Reviews, editorials & primers
Independent criticism built on a public methodology. Watched reviews, interpretive essays, and pre-release context are labeled separately. Scores are not for sale.
Nashville Film Festival 2026
Our independent coverage of the films and people at NashFilm 2026. First impressions carry no score. The festival guide
Field dispatchSongs from the Circle at the Nashville Film Festival
Songs from the Circle · Dylan O'Byrne · 2026-10-07
First impressionJackrabbit Knows the Value of a Good Liar
Jackrabbit · Jordan Robinson · 2026-10-04
First impressionThe Company You Keep: Seven Shorts from the Nashville Film Festival
Narrative Shorts: Company You Keep · Cordelia Witty · 2026-10-04
InterviewTaylor Dupuis on Why Anna Wants to Stay
Where the Hell Is Anna? · Jordan Robinson · 2026-10-03
First impressionSafe for the Whole Family Asks Who It Was Really Safe For
Safe for the Whole Family: How to Make a Christian Superstar · Jordan Robinson · 2026-09-28
First impressionYour Mother Your Mother Your Mother Finds Its Way Home
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother · Jordan Robinson · 2026-09-28
First impressionLittle Hollywood, Tennessee: The People Who Help You Begin
Little Hollywood, Tennessee · Jordan Robinson · 2026-09-27
InterviewLittle Hollywood, Tennessee: A Runway to Fail
Little Hollywood, Tennessee · Cordelia Witty · 2026-09-27
Field dispatchThe Art of Saying Yes: John Papsidera at the Nashville Film Festival
The Art of Casting with John Papsidera · Cordelia Witty · 2026-09-27
First impressionWhere the Hell Is Anna? Knows How to Welcome You In
Where the Hell Is Anna? · Jordan Robinson · 2026-09-26
First impressionMexican Delight: The Fear of Wanting
Mexican Delight · Jordan Robinson · 2026-09-26
First impressionFrampton: What Comes After the Peak
Frampton · Jordan Robinson · 2026-09-26
Watched and scored
Moana and the Courage We Give Each Other
A girl who cannot yet sail, a demigod who would rather be admired, and a grandmother who says going home is allowed.
The Wild Robot and the World a Mother Makes
A service robot with one task, an orphaned gosling, and a fox who warned everybody against caring.
Little Amélie and the World We Call Home
A girl who thinks she is God, a grandmother's white chocolate, and a young woman's kept promise at a window.
The Invite: The Difference Between Being Watched and Being Seen
Olivia Wilde's one-apartment dinner party, and what it takes to let a partner surprise you again.
The Odyssey: What the Horse Broke
The Trojan Horse weaponized trust, and the damage runs through monsters, marriage, kingship, and memory.
The Lion King: Remember Who You Are
An inherited pattern, and how grief becomes a throne.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Grief, shame, restraint, and why mastery means integration rather than domination.
Spider-Man: The Inhibitor
Peter builds a machine to feel less, and the film makes suppression the plot.
Bluey: The Parents Who Come Back
Repair made visible, and why a seven-minute cartoon keeps landing on adults.
Michael: A Repressed Film About a Repressed Man
Antoine Fuqua's Michael Jackson biopic, and the reshoot that edited the man one last time.
Editorial arguments
The Book of Mormon: The Lie That Reaches Them
What stories are for when they fail as fact and still become useful.
Toy Story 5: The Age of Toys Is Not Over
Play, screens, friendship, and the distance between being reachable and being known.
Avatar: What the Four Elements Actually Mean
Water, earth, fire, and air as ways of meeting the world.
The Odyssey Ending Explained
Nostos, xenia, and the bed test, and why the homecoming is the point.
What the Names in The Odyssey Mean
Odysseus, Telemachus, Penelope, and the meanings the poem hides in its own names.
The Inner Life · Psychology & Film
Resident Evil: What Happens When We Stop Thinking
A small lie about snow chains, a world that never stops to think, and a film too fast to think inside. By Alex Gigler.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Mourning, Melancholia, and the Refusal of Loss
Tarantino loves the past too much to mourn it, so he burns the future that replaced it. By Alex Gigler.
Frances Ha Does Not Fit
Sophie commits the betrayal of becoming real, and Frances has to survive separateness. By Alex Gigler.
Persona: The Fiction of Being
A mute actress, a nurse who cannot stop talking, and the self that forms between them. By Alex Gigler.
The Made World · Design & Craft
The Costumes Narrative in Marie Antoinette
Milena Canonero's costumes are a second script running beneath the spoken one. By Becca Meshinsky.
The Slumber Party Massacre Knows You Are Watching
The killer dresses like the Marlboro Man, the girls dress like athletes, and the film keeps scrambling who is looking. By Becca Meshinsky.
Prepare before watching
The Odyssey in IMAX or Standard
What 70mm adds, what it does not, and why your seat matters more than the projection badge.
Is The Odyssey Worth Watching?
The short verdict for anyone deciding whether this three-hour return is for them.
How to Watch Avatar
Twelve anchor episodes, developmental tags, and the one defensible skip.