Sign in

Marshall Shaffer

@marshallshaffer.bsky.social
345 followers 227 following 414 posts

Freelance writer frequently seen on The Playlist, Decider, Slant Magazine, Slashfilm, and Crooked Marquee. We'll get along. (he/him) marshallandthemovies.substack.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 29/09/2026
Sandra Wollner’s shape-shifting wonder EVERYTIME, writes @marshallshaffer.bsky.social, is most perceptive when conveying the strange nature of grieving in the digital age. The film has its U.S. premiere today at #NYFF64. tinyurl.com/mrx8tmye
012
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 24/09/2026
Bassam Tariq’s subversive YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER is more than a triumph of representation alone. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review.
slantmagazine.com
'Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother' Review: A Soulful Reinvention of the American Gunslinger
The mysteries of spirituality loom large, especially in the familial drama that forms the beating heart of the film.
011
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Bad Venice IMO!
163
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Little White Lies @lwlies.com · 07/09/2026
Cédric Kahn’s verité-style drama, 5/18 (A Place to Heal), eschews the typical pathologizing that comes with the territory of treating teenage mental maladies, writes @marshallshaffer.bsky.social #Venezia83
lwlies.com
15/18 (A Place to Heal) – first-look review
Cédric Kahn employs a human-first approach to adolescent mental health in his effective drama.
111
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 04/09/2026
It’s no exaggeration to say that Julia Loktev’s MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART II - EXILE has the charge of an espionage thriller. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's #Venezia83 review.
slantmagazine.com
'My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile' Review: A Chilling Clarion Call
Julia Loktev's protagonists are now dispersed around the world, and she unifies them through a shared feeling of dislocation and disbelief.
001
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 25/08/2026
Shot by shot across writer-director Rafael Manuel’s FILIPIÑANA, an unease mounts that sits in tension with the immaculate aesthetics. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review. tinyurl.com/3nbjdh9t
042
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Wrote a little something for @lwlies.com about how Anne Hathaway is redefining the “generational talent” for the millennials who have grown up with her on screen 👇🏻
041
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Fantastic to be at @ifccenter.bsky.social moderating two sold-out Q&As on opening weekend of UNION COUNTY! It has been a true honor to play some small part in continuing the conversation about this movie after the credits roll.
020
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 06/08/2026
“It’s tough. Sometimes, I feel like Willy Loman with my suitcase out there.” Read our chat with Will Gluck about ONE NIGHT ONLY and carrying the torch for rom-coms as a big-screen experience. tinyurl.com/363pnmm2
001
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 03/08/2026
LATE FAME’s desire to resist easy storytelling paradigms is admirable, writes @marshallshaffer.bsky.social, but only up to a point. Kent Jones’s film opens in theaters this week.
slantmagazine.com
'Late Fame' Review: Kent Jones's Poet Drama Pulls Its Punches
'Late Fame' manages to coast for a while on Willem Dafoe's performance, which exudes his characteristic gracefulness.
022
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 28/07/2026
Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s first historical film THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER offers a master class in framing and blocking. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review.
slantmagazine.com
'The Samurai and the Prisoner' Review: A Visually Entrancing Study of Power
Kurosawa Kiyoshi continually finds new ways to render the story's self-contained setting as a source of rich visual pleasure.
021
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Hannah Strong @hannahstrong.co.uk · 23/07/2026
I now understand this was a preface for the most underwhelming venice line up in years
061
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Today's newsletter 📬 @dodgyboffin.com drops by to talk about her book, BECOMING ALIEN, ahead of the 40th anniversary of ALIENS! marshallandthemovies.substack.com/p/becoming-a...
marshallandthemovies.substack.com
Becoming ALIEN(S)
40 years after release, a chat with author Sarah Welch-Larson
000
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
“This is more than just a mere masterpiece of tone and form,” @marshallshaffer.bsky.social writes of ‘The Immigrant.’ “This clear-eyed look at the past can point a path toward a national future rooted in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
crookedmarquee.com
002
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
A little #America250 read from me, your friend who hasn’t shut up about how stunning THE IMMIGRANT is for 13 years
1178
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 02/07/2026
We had the incredible honorable of speaking to Ross McElwee about his new film REMAKE, the re-release of SHERMAN'S MARCH, and dealing with death and then getting on with life. tinyurl.com/3mtk2jnp
