Where can I read reviews from film festivals?

May 20, 2023 1:19 PM

I used to love reading reviews from Cannes, Toronto and Sundance on the AV Club and the Dissolve, but the Dissolve is long gone and the AV Club isn't what it was. Now I only see reviews of the major stuff and I miss hearing about smaller films. I liked that those sites had short reviews of everything each critic saw that day, so I heard about films which never would have been on my radar otherwise. Are there any sites now which have similar coverage?
posted by Chenko to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

Best answer: Fim Comment
posted by latkes at 1:56 PM on May 20, 2023

Best answer: the ebert cadre of critics do festival notes often.
posted by j_curiouser at 2:47 PM on May 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Hollywood Reporter and Variety (sister publications) seem to put up festival reviews. For Toronto, I'd say look to the local publications, including the daily newspapers, for reviews during the festival.
posted by sardonyx at 3:24 PM on May 20, 2023

Autostraddle does quite a bit of festival coverage, though it is a website focused on queer women's culture, so the coverage is focused on films relevant to that context. It looks like they do a pretty good job of using their tags to indicate festival coverage, so you should be able to easily filter for it: Sundance | TIFF | SXSW | Tribeca Film Festival.
posted by dizziest at 4:19 PM on May 20, 2023

late today
posted by j_curiouser at 6:53 PM on May 20, 2023

not exactly review sites but adjascent that you might like:

screenslate

metrograph
posted by wowenthusiast at 9:14 PM on May 20, 2023

I listen to Kermode and Mayo’s Takes (Hello to Jason Isaacs)
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 8:04 AM on May 21, 2023

Best answer: I like David Ehrlich’s dispatches over at indiewire!
posted by cakelite at 8:51 AM on May 21, 2023

David Ehrlich also posts his reviews on Letterboxd, which is how I most often see reviews of films on the festival circult. Here is the Indiewire's HQ account on Letterboxd.

Another Letterboxd user, Denis Eremeev, compiles lists of all films in festivals, including Cannes 2023. Via those you'll see all the latest reviews.
posted by snarfois at 6:52 AM on May 22, 2023

Best answer: If you're OK with podcasts, Nicolas Rapold (former editor of Film Comment) has one called The Last Thing I Saw. He's been doing daily dispatches from Cannes featuring conversations with other critics about the films there - he's definitely covered Sundance and Berlin in the past, maybe also Toronto.
posted by Awkward Philip at 10:12 AM on May 22, 2023