David Rooney

You'll be able to see it on HBO in a few months, I imagine. It's too bad, because I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal's first feature, THE LOST DAUGHTER, a lot. Hopefully she gets another shot at directing, with better material next time.

100%

‘The Bride!’ Review: Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale Get Their Freak on in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Bludgeoning Feminist Frankenstein Spin Peter Sarsgaard, Penélope Cruz, Annette Bening and Jake Gyllenhaal also appear in this punk-rock exhumation of a character only briefly introduced in Mary Shelley’s novel.

Sorry, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jessie Buckley, but I do not promise to have and to hold THE BRIDE! in sickness and in health. This laborious feminist Frankenstein spin is an unholy mess notable more for its ambition than its achievement.
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‘Hoppers’ Review: Pixar Returns to Form With a Giddy Action Comedy That Makes a Winning Case for Respecting the Balance of Nature Piper Curda leads the voice cast as an animal lover with a fight on her hands, alongside friends and foes played by Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco and Meryl Streep.

Like the best of Pixar's recent original stories, LUCA and TURNING RED, HOPPERS is a modest toon compared to the studio's classics, but the nutty action eco-comedy has charm, laughs and plenty of surprises. I had an unexpectedly good time with it.
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Love the retro Saul and Elaine Bass styling of this French marketing for THE SECRET AGENT.

Thank you, John!

‘Ghost Elephants’ Review: Werner Herzog Remains Our Most Intrepid Interdimensional Explorer in Beguilingly Spiritual Nature Doc The German director follows conservationist Steve Boyes and expert trackers into the Angolan highlands in search of a possibly mythical herd of XL pachyderms.

Nobody makes nature docs quite like Werner Herzog. In GHOST ELEPHANTS, he treks to the Angolan highlands in search of a possibly mythical herd of XL pachyderms. In theaters today ahead of its March 7 NatGeo premiere.
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A nice coup for the Cannes Film Festival. After frequent Croisette appearances with OLDBOY, THE HANDMAIDEN and DECISION TO LEAVE, among others, Park Chan-wook will be the first Korean director to serve as president of the official competition jury at the 79th edition in May.

‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ Review: Baz Luhrmann Raids the Vaults for an Electrifying Companion Piece to His 2022 Bio-Drama The director unearthed 59 hours of unseen footage from the Warner Bros. archives, which has been painstakingly restored, including discarded material from two ‘70s concert films.

Had a blast at EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT, Baz Luhrmann's exhilarating companion piece to his 2022 bio-drama and a barn-burner among music performance docs. Don't even try to keep your feet still. On IMAX screens now ahead of Friday's wide release.
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‘The Ballad of Judas Priest’ Review: Leather-Clad Heavy Metal Pioneers Are Nice Working-Class English Lads Who Enjoy a Good Cup of Tea Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello co-directs this adoring bio-doc tracing the British band’s 50-year journey from the industrial Midlands to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I'm no metalhead, but I was thoroughly entertained, even touched, by THE BALLAD OF JUDAS PRIEST, a delightful tale of working-class lads from the industrial British Midlands who endured for 50 years and made it to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. #Berlinale2026
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‘Wolfram’ Review: Warwick Thornton Deftly Reframes Painful Indigenous Australian Experience Through the Lens of Classic Western Archetypes Deborah Mailman is the wounded heart of this loose sequel to 2017’s ‘Sweet Country,’ set on the 1930s colonial frontier a few years after the events of the earlier film.

Warwick Thornton's connection to the landscapes of his Central Australian birthplace breathes epic dimension into WOLFRAM, a Western-style saga of painful Indigenous experience imbued with resonant notes of resilience, hope and heart. #Berlinale2026
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My mother's favorite movie, so I've always loved it by osmosis. So great.

‘Salvation’ Review: Mystical Visions, Folkloric Superstitions and Political Alarmism Combine to Unsettling Effect in Anatomy of a Massacre Emin Alper’s drama charts the escalation of violence in an isolated village community in the Turkish mountains following the return of an exiled clan.

Set in a remote village in the Turkish mountains, Emin Alper's SALVATION is a powerful drama of feuding clans fueled by dreams and superstitions, spiraling into a chilling anatomy of a massacre. #Berlinale2026
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‘Moscas (Flies)’ Review: Mexican Director Fernando Eimbcke Returns to His Roots With Simple, Sweet, Emotionally Resonant B&W Charmer While waiting for news of his hospitalized mother, a young boy breaks down the resistance of a lonely woman who has forgotten the value of human connection.

Fernando Eimbcke’s delicate story of human connection and loss, MOSCAS (FLIES), gracefully weaves together droll humor and melancholy tenderness. A gentle charmer that recalls the Mexican director’s 2004 debut feature, DUCK SEASON. #Berlinale2026
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‘The Blood Countess’ Review: Isabelle Huppert Sinks Her Teeth Into a Juicy Slice of Vampire Camp That Looks Ravishing but Wears Thin Iconoclastic German veteran Ulrike Ottinger mines macabre humor from a fictionalized portrait of notorious real-life Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Báthory.

Who doesn’t want to watch Isabelle Huppert licking her lips after sinking her fangs into a young Viennese beauty? The arch tone of Ulrike Ottinger’s bonkers queer vampire comedy, THE BLOOD COUNTESS, wore thin for me, but Huppert is sublime. #Berlinale2026
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I really loved his last one, Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros. An incredibly fascinating 4 hours in and around a Michelin-starred French restaurant somewhere in the provinces.