011
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 17/06/2026
Read our interview with Adrian Chiarella about LEVITICUS, why horror was the right vessel for his commentary, how his cast transformed their characters, and more. tinyurl.com/2s3p7s8w
011
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 17/06/2026
Adrian Chiarella’s LEVITICUS is a creepy horror tale that also happens to be a potent and poignant teen romance. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review.
slantmagazine.com
'Leviticus' Review: When Teen Romance Hurts Like the Devil
Adrian Chiarella's at times intensely creepy horror tale reveals itself to also be a potent and poignant teen romance.
001
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Exactly what you want to read with LENNY out on Criterion today, I just know it!
041
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
The Fincher Analyst @thefincheranalyst.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Bob Fosse / DavidFincher: An Unexpectedly Illuminating Auteurist Pairing By @marshallshaffer.bsky.social @crooked-marquee.bsky.social thefincheranalyst.com/2026/05/23/f...
thefincheranalyst.com
Fosse/Fincher: An Unexpectedly Illuminating Auteurist Pairing
Marshall ShafferMay 21, 2025Crooked Marquee “Can SONY market a ONE MAN SHOW (?)” wrote David Fincher in an email uncovered by the 2014 Sony hack, regarding his excitement about Aaron Sorkin’s Steve…
011
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Willkommen, bienvenue...
010
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Hannah Strong @hannahstrong.co.uk · 22/05/2026
🎬 CANNES REVIEW THREAD 🎥
2395
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Why yes, I did pair all five Bob Fosse films with something in David Fincher’s catalog!
000
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 19/05/2026
Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s first historical film THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER offers a master class in framing and blocking. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's #Cannes2026 review.
slantmagazine.com
'The Samurai and the Prisoner' Review: A Visually Entrancing Study of Power
Kurosawa Kiyoshi continually finds new ways to render the story's self-contained setting as a source of rich visual pleasure.
012
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
“The only real way to get ahead, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ argues, is to make it as far as you can following an older generation’s rulebook before chunking it out to chart your own path,” @marshallshaffer.bsky.social writes.
crookedmarquee.com
021
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Niche post for anyone who has seen John Wilson’s THE HISTORY OF CONCRETE on the festival circuit: saw this local celebrity in the wild today
000
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Jason Bailey @jasondashbailey.com · 01/05/2026
And @marshallshaffer.bsky.social on the phenomenon of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and what it taught millennials about the workplace: crookedmarquee.com/20-years-ago...
crookedmarquee.com
20 Years Ago, The Devil Wears Prada Taught Millennials How to Work — Crooked Marquee
You think this has nothing to do with you? Twenty years ago, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ became the unofficial onboarding manual for millennials in the white-collar workforce - and its sequel only builds ...
043
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
“The only real way to get ahead, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ argues, is to make it as far as you can following an older generation’s rulebook before chunking it out to chart your own path,” @marshallshaffer.bsky.social writes.
crookedmarquee.com
021
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
You think this has nothing to do with you? Twenty years ago, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ became the unofficial onboarding manual for millennials in the white-collar workforce - and its sequel only builds on this legacy.
crookedmarquee.com
011
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
For @crooked-marquee.bsky.social, I wrote about THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA as the onboarding manual for millennials into the white-collar labor force (and what it still says about workism two decades later): crookedmarquee.com/20-years-ago...
media.tenor.com
Anne Hathaway GIF
ALT: Anne Hathaway GIF
041
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Corey Atad @coreyatad.com · 29/04/2026
Josh O'Connor, on the incredible performance note he got from Steven Spielberg while shooting Disclosure Day apnews.com/article/disc...
AP: Do you have a favorite Spielberg story?
O’CONNOR: I have the greatest, in my opinion, the greatest Steven Spielberg story. When it happened, I was sort of like punching the air for this very reason, knowing that when it comes to doing press for this film, I can tell the story, which is that I was halfway through the shoot and we had a scene coming up, which is quite an emotional scene and I was struggling with it. I was in my hotel room trying to prep it, as Steven does so brilliantly, and it’s extraordinary he’s so available to talk about these things.

