Sun-Drenched ‘Islands’ Subverts Film Noir Conventions To Explore Desolation and Destiny
As well as being a psychological thriller and meditation on fate, the film by director Jan-Ole Gerster is something of a love story.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
CARLOS SOUSA
New York, New York
Carlos Sousa is a Movie Reviewer for The New York Sun.
Mr. Sousa has written marketing content for publications, websites, and corporations, including the New Yorker, ELLE, Vulture.com, and General Motors, for over 20 years. Immersed in old world culture and contemporary entertainment as a Portuguese-American dual citizen, and having studied the history of the arts at Rutgers University, he specializes in film and music criticism.
Latest Articles
Documentary ‘Natchez’ Probes Hard Truths Behind the Idealized South Presented to Tourists
In chronicling the Mississippi city’s lucrative tourism business, director Suzannah Herbert shows how tours of elegant plantation homes clash with what we know of history.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
Re-Release of Visconti’s ‘Conversation Piece,’ With Burt Lancaster, Proves Worthy of Discussion
One of the film’s strengths lies in Lancaster’s portrayal of a lonely man besieged by regrets.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
New Documentary ‘Shuffle’ Exposes Blatant Corruption at Addiction Treatment Centers
Hearing how some centers treat addicts as commodities, a recovering alcoholic sets forth to examine fraud, profiteering, and malpractice utilizing his filmmaking experience.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
‘Dead Man’s Wire’ Recreates a Little-Known, Harrowing Hostage Situation From 1970s America
While underwhelming in some aspects, the real-life nature of the case and tension throughout keep one interested and even riveted at times.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
Indie Film ‘The Plague’ Locates the Horror in Male Adolescence
First-time feature film director Charlie Polinger was inspired to write the screenplay after reading personal journals from when he was 12 years old at summer camp.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
Winnipeg-Set ‘The Mother and the Bear’ Combines Sentiment and Whimsy in a Tale of Middle-aged Motherhood
Written and directed by Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Johnny Ma, the movie charms with its light, humanistic touch, reminiscent of the early works of Ang Lee.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
With Will Arnett and Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper Acts in and Directs ‘Is This Thing On?’
Combining two great performances with humor, NYC energy, and a perceptive look at separation, the movie is an adult dramedy and a warm-hearted winner, perfect for the holidays or a date night.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
Blue Turns to Gray in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’
The latest picture in the series turns bleak and unsettling as it grapples with grief, family allegiances, and hatred while introducing a sinister new character.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
George Clooney Plays a Major Movie Star in Bland, Shallow ‘Jay Kelly’
Not even Adam Sandler, who portrays the titular character’s manager, can inject much mirth into the proceedings.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
Brazilian Thriller ‘The Secret Agent’ Is Outed as One of the Year’s Best Films
The film is a celebration of a people and culture, a memory piece of a bygone era, a valentine to the movies, a deconstructed drama, and an encapsulated history lesson.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture
New Turkish Film ‘The Things You Kill’ Interrogates Toxic Masculinity in Drama With a Lynchian Twist
The question of how to overcome toxic masculinity and inherited pain — essentially how to be a better man and heal from trauma and obsessive anger — consumes the film.
By CARLOS SOUSA
||Culture