The Black Balloon
Written by
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Down Movie Reviews
Blog Posts That Mention Down
Festivals & Awards
TIFF 2026: River, Stuffed, The Housewife
Festivals & Awards
Telluride 2026: Illusion of an Everlasting Summer, Burgundy, Rehearsals for a Revolution
Festivals & Awards
TIFF 2026: 20 World Premieres We Can’t Wait to See This Year
Festivals & Awards
Telluride 2026: Alpha Gang, The Liberation, The Idiots
TV/Streaming
Sixth Season of “Slow Horses” Stands Out in Crowded TV Season
Interviews
Enslaved Spirits: Maya Annik Bedward on “Black Zombie”
Festivals & Awards
Venice Film Festival 2026: Ink, Moragheb, Too Much Sugar
Tributes
The Places Underneath Words: Cassandra Wilson (1955-2026)
Interviews
It’s Time to Grow Up: Joe Swanberg and Cory Michael Smith on “The Sun Never Sets”
Tributes
Visible and Powerful: Gloria Steinem (1934-2026)
TV/Streaming
Peacock’s “The Paper” Starts To Run Out Of Ink In Season 2
Features
“Chad Powers” Remains a Ludicrous, Warm-Hearted Show in Season 2
TV/Streaming
FX’s Exhilarating “The Drop: A Snowfall Saga” Is a Spin-off For the Ages
Short Films in Focus
Short Films in Focus: Bouncy Brothers (with Nicholas J. Santore)
Video Games
“The Blood of Dawnwalker” Captivates Gamers with Immersive Storytelling
Video Games
“Onimusha: Way of the Sword” is a Drawn-Out Samurai Epic
MZS
A Coat of Many Colors: How Dolly Parton Helped Me Appreciate My Mother
Features
Jane Schoenbrun’s Queer Horror Cinema of Requiem and Revelation
Interviews
Be Smart About the Way You Change: Spike Fearn and Angourie Rice on “Finding Emily”
TV/Streaming
“Dark Matter” Reinvents Itself With an Outstanding Second Season
Tributes
Don’t Dream It, Be It: Tim Curry (1946-2026)
DVD/Blu-Ray
Home Entertainment Guide August 2026: “Project Hail Mary,” “The Sheep Detectives,” “Power Ballad,” More
Video Games
“Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy” Shifts Tone of Cinematic Franchise
Tributes
I Will Always Love You: Dolly Parton (1946-2026)
Interviews
Shabana Amzi on Her Career, Vulnerability, and “Batwara 1947”
Interviews
Sheer Force of Ambition: David Kittredge on “Exorcist II” and “Boorman and the Devil”
Features
We Were Warned: On “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” at 35
Interviews
Liminal Spaces, Transitional States: Alexander Ullom on “It Ends”
Features
Locarno Film Festival 2026 Wrap-up
Interviews
I Was Compelled to Revisit: Rory Kennedy on “Freefall: A Reckoning For Boeing”
Festivals & Awards
Locarno Film Festival 2026: 17 Urgent Hollywood Blacklist Films
Features
How I Spent Another Summer Vacation At The Drive-In
Festivals & Awards
Locarno 2026: Nowhere To Lay My Eyes, At Night, Nobody’s Violence
Festivals & Awards
Locarno 2026: Objet A, Tear Gas, Fire Flower (Hanabi)
Features
Prophecy is Ragged and Dirty: David Cronenberg’s “Crash” Turns 30
TV/Streaming
Season 4 of Prime Video’s “Reacher” Might Be the Best Yet
MZS
Memories of Helen: The Heroic Despair of “John Wick”
Interviews
A Man of Letters: Kent Jones on “Late Fame”
Interviews
It’s Libidinal: Hannah Einbinder and Jane Schoenbrun on “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”
DVD/Blu-Ray
All is Well in Our World: On Todd Haynes’ “Safe”
Books
Book Excerpt: The Otherworld: The Mythic Dimensions of Christophe Gans by Scout Tafoya
Interviews
Female Filmmakers in Focus: Julia Hart on “Don’t Say Good Luck”
TV/Streaming
Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” Gets Back on the Pitch For a Welcome Season 4
MZS
Silhouettes and Warnings: On Reading Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” On the Exact Day When It’s Set
