https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/movies.shtml Reviews of independent and wide-release films written by lead critic Joe Lozito and his merry band of crackerjack movie reviewers. Mon, 02 Nov 2026 16:13:14 PST en-us https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-I-Had-to-Truly-Live-in-Sebasti-n-s-Skin-Guitarricadelafuente-on-La-Bola-Negra.shtml Editorials Big Picture Big Sound's Stuart Shave takes readers to the "La Bola Negra" Q&A at the Middleburg Film Festival. ]]> Mon, 02 Nov 2026 15:15:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-I-Had-to-Truly-Live-in-Sebasti-n-s-Skin-Guitarricadelafuente-on-La-Bola-Negra.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-La-Bola-Negra.shtml Reviews Los Javis’ sweeping queer epic, built around four pages of an unfinished Lorca play, boasts impeccable craft and moving performances from Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, and Lola Dueñas, though its excesses and length keep it from fully matching its daring. ]]> Mon, 02 Nov 2026 15:00:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-La-Bola-Negra.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-It-s-Play-a-Lot-of-Play-Tony-Gilroy-and-Lukas-Frank-on-Behemoth.shtml Editorials Big Picture Big Sound’s Stuart Shave takes readers to the “Behemoth!” Q&A at the Middleburg Film Festival. ]]> Sun, 01 Nov 2026 15:15:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-It-s-Play-a-Lot-of-Play-Tony-Gilroy-and-Lukas-Frank-on-Behemoth.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Don-t-Open-That-Door-Too-Far-Bill-Pullman-Albert-Berger-and-Ron-Yerxa-on-Everybody-Digs-Bill-Evans.shtml Editorials Big Picture Big Sound’s Stuart Shave takes readers to the “Everybody Digs Bill Evans” Q&A at the Middleburg Film Festival. ]]> Sat, 31 Oct 2026 23:00:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Don-t-Open-That-Door-Too-Far-Bill-Pullman-Albert-Berger-and-Ron-Yerxa-on-Everybody-Digs-Bill-Evans.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Breeder.shtml Reviews Writer-director Alex Goyette puts a fresh spin on the “character lured to a big, foreboding house under false pretenses” horror trope and, aided by a terrifyingly single-minded performance from Dot Marie-Jones, he gives us one last treat of a film to wrap up this year’s spooky season at the movies. ]]> Wed, 28 Oct 2026 22:30:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Breeder.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-He-Would-Never-Do-That-L-a-Seydoux-and-Marie-Kreutzer-on-Gentle-Monster.shtml Editorials Big Picture Big Sound's Stuart Shave takes readers to the "Gentle Monster" Q&A at the Middleburg Film Festival. ]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2026 08:45:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-He-Would-Never-Do-That-L-a-Seydoux-and-Marie-Kreutzer-on-Gentle-Monster.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Gentle-Monster.shtml Reviews An awards-worthy performance from Léa Seydoux anchors this powerful portrait of the methodical unraveling of marital trust as a woman struggles to reconcile love with the unfolding evidence of her husband’s depravity. ]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2026 08:30:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Gentle-Monster.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Did-Sylvester-Stallone-Travel-Through-Space-and-Time-Jay-Duplass-and-P-J-Byrne-on-I-Play-Rocky.shtml Editorials Big Picture Big Sound's Stuart Shave takes readers to the "I Play Rocky" Q&A at the Middleburg Film Festival. ]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:30:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Did-Sylvester-Stallone-Travel-Through-Space-and-Time-Jay-Duplass-and-P-J-Byrne-on-I-Play-Rocky.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-I-Play-Rocky---An-Interview-with-P-J-Bryne-and-Jay-Duplass.shtml Editorials Big Picture Big Sound's Stuart Shave gets actors P.J. Byrne and Jay Duplass in the ring to talk about their work in "I Play Rocky," featured at this year's Middleburg Film Festival. ]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:00:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-I-Play-Rocky---An-Interview-with-P-J-Bryne-and-Jay-Duplass.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Fjord.shtml Reviews Cristian Mungiu’s 2026 Palme d'Or-winning film finds unsettling power in the space between protecting children and understanding a family, with Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve anchoring a drama where conviction is abundant but certainty is elusive. ]]> Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Fjord.