Christian Gallichio, Author at The Playlist

‘The People’s Joker’ Is A Kitschy, Subversive & Queer Coming Of Age Story [Review]

May 5, 2024 11:51 am

Adopting the iconography of DC comics, Vera Drew’s subversive and kitschy “The People’s Joker” often feels like a revelation. Transfiguring a genre that, recently, has been oversaturated with rote storytelling...

‘Humane’ Review: Caitlin Cronenberg Smashes Two Genres Together In Underbaked Eco-Horror

Christian Gallichio

April 26, 2024 9:16 am

News, Reviews

It’s often unfair to compare a director’s child with their parent’s work. Outsized expectations and a tendency to reduce every narrative and aesthetic choice to a type of juxtaposition often flattens the disco...

‘The Stranger’ Review: Veena Sud Re-Edits Her Quibi Series Into an Entertainingly Implausible Thriller

Christian Gallichio

April 15, 2024 12:51 pm

News, Reviews

Coming on the heels of Baz Luhrman’s decision to re-edit “Australia” into a mini-series for Hulu, taking an already long film and stretching it well beyond its breaking point in “Faraway Downs,” Veena Sud has ...

‘Things Will Be Different’ Review: Sci-Fi Thriller Has More Questions Than Answers, But Still Intrigues [SXSW]

Christian Gallichio

March 13, 2024 1:02 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Very obviously trying to emulate the DIY approach of producers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, Michael Felker’s lo-fi mind f*ck “Things Will Be Different” is both a fascinating debut and somewhat derivation ...

‘Crossing’ Review: Levan Akin’s Boundary Crossing Film is An Emotional Plea For Trans Acceptance [Berlinale]

Christian Gallichio

February 24, 2024 7:00 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

A film that invokes its title in myriad ways, Levan Akin’s newest film, “Crossing,” is predominantly concerned with the differences that emerge across national and gendered identities. A plea for trans accepta...

‘Sons’ Review: Gustav Möller Delivers A Compellingly Schematic Prison Drama & Character Study [Berlinale]

Christian Gallichio

February 23, 2024 2:50 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Following his claustrophobic debut “The Guilty” (remade, to lesser effect, by Antoine Fuqua), Swedish filmmaker Gustav Möller returns with a second feature that may expand its call sheet but is still confined ...

‘Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat’ Review: Experimental Documentary Deftly Explores The Connections Between Jazz & The Congo [Sundance]

Christian Gallichio

January 24, 2024 12:56 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

A formally rigorous and free-associative dive into a decade’s worth of political fighting in the Congo, from roughly 1955 to 1965, Johan Grimonprez’s “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” is a fascinating and sprawlin...

‘The Moogai’ Review: Australian Social-Horror Is A Blunt Force Allegory About The Stolen Generations [Sundance]

Christian Gallichio

January 22, 2024 10:56 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

An exploration of the generational trauma surrounding the “stolen generations” of Aboriginal children by the Australian government, Jon Bell’s feature debut “The Moogai” fits all the criteria of what we would,...

‘Power’ Review: Yance Ford’s Visual Essay Is A Sprawling Overview Of The History Of Policing In America [Sundance]

Christian Gallichio

January 20, 2024 9:00 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

Early in Yance Ford’s visual essay “Power,” he tells the audience that the film to come either requires “curiosity” or “at least suspicion” from the viewer. It’s the type of bold claim that might pack a punch...

‘Happy Campers’ Review: A Lyrical, If Slight, Portrait Of An Odd Community Facing Extinction [DOC NYC]

Christian Gallichio

November 17, 2023 12:54 pm

Festivals, Reviews

An RV park on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, faces extinction in Amy Nicholson’s lyrical, if somewhat slight, documentary “Happy Campers.” A portrait of a community in flux, Nicholson trains her camera on the ...

Author Christian Gallichio