The Black Balloon
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Down Movie Reviews
Blog Posts That Mention Down
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
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
How My Love for Film Saved My Life
Black Writers Week
Uncomfortable Truths: “Set It Off,” “Girl 6,” and “Naked Acts” at 30
Tributes
Happy Heavenly Birthday, Roger Ebert: June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013
Black Writers Week
The Urban Environment: A Conversation with Tatsu Aoki, Avant-Garde Filmmaker
Black Writers Week
What is the State of the Black Movie Star?
Black Writers Week
The Legend of Us: Expanding the Chosen One
Black Writers Week
J. Christopher Hamilton on Culture, Capital, and Creative Leverage
Black Writers Week
Cinematic Albums of the 2020s: Music That Feels Like a Movie
Black Writers Week
Can the New Anti-Heroine Heal My Inner Black Girl?
Black Writers Week
Through My Lens: The Accidental Archivist of ‘90s Howard University
Black Writers Week
250 Years Later and Blacks Are Still Politically and Racially Enslaved
Features
Roger Ebert’s Best and Worst Alien Movies
Features
The 20 Best Films of 2026 So Far
TV/Streaming
Overlong Summer Romance “Every Year After” Is More Fizzle Than Sizzle
Festivals & Awards
Cannes 2026 Video #12: Wrapping Up
TV/Streaming
AMC Turns “Interview With a Vampire” Into the Delicious, Malicious “The Vampire Lestat”
Tributes
The Woman Who Saved “Star Wars”: Marcia Lucas (1945-2026)
Video Games
Historic Franchise Finds New Life in Wildly Entertaining “007 First Light”
Interviews
Female Filmmakers in Focus: Milagros Mumenthaler on “The Currents”
Festivals & Awards
60th Karlovy Vary Film Festival Announces Official Selection and Juries
Short Films in Focus
Short Films in Focus: Patient (with Director Lori Felker)
The Unloved
The Unloved, Part 150: Laggies
DVD/Blu-Ray
Home Entertainment Guide May 2026: The Bride!, Wuthering Heights, Sentimental Value, More
TV/Streaming
“For All Mankind” Spinoff “Star City” is One Small Soviet Step Backward
Books
Documentary Now! 4th Edition is an Incredible Companion to Beloved Show
TV/Streaming
Comedy Is King On Season Two of Hulu’s “Deli Boys”
Video Games
Throwback “Mina the Hollower” is One of the Best Games of 2026
Festivals & Awards
