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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Tim Blake Nelson's The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd has a great cast (including an excellent small role by the always reliable Elizabeth Marvel) but Nelson just doesn't have the goods as a writer and director to pull this off My review:

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The new Takashi Miike film, another entry in the odd franchise of the Bad Lieutenant series, unfortunately sucks. My review:

Paolo Strippoli's The Spiral is really fun, Twilight Zone inspired horror where a wealthy Italian family gets sucked into a barter system with the devil. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi gives a performance in this that's so good I'm bummed that not a lot of people will get to see it.

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Eugene Kotlyarenko is the Tony Scott we deserve (complimentary). My review of Vintage Violence, which sees him adopt his overwhelming screen life style to a tribute to eccentric Japanese cinema.

Here's my review of Atonement, a film I wish I liked more but after a strong opening act it never quite comes back together.

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I've been reviewing films at TIFF for The Film Stage. Here's my review of Elsinore, which I hated.

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Elsinore wasted my time. Don't let it waste yours. My review:

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Anniversary today, my birthday on Jan 6, partner's birthday on 9/11, God help us all if we visit America.

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Reposted by C.J. Prince

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

My annual round up of highlights from TIFF's Short Cuts programme is live. All are worth seeing but I want to give a special mention to Melk, which I have to commend for being the first film to genuinely unsettle me in a while.

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

RED ROCKS (2026, dir. Bruno Dumont)

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

My final Locarno dispatch is now up. Includes fest highlights At Night and September Afternoon, along with a few words about the Golden Leopard winner You Don't Belong Here, Peter Brunner's Down the Arm of God, and the new Poggi/Vinel short The Blessing. acquiredcinema.substack.com/p/locarno-20...

acquiredcinema.substack.com

Locarno 2026: You Don’t Belong Here, At Night, September Afternoon, Down the Arm of God, The Blessing

Thoughts on this year’s Golden Leopard winner, plus three highlights and one lowlight

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Slowly returning from a break to cover this year's Locarno Festival. I wrote up some thoughts on Maria Bäck's Brave New Love, Denis Côté's Nobody's Violence, Albert Serra's 16 Moments of My Life, and Isabelle Stever's I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming. Read here: acquiredcinema.substack.com/p/locarno-20...

I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming (dir. Isabelle Stever)

16 Moments of My Life (dir. Albert Serra)

The Film Stage @thefilmstage.com · 10/07/2026

Reposted by C.J. Prince

Stillz's #BarrioTriste, produced by Harmony Korine, is exhilarating, tense, personal, enigmatic, and among this year’s best first features. Read @cjprince.bsky.social's Critic's Pick review as the film opens in U.S. theaters: thefilmstage.com/tiff-review-...

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Cannes sounding ho-hum this year isn't so surprising. The festival's investment in mediocrity over the years is paying off.

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

I think people are quick to embrace something that gets an immediate reaction out of them but outside of the shock factor it's empty, unearned, and barely coherent. A lot of waiting around for whatever contrived "weird" or "gross" thing might pop up next.

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Obsession is the worst horror film I've seen since Bring Her Back. Both films are shallow, one-note exercises in cruelty designed to look like stylish, artsy efforts when they're little more than the kind of shock and schlock Eli Roth does. And honestly I'd prefer Roth's lack of pretension over this

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Distribution watch for Cannes 2026 is up. Neon continues its aggressive pursuit of distributing Palme d'Or winners in America, with US rights to 6 out of 22 films competing this year. That's over a quarter of the competition. acquiredcinema.substack.com/p/distributi...

acquiredcinema.substack.com

Distribution Watch: Cannes 2026

Tracking which titles from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival have North American distribution

The Film Stage @thefilmstage.com · 30/04/2026

Reposted by C.J. Prince

Arnaud Desplechin's Two Pianos is an ideal vision of the prestige film: handsomely mounted and splendidly acted while teeming with sudden tonal shifts and emotional volatility. Read @cjprince.bsky.social's Critic's Pick review:

thefilmstage.com

Two Pianos Review: Another Rich, Thoughtful Drama from Arnaud Desplechin

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2025 TIFF coverage. The film opens in theaters on May 1. The past rears its not-so-ugly head in Two Pianos, Arnaud Desplechin’s latest film ex...

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Reposted by C.J. Prince

The Film Stage @thefilmstage.com · 28/04/2026

Damian McCarthy’s #Hokum, starring Adam Scott, feels like a remix of his prior features, retreading ground with a heavier hand and constituting an underwhelming experience. Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review:

thefilmstage.com

Hokum Review: Adam Scott Gets Trapped in Underwhelming Horror Feature

Anyone familiar with Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy’s work already knows he’s one of the most exciting new names in horror. His underseen debut Caveat was a moody ghost story that showed off his abil...

The Film Stage @thefilmstage.com · 10/04/2026

Reposted by C.J. Prince

With his videogame adaptation #Exit8, director Genki Kawamura expands the premise into a representation of how routines can trap us in cycles of bad behaviors. Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review as the film opens in theaters: thefilmstage.com/tiff-review-...

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

With ND/NF kicking off today, I wrote about three features playing at this year's festival: Chronovisor (fun!), Erupcja (fine!), and Agon (less fun!) open.substack.com/pub/acquired...

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Everyone's pro-labour until they hear an anecdote about flagrant health and safety violations on a movie set 30 years ago that resulted in a cool scene

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Film festival reaction tweets

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

"Split the diopter" -King Solomon the Cinephile

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

If you like Geneva conventions And getting tried at the Hague

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

The Oscars highlighted how many greats in the industry are now a permanent part of the past while awkwardly chuckling their way around Hollywood's bleak, dwindling future. A room full of people who make pretend for a living can't even feign that things are going well for a few hours.

7 years ago today, Jacques Audiard's Emilia Perez premiered at the Academy Awards

Received a 14 day suspension from Letterboxd because I kept referring to DCPs as "Film+"

Don't tell me what you're passionate about, it will only make me want to confidently state wrong things about it to piss you off.

The peace president is asking other countries to help start World War III

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

how you'd find me in the criterion closet

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Do you ever look at a director and think they're probably bad with money

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Hollywood has taught me the power of being annoying and persistent

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

This story includes the insane detail that Kaouther Ben Hania was awarded at this event alongside the subject of that Road Between Us documentary that played at TIFF after it was initially rejected. www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general...

C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

The arbitrary distinctions that embarrassing statement used to justify its hypocritical stance are, of course, from a place of privilege. And those distinctions have nothing supporting them in the face of daily examples of innocent people becoming victims of political violence.

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Just wondering, based off of the Berlinale's recent statement, if Hamdan Ballal and his family fall under the small "p" or capital "P" www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general...

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C.J. Prince @cjprince.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

I wrote a little bit about the Montreal Critics' Week and how smaller, regional festivals can create spaces for engaging with new films in ways that major festivals don't. open.substack.com/pub/acquired...

open.substack.com

Counterprogramming: Montreal Critics' Week 2026

The Montreal Critics' Week provides a glimpse at how festivals can create alternative spaces to engage with films compared to their high profile counterparts