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Possible-Love.shtml Reviews Lee Chang-dong’s absorbing, meditative study of two couples from different strata of Korean society whose lives become intertwined exposes questions of desire, class, and the limits of goodwill, with nuanced performances, carefully composed images, and restrained music sustaining a sense of ambiguity throughout. ]]> Fri, 23 Oct 2026 09:30:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Possible-Love.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Misty-Green.shtml Reviews This gripping but uneven portrait of a talented actress sliding out of Hollywood's favor is anchored by a ferocious, natural performance from Rosalind Eleazar and a vivid, character-like Los Angeles but Chris Rock's sharp dialogue and strong ensemble are undercut by the intrusion of his own stand-up persona, an inconsistent ticking clock, and an ending that softens too fast. ]]> Fri, 23 Oct 2026 09:00:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Middleburg-Film-Festival-2026-Misty-Green.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Klara-and-the-Sun.shtml Reviews Jenna Ortega is an engaging, offbeat presence in Taika Waititi’s adaptation of novelist Kazuo Ishiguro’s retro-futurist, dystopian love story, but the film around her struggles with thin plotting, misplaced humor, and simplistic themes as the director squanders a carefully built, visually appealing world by pushing for emotion rather than giving the story room to develop. ]]> Fri, 23 Oct 2026 08:45:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Klara-and-the-Sun.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Smellier-Louder-Dirtier-The-Makers-of-Wicker-on-Craft-Comedy-and-a-Fable-Turned-Romance.shtml Editorials Big Picture Big Sound's Stuart Shave takes readers to the "Wicker" Q&A at the Middleburg Film Festival. ]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:45:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Smellier-Louder-Dirtier-The-Makers-of-Wicker-on-Craft-Comedy-and-a-Fable-Turned-Romance.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Wicker.shtml Reviews This beautifully crafted, ribald fairy tale romance sees Olivia Colman’s lonely Fisherwoman commissioning a husband from wicker, and Alexander Skarsgård bringing the premise to life with the help of an expressive, practically built suit. The film’s satire of marriage and gender roles is pointed but shallow; nonetheless, it balances humor, tenderness, and some surprising darkness. ]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:30:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Wicker.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/The-Social-Reckoning.shtml Reviews Writer-director Aaron Sorkin picks up the thread of his 2010 masterpiece "The Social Network" to explore the downstream effects of Facebook's impact on modern life. Spoiler alert: like this film, it's not great. ]]> Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:45:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/The-Social-Reckoning.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Tenzing.shtml Reviews This reexamination of the first successful summit of Mount Everest is a handsome, sincere portrait of the man history too often left in Edmund Hillary's shadow, and even if it admires its hero more than it examines the world around him, lead actor Genden Phuntsok's understated performance and the film's immersive craft make it well worth finding on the biggest screen possible. ]]> Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:00:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Tenzing.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Digger.shtml Reviews This quirky endurance test of a film partners Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Tom Cruise in a "big message" outing that's punishingly self-important but ultimately puddle-deep. ]]> Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:45:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Digger.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Your-Mother-Your-Mother-Your-Mother.shtml Reviews Mahershala Ali gives a potent performance as a devout Houston hitman left to raise three children in writer-director Bassam Tariq's confident and surprising genre-blending crime drama. ]]> Fri, 02 Oct 2026 09:00:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Your-Mother-Your-Mother-Your-Mother.shtml https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Verity.shtml Reviews The latest attempt to adapt one of Colleen Hoover’s melodramatic page-turners delivers a few jolts of energy, but its monotonously repetitive structure is ultimately a bore. ]]> Thu, 01 Oct 2026 22:45:00 PST https://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Verity.shtml