Review: OPERATION MEKONG Limited Run at AMC Fitchburg thru Nov 10

November 3, 2016 James Kreul

The Mandarin-language popular cinema arriving with greater frequency at AMC Fitchburg 18 continues to be generally ignored in local reviews, so James Kreul decided to take a look. Operation Mekong is an efficient and energetic, if unoriginal, action film with a healthy dose of Chinese nationalism. […]

Review: LONDON ROAD at MMoCA Spotlight Cinema, Wed Nov 2, 7:00pm

October 29, 2016 James Kreul

James Kreul argues that London Road evokes a surprising range of emotions in what could have been a conceptual exercise: singing words taken from interviews about an infamous series of prostitute murders. […]

Review: ISM Limited Run at Marcus Point

October 21, 2016 James Kreul

James Kreul suggests that while Ism is not a great film, it delivers a good balance of action, romance, and music as well as the star power of Nandamuri Kalyan Ram. […]

Review: THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER at CTEK Fri Sep 30, 7:00pm

September 30, 2016 James Kreul

James Kreul suggests that The Childhood of a Leader might have worked better as a genre film, rather than the art cinema that it aspires to be. […]

Review: SLACKJAW at Micro-Wave Cinema, Sun Sep 18, 7:00pm

September 16, 2016 James Kreul

James Kreul meditates on the range of his responses to the anti-comedy and funny staging of Zach Weintraub’s Slackjaw. […]

Review: THE INNOCENTS at Sundance Cinemas, Opens Fri Sep 9

September 9, 2016 James Kreul

The latest drama from Anne Fontaine (Gemma Bovary) is a subtle and moving tribute to women who have harnessed the power of their shared experience to face adversity. […]

Review: BELLADONNA OF SADNESS @ CTEK, Sat Sep 3, 7:00pm

September 1, 2016 James Kreul

Mushi Productions’ Belladonna of Sadness pushes to extremes the tension between motion and stillness often found in Japanese animation (“anime”) to great aesthetic effect. James Kreul argues that despite a decidedly 1970s male-fantasy (and a little rapey) take on sex and power, the film delivers a uniquely rich and textured visual experience. […]

Review: LIFE, ANIMATED at Sundance Cinemas Starting Fri Oct 26

August 25, 2016 James Kreul

James Kreul suggests that reviewing Life, Animated presents a common dilemma: How to discuss an inspiring true-life story told in an uninspired documentary. […]

Review: OFF THE WALL, Arts & Literature Lab, Sat Aug 13, 9:00pm

August 13, 2016 James Kreul

A much needed microcinema-style series for local and international video art has debuted at the Arts + Literature Laboratory. James Kreul explains why this matters, and surveys some of the titles curated by programmers Simone Doing and Max Puchalsky, a.k.a. Simone and Max. […]

Review: THE NEON DEMON Now Playing at AMC Fitchburg 18

June 30, 2016 James Kreul

James Kreul was one of the few Madfilm Meetup attendees to like Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon. He argues that if you can set aside genre expectations and appreciate images in the moment, there’s much to enjoy in the film. […]

Madison Film Forum

Attend, Stream, and Discuss Films in Madison, Wisconsin

Articles by James Kreul