‘We Are All Strangers’ Review: A Micro-Macro Lens Reveals Beauty and Poetry in the Everyday Lives of a Singaporean Family A rudderless young man and his hardworking father each experience love, marriage, loss and the fragility of dreams in this concluding part of Anthony Chen’s loosely linked ‘Growing Up’ trilogy.

Completely swept away by Anthony Chen's hypnotic micro-macro study of poetry & beauty in the lives of a Singaporean family, WE ARE ALL STRANGERS. Strong Edward Yang homage vibes & elegant symmetry with Chen's first feature, ILO ILO. #Berlinale2026
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Robert Duvall and Frederick Wiseman. Two men who made giant contributions to cinema gone within a day of each other. Colossal losses.

‘At the Sea’ Review: Amy Adams Dances Up a Storm but the Trauma Drama Has Become an Over-Crowded Sub-Genre Kornél Mundruczó directs a portrait of a woman fresh out of rehab and trying to find her new normal, with an ensemble that includes Murray Bartlett, Brett Goldstein, Dan Levy and Jenny Slate.

Amy Adams struggles with life after rehab in Kornél Mundruczó's dour but well-acted drama of trauma and addiction, AT THE SEA, which under-uses a stellar supporting cast including Murray Bartlett, Brett Goldstein, Dan Levy and Jenny Slate. #Berlinale2026
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‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ Review: Baz Luhrmann Raids the Vaults for an Electrifying Companion Piece to His 2022 Bio-Drama The director unearthed 59 hours of unseen footage from the Warner Bros. archives, which has been painstakingly restored, including discarded material from two ‘70s concert films.

Had a fantastic time at Baz Luhrmann's EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT, an exhilarating companion piece to the director's 2022 bio-drama and a barn-burner among music performance docs. Really shows what all the hysteria was about.
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I never really like to predict too much but she certainly would have a strong chance depending on what kind of distribution and visibility it gets.

And the directors have another new film in post-production with the great Lois Smith, another Chicago theater goddess!

‘Rose’ Review: Sandra Hüller Brings Blazing Vitality to a 17th Century Woman in Trousers in Transfixing Gender Performance Tale Markus Schleinzer’s fine-grained portrait depicts a fictionalized composite character who passes herself off as a hardy male farmer, drawn from hundreds of comparable cases throughout history.

The reliably excellent Sandra Hüller does not disappoint in Markus Schleinzer’s haunting character study ROSE, playing an early 17th century German woman passing as a man in what will surely be one of the performances of the year. #Berlinale2026
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I loved GHOSTLIGHT but have to confess this is now my favorite of their films. It's gone over very well in Berlin so I expect will nail down distribution soon.

‘Animol’ Review: Knife-Edge Youth Prison Drama Featuring Stephen Graham Is a Tough Watch Tempered With Vulnerability, Heart and Hope Tut Nyuot plays a new inmate at a Northeast England detention center for young offenders in 'Adolescence' actor Ashley Walters’ directing debut.

Brit actor Ashley Walters makes a very solid directing debut with ANIMOL, a riveting youth prison drama veined with tenderness, with a terrific lead in Tut Nyuot. A real surprise. Walters' 'Adolescence' castmate Stephen Graham also appears. #Berlinale2026
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I imagine it will be picked up. Good reception here.

‘Rosebush Pruning’ Review: Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell and Elle Fanning Serve up Shallowness With Style in Mixed-Bag Satire Lukas Gage, Tracy Letts and Pamela Anderson also star in Karim Aїnouz’s dark comedy of smug privilege as a mask for the sinister rot at the heart of the patriarchal family.

Karim Aїnouz’s thorny ROSEBUSH PRUNING is an often tartly funny all-star satire of wealth, privilege, abuse and the rot at the core of a patriarchal family. But its glib shallowness leaves a sour aftertaste. #Berlinale2026
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‘Everybody Digs Bill Evans’ Review: Anders Danielsen Lie, Laurie Metcalf and Bill Pullman in a Portrait of a Jazz Legend That Hits Every Note The influential pianist is shattered by the tragic loss of his bassist in Grant Gee’s fragmented bio-drama, premiering in competition in Berlin.

I've always been a bit of a jazz agnostic but the thrilling opening sequence in EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS at the Village Vanguard in 1961 had me glued from the start. Deserves to be a breakout role for Anders Danielsen Lie as the influential pianist.
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‘Mouse’ Review: Sophie Okonedo Leads a Gorgeous Cast in a Deeply Felt Coming-of-Age Drama Dappled With Tender Truths The co-directors of ‘Ghostlight,’ Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, travel back to Arkansas in 2002 to contemplate female friendship, loss and self-discovery.

So moved by MOUSE, an unassuming but lovely coming-of-age drama from the team behind GHOSTLIGHT. The great Sophie Okonedo and terrific newcomer Katherine Mallen Kupferer are enormously captivating together.
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‘No Good Men’ Review: Patriarchy Makes an Easy Target Even if Nuance Is Mostly Elusive in Underwhelming Berlin Opener A female camera operator and a Kabul network newsman form a complicated romantic alliance in the months leading up to the Taliban retaking the city in 2021.

The #Berlinale2026 opener is described by its director as a political rom-com, but much of the comedy appears to have been left behind in the absorbing but often heavy-handed Afghan melodrama, NO GOOD MEN.
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