Festivals & Awards
Fantasia 2026: Wrapping Up
TV/Streaming
“Sterling Point” Might Be Your Next Messy Teen Drama Escape
DVD/Blu-Ray
Home Entertainment Guide July 2026: Obsession, The Drama, Is God Is, More
Festivals & Awards
Fantasia 2026: Ferine, The Eyes, The Mutation
Interviews
Desire Is the Catalyst: Gregg Araki on “I Want Your Sex”
Festivals & Awards
Fantasia 2026: Permanent Damage, Godhead, Sour Minnows
Features
Movies Aren’t Therapy: “Mike Mills” on Parents, Children, and Filmmaking
Interviews
Advance to Paradise, Retreat to Hell: Kiyoshi Kurosawa on “The Samurai and the Prisoner”
Festivals & Awards
Everything for Someone: San Diego Comic-Con 2026 Part 2
MZS
Get on the Train: “NYC in Transit” Launches at Film Forum
Features
A Home Away from Home: Goodbye to the Lake Street Screening Room
Features
With “The Odyssey,” Christopher Nolan Has Crafted The Best Horror Film of The Year
Festivals & Awards
Fantasia 2026: You Are the Film, Someone’s Daughter, Los Vampires
Video Games
Relive the Launch That Changed Gaming in “Halo: Campaign Evolved”
TV/Streaming
Netflix’s “Ransom Canyon” Turns Up the Soapy Drama in Serviceable Second Season
Features
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” Keeps Boldly Swinging in Tone in Season 4
Festivals & Awards
Fantasia 2026: Our Effed Up World, Zsazsa Zaturnnah, Dance Freak
Interviews
Closer to Trees: Hirokazu Kore-eda on “Sheep in the Box”
Roger Ebert
Roger loves Chaz
Chaz's Journal
Flashback: Chaz Ebert on Watching a Christopher Nolan Movie During the Pandemic
Chaz's Journal
Celebrating the Life of George E. Johnson, Sr. (1927-2026), a Friend and Builder of Black Possibility
Festivals & Awards
MUBI Fest 2026: Better Together
Festivals & Awards
KVIFF 2026: Fruit Gathering, Incinerator, 3 Weeks After
Festivals & Awards
KVIFF 2026: Wrap-up and Awards
Interviews
He’s Just That Guy: Jeffrey Wright on “Basquiat”
Festivals & Awards
KVIFF 2026: Lover, Not a Fighter, If Pigeons Turned to Gold, Only Beautiful Things to Look At
Interviews
This Is Not Art, This Is Life: Ross McElwee on “Remake” and “Sherman’s March”
Festivals & Awards
KVIFF 2026: Rose, Black Money for White Nights, Paris Paris
Interviews
A Leaning Tower of Camp: John Early on “Maddie’s Secret”
Short Films in Focus
Short Films in Focus: Bob’s Funeral
Interviews
You Have to Commit: Robert Richardson on “Robert Richardson: The White Devil”
Roger Ebert
10 of Roger Ebert’s Favorite Movies About America
Festivals & Awards
Annecy 2026: The City of Animation
TV/Streaming
Apple TV’s “Silo” Falters in Transitional Third Season
DVD/Blu-Ray
Home Entertainment Guide June 2026: Hoppers, Crime 101, The Mastermind, More
TV/Streaming
A French-Language “Zorro” Offers a Charmingly Offbeat Interpretation of the Famous Vigilante
Features
Retreating From The Elephant: The Perpetually Impending Demise of Indie Cinema
TV/Streaming
“The Bear” Closes Its Doors With a Trimphant Final Service in Season 5
Interviews
The Element of Risk: Olivia Wilde on “The Invite”
Features
Satirizing and Saluting: Mel Brooks’ “Silent Movie” At 50
Festivals & Awards
Tribeca 2026: The Documentaries
Interviews
Golf is a Great Metaphor: Edward Burns and Brian d’Arcy James on “Finnegan’s Foursome”
Features
Courtney Grace, “Disclosure Day,” and the One-Scene Wonder
Interviews
Out of the Mouths of Cutlery: Tony Hale on “Toy Story 5”
Black Writers Week
Hard Knocks and Rebirth in the Bayou: Alfre Woodard in “Passion Fish”
Black Writers Week
Robert Daniels & Odie Henderson Talk “Baby Boy” at 25
Black Writers Week
