoteric entrant.
Posted Sep 01, 2020  Edit critic review
Tell Me Who I Am (2019) Joshua Brunsting Tell Me Who I Am is a captivating look at two brothers and the grief they live with, and in this character study is a fascinating, unflinching look at love and forgiveness in the face of abject horror.
Posted May 23, 2020  Edit critic review
Olympic Dreams (2019) Joshua Brunsting Gorgeously shot and led by two ace performances, Olympic Dreams is the type of adult romantic comedy that simply does not get produced these days.
Posted May 13, 2020  Edit critic review
I Was at Home, But (2019) Joshua Brunsting A tender, profoundly moving portrait of grief and family, art and motherhood, the film is a formalist achievement that feels like a movement of true growth for Schanelec
Posted May 13, 2020  Edit critic review
The Whistlers (2019) Joshua Brunsting Porumboiu's direction is absolutely top class, with his juggling of time and space assured and often quite alluring
Posted May 13, 2020  Edit critic review
Sorry We Missed You (2019) Joshua Brunsting Loach returns with an essential take on the gig economy that's as gorgeously made as it is humane and tender.
Posted May 13, 2020  Edit critic review
Sea Fever (2019) Joshua Brunsting he issue here is that everything from the characterization to the film's visual sensibility feels derivative of these references without inviting much new conversation
Posted May 13, 2020  Edit critic review
Beautiful Something Left Behind (2020) Joshua Brunsting The film allows each subject to inform the viewer about their story in whatever way they see fit and in doing so we learn how grief is processed by the youngest of our society
Posted May 13, 2020  Edit critic review
Endings, Beginnings (2019) Joshua Brunsting It's simply a film that feels put together based on some sort of schematic of a modern romantic drama, a film that feels decidedly incomplete...
Posted May 13, 2020  Edit critic review
I Wish I Knew (2010) Joshua Brunsting Making its theatrical debut stateside a decade after bowing at the Cannes Film Festival, Jia Zhangke's documentary is a masterpiece worthy of (re)discovery.
Posted Jan 31, 2020  Edit critic review
Zombi Child (2019) Joshua Brunsting The latest from director Bertrand Bonello is an evocative, thought-provoking look at colonialism and identity.
Posted Jan 31, 2020  Edit critic review
José (2018) Joshua Brunsting Li Cheng's sophomore effort is a quiet, almost neo-realist, look into life as a young gay man in conservative Guatemala that's as beautiful as it is moving.
Posted Jan 31, 2020  Edit critic review
Color Out of Space (2019) Joshua Brunsting Cult director Richard Stanley's latest is a beautifully shot, if slightly bloated, cosmic horror film driven by a Nic Cage performance that stands as one of his best.
Posted Jan 31, 2020  Edit critic review
The Europeans (1979) Joshua Brunsting The first of three Henry James adaptations produced by the Merchant Ivory team, this is an entrancing entry not just in their partnership but in the career of Ivory himself.
Posted Jan 09, 2020  Edit critic review
The Cave (2019) Joshua Brunsting A thrilling, ceaselessly captivating documentary...
Posted Dec 03, 2019  Edit critic review
Synonymes (2018) Joshua Brunsting A captivating look at the intersection between nationalism and toxic masculinity, few films feel as vital and truly important in 2019 as this superlative piece of work.
Posted Dec 01, 2019  Edit critic review
Gay Chorus Deep South (2019) Joshua Brunsting Gorgeously shot, Gay Chorus Deep South is a handsomely rendered, if maybe a bit thin, look at a group of people trying to bring about change through music.
Posted Dec 01, 2019  Edit critic review
A Fish in the Bathtub (1999) Joshua Brunsting Joan Micklin Silver's underrated and rarely seen comedic gem is a gorgeously shot, emotionally rich romantic comedy with a collection of ace performances and an ace script
Posted Dec 01, 2019  Edit critic review
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (2019) Joshua Brunsting What makes Recorder so utterly compelling and beautifully textured is the absolute compassion and sympathy that director Matt Wolf has for his subject
Posted Dec 01, 2019  Edit critic review
Feast of the Epiphany (2018) Joshua Brunsting The premiere film from Reverse Shot, this docu-fiction hybrid is a quiet, moving portrait of life, loss and food.
Posted Dec 01, 2019  Edit critic review
Parasite (2019) Joshua Brunsting Bong takes this battle between classes and one family's attempt to take that much craved next step up the economic ladder, and twists it into a fun house thrill ride.
Posted Oct 16, 2019  Edit critic review
First Love (2019) Joshua Brunsting Miike's direction is visceral, finding the filmmaker not only completely invested in this narrative but also willing to break from his formula at a drop of the hat.
Posted Oct 16, 2019  Edit critic review
I Love You, I Don't (1976) Joshua Brunsting Gainsbourg may not have the skill to nail a finale that's almost too violent, but thanks to a new restoration, Je T'aime Moi Non Plus is an absolute revelation.
Posted Oct 16, 2019  Edit critic review
Dilili in Paris (2018) Joshua Brunsting Feminist and anti-racist to the bone, Ocelot's latest film is a startling, if misshapen, gem that will hopefully find an audience despite a modest release schedule.
Posted Oct 16, 2019  Edit critic review
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