I reached out to Steven, we discussed the scene, we talked about the emotion of the scene and how to access that and what we’re ultimately aiming to show in the story. And I felt quite satisfied, but not completely with it. And then I got a text from him quite late at night, just saying ,“The door is on the latch, just push.” And it made so much sense. I was like, “of course.” The character’s kind of got all this emotion, it’s built up and it’s like a door on the latch and you just push and it all comes out and it’s an emotional release. I was so thrilled with that note and I came in the next day and said, “Steven, you totally unlocked it for me that was amazing.” And he was like, “What are you talking about?”

I said, “The text about ‘the door on the latch just push’ it’s incredible.” And he laughed and said that that text was supposed to be for his wife. It became a very big joke for all of us. But it did unlock the scene for me, so, fair play.
61352290
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Aisha Harris @aishaharris.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
"My world's on fire. How 'bout yours?" -- a poet
1514
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
"We wanted him to be as good as he possibly could [...] I never wanted him to be a bad dad. I wanted him to be dealt a bad hand of cards." Talked with one of my favorite actors, John Magaro, for @slantmagazine.com about his leading turn in OMAHA (out today): www.slantmagazine.com/features/joh...
slantmagazine.com
John Magaro on 'Omaha' and Finding Honesty in His Acting
Magaro discusses where he found the honesty in the film's script and why he thinks audiences understand his character's controversial choice.
000
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Let’s see if this works… I’m in a bit of a rut with vegetable recipes, anyone have some favorites they’d be willing to share?
110
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
"I fucking hate boxes, I really do. I find it so boring that we live in a world now where people seem so keen to identify themselves by the tramlines that they think they must stay within." Chatted with Tom Blyth about his new film, WASTEMAN, and more: www.menshealth.com/entertainmen...
menshealth.com
Men Might Be in Crisis. But Tom Blyth Sure Isn’t.
"I want to keep stretching my skin.”
001
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 15/04/2026
Cal McMau’s WASTEMAN illustrates why a powerful paradox about prisons makes them such a popular staging ground for psychodramas. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review.
slantmagazine.com
'Wasteman' Review: Cal McMau's Tense Prison Thriller
While 'Wasteman' is largely verité in approach, the filmmakers introduce several breaks in style to emphasize big moments.
001
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Today marks 15 years since SOURCE CODE, one of the best time loop films - and one I wish had set director Duncan Jones on a different trajectory. I reflected on it a while back for Decider: decider.com/2018/03/09/d...
decider.com
Duncan Jones Can Rebound From ‘Mute’ By Finding Another ‘Source Code’
Jones seems to be at his best when collaborating with a gifted writer to translate their vision into pure cinema.
011
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Jacob Oller @jacoboller.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
not a joke, not a drill: we've hired a new film critic! www.avclub.com/film-critic-...
avclub.com
Please welcome our new Film Critic, Monica Castillo
Please welcome our new Film Critic, Monica Castillo
1019931
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 31/03/2026
Read our extensive interview with Lily Gladstone about Martin Scorsese's KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, why learning Osage was so central to unlocking her character, and what she still carries from her experience playing Mollie Kyle. tinyurl.com/4cpk9ws2
001
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
"But the 'why,' I think, is the most important [...] It gives you another avatar for having big conversations that are a little bit more difficult when they’re lived experiences." Spoke to Lily Gladstone with KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON now out from Criterion: www.slantmagazine.com/film/lily-gl...
slantmagazine.com
Lily Gladstone on the Impact of 'Killers of the Flower Moon'
Lily Gladstone discusses learning the Osage language and what she still carries from her experience playing Mollie.
02414
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 30/03/2026
Gabriel Mascaro’s THE BLUE TRAIL, opening in NY/LA this Friday, is an empowering narrative of one woman who refuses to see age as a ceiling. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review. tinyurl.com/jaehbfvt
011
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Katherine the Sixth @luigithirty.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
“If you’re gay or transgender, I love you. And if anybody gives you shit, tell ‘em Charles said fuck you.”
youtube.com
Charles Barkley: “If you are gay or transgender, I love you!’”
YouTube video by NBA On Fire
5694062139
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Tonight's newsletter: a little something for the start of baseball season on the joys of rewatching EEPHUS ⚾️ marshallandthemovies.substack.com/p/passing-ti...
marshallandthemovies.substack.com
Passing Time with EEPHUS
Starting MLB's opening week with a great new baseball movie
000
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
The Epstein emails have had "a bipartisan impact on how people think about power and wealth in contemporary society,” @marshallshaffer.bsky.social writes, and “as screenwriters begin to process this shift, they’ll have a varied set of cinematic antecedents from which to pull."
buff.ly
022
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
The Epstein emails have had "a bipartisan impact on how people think about power and wealth in contemporary society,” @marshallshaffer.bsky.social writes, and “as screenwriters begin to process this shift, they’ll have a varied set of cinematic antecedents from which to pull."
crookedmarquee.com
041
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
"The phone is a party pooper, but the party is a decadent one. It’s a party where you dance on dead bodies, and the phone reminds you of the texture of the floor you’re dancing on." Talked to Nadav Lapid about his "sick" film YES for @slantmagazine.com: www.slantmagazine.com/film/nadav-l...
slantmagazine.com
Nadav Lapid on His Incendiary Post-October 7 Israeli Satire 'Yes'
The Israeli filmmaker discusses how his main character defies cinematic archetypes of morally conflicted protagonists.
000
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
What would an "eat the rich" cinema inspired by the bipartisan outrage over the Epstein files look like? I tried to read the tea leaves by way of READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME (of all things) for @crooked-marquee.bsky.social: crookedmarquee.com/ready-or-not...
crookedmarquee.com
Ready or Not 2 Heralds a Burgeoning Epstein Files Cinema — Crooked Marquee
The horror sequel is far from a perfect movie, but it could help move us away from lazy "eat the rich" satire to tap into the growing revulsion at the wealthy stemming from the Epstein Files.
000
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 03/03/2026
Gianfranco Rosi’s POMPEII: BELOW THE CLOUDS leaves us with a haunting sense of life in Naples existing in a liminal state. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review.
slantmagazine.com
'Below the Clouds' Review: A Marvelous Mosaic of Life in Naples
The snapshots of the area between Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples conjure a sense of life here being suspended in time.
001
Reposted by Marshall Shaffer
Slant @slantmagazine.com · 11/02/2026
Matt Johnson's NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE offers a joyous throwback to the optimistic feeling of the early internet creator era. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review.
slantmagazine.com
'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie' Review: Lightning in a Bottle
Matt Johnson's 'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie' offers a joyous throwback to the optimistic feeling of the early internet creator era.
063
Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Think I can officially call it a wrap on Sundance, 50 films later: marshallandthemovies.substack.com/p/sundance-2...
marshallandthemovies.substack.com
Sundance 2026, Ranked
The Best and the Rest from Out West
000