C.J. Prince
@cjprince.bsky.social
Sometimes film critic, sometimes film programmer.
acquiredcinema.substack.com
acquiredcinema.substack.com
cinematic parallels
January 21, 2026 at 7:28 PM
cinematic parallels
I would like my favourite filmmakers to stop dying on or around my birthday.
January 7, 2026 at 12:45 AM
I would like my favourite filmmakers to stop dying on or around my birthday.
Reposted by C.J. Prince
Films from Jim Jarmusch, Christian Petzold, and Alexandre Koberidze are among @cjprince.bsky.social’s top 10 films of 2025.
C.J. Prince’s Top 10 Films of 2025
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2025, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists. My feelings from the intro of my top ten of 2024...
thefilmstage.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Films from Jim Jarmusch, Christian Petzold, and Alexandre Koberidze are among @cjprince.bsky.social’s top 10 films of 2025.
Reposted by C.J. Prince
The Voice of Hind Rajab is a film noble in its intentions but filled with questionable choices around its execution.
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review as the Venice winner opens in theaters:
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review as the Venice winner opens in theaters:
The Voice of Hind Rajab Review: Kaouther Ben Hania Brings Questionable Palatability to the Genocide in Gaza
Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2025 TIFF coverage. The Voice of Hind Rajab opens in theaters on December 17. In January 2024, the Palestine Red Crescent Society received an ...
thefilmstage.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:20 PM
The Voice of Hind Rajab is a film noble in its intentions but filled with questionable choices around its execution.
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review as the Venice winner opens in theaters:
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review as the Venice winner opens in theaters:
DRACULA (2025, dir. Radu Jude)
December 14, 2025 at 11:32 PM
DRACULA (2025, dir. Radu Jude)
My sleep paralysis demon is Ella McKay what do I do
December 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
My sleep paralysis demon is Ella McKay what do I do
presidential pardon from director jail
I teased this last night in What I’m Hearing but now confirmed: Paramount WILL release Rush Hour 4 after prodding from Trump on behalf of Brett Ratner. Distribution deal. Producer Tarak Ben Ammar is lining up financing. Get ready for the dumbest possible state-controlled media.
November 25, 2025 at 5:54 PM
presidential pardon from director jail
This is what happens when trains dream
November 22, 2025 at 11:30 PM
This is what happens when trains dream
The groupies are gonna be wild
November 19, 2025 at 5:42 PM
The groupies are gonna be wild
Twitter users coming back here today
November 18, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Twitter users coming back here today
Julia Ducournau's Alpha is so, so bad. Like one of the worst films I've ever seen from Cannes Competition bad.
November 17, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Julia Ducournau's Alpha is so, so bad. Like one of the worst films I've ever seen from Cannes Competition bad.
I wrote about Todd Rohal's Fuck My Son! and Radu Jude's Dracula, two films from this month designed to piss off audiences that also happen to use AI. One film is bad, the other is a fun bit of anarchy in the tradition of David Wain/Michael Showalter.
open.substack.com/pub/acquired...
open.substack.com/pub/acquired...
The Pleasures (and Displeasures) of Provocation
On Todd Rohal's Fuck My Son! and Radu Jude's Dracula
open.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I wrote about Todd Rohal's Fuck My Son! and Radu Jude's Dracula, two films from this month designed to piss off audiences that also happen to use AI. One film is bad, the other is a fun bit of anarchy in the tradition of David Wain/Michael Showalter.
open.substack.com/pub/acquired...
open.substack.com/pub/acquired...
Shelby Oaks is out this weekend, which I reviewed last year. The version coming out now is different thanks to reshoots and a new polish on the edit, although I suspect it's not enough to address the film's foundational issues.
My review at @thefilmstage.com:
thefilmstage.com/fantasia-rev...
My review at @thefilmstage.com:
thefilmstage.com/fantasia-rev...
Fantasia Review: Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks is an Uninspired Horror Mishmash
There’s been a bit of mystery surrounding Shelby Oaks, the directorial debut of Chris Stuckmann. A YouTuber who got his start reviewing films and has now amassed over two-million subscribers, Stuckman...
thefilmstage.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Shelby Oaks is out this weekend, which I reviewed last year. The version coming out now is different thanks to reshoots and a new polish on the edit, although I suspect it's not enough to address the film's foundational issues.
My review at @thefilmstage.com:
thefilmstage.com/fantasia-rev...
My review at @thefilmstage.com:
thefilmstage.com/fantasia-rev...
What if you think One Battle After Another is a fun collection of set pieces and you find its political content largely sealed off/adjacent rather than super urgent/relevant
October 15, 2025 at 11:09 PM
What if you think One Battle After Another is a fun collection of set pieces and you find its political content largely sealed off/adjacent rather than super urgent/relevant
Reposted by C.J. Prince
Come join @cjprince.bsky.social, @tylekurner.bsky.social, Lena Wilson & me on Saturday afternoon as we ponder what we even mean by queer and trans stories? How has this shifted in the last 5, 10, 50 years (or more)?
And what that means for what stories get told, reach you, and are still missing!
And what that means for what stories get told, reach you, and are still missing!
🌈 What makes a story queer or trans? Depends who you ask — and when it was made.
Is it about LGBTQ+ characters or filmmakers?
Or something else entirely?
How we define it shapes how we assess the state of queer + trans cinema today.
Join us Saturday to discuss: seventh-row.com/livingoutloud
Is it about LGBTQ+ characters or filmmakers?
Or something else entirely?
How we define it shapes how we assess the state of queer + trans cinema today.
Join us Saturday to discuss: seventh-row.com/livingoutloud
September 29, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Come join @cjprince.bsky.social, @tylekurner.bsky.social, Lena Wilson & me on Saturday afternoon as we ponder what we even mean by queer and trans stories? How has this shifted in the last 5, 10, 50 years (or more)?
And what that means for what stories get told, reach you, and are still missing!
And what that means for what stories get told, reach you, and are still missing!
Reposted by C.J. Prince
👥 Featuring Elspeth Brown, @emilygarside.bsky.social @bwestcineaste.bsky.social, Anamarija Horvat, Angelo Madsen, @cjprince.bsky.social, @tylekurner.bsky.social, and Lena Wilson
👉 Save your seat: seventh-row.com/livingoutloud
👉 Save your seat: seventh-row.com/livingoutloud
September 22, 2025 at 10:36 PM
👥 Featuring Elspeth Brown, @emilygarside.bsky.social @bwestcineaste.bsky.social, Anamarija Horvat, Angelo Madsen, @cjprince.bsky.social, @tylekurner.bsky.social, and Lena Wilson
👉 Save your seat: seventh-row.com/livingoutloud
👉 Save your seat: seventh-row.com/livingoutloud
Reposted by C.J. Prince
Kaouther Ben Hania's Venice winner The Voice of Hind Rajab is noble in its intentions but filled with questionable choices around its execution. Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review:
TIFF Review: The Voice of Hind Rajab Brings Questionable Palatability to the Genocide in Gaza
In January 2024, the Palestine Red Crescent Society received an emergency call from Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl traveling in a car with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Gaza City. The Israeli army...
thefilmstage.com
September 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Kaouther Ben Hania's Venice winner The Voice of Hind Rajab is noble in its intentions but filled with questionable choices around its execution. Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review:
Reposted by C.J. Prince
Stillz's Harmony Korine-backed Barrio Triste is exhilarating, tense, personal, enigmatic, and among this year’s best first features.
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review:
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review:
TIFF Review: Barrio Triste is One of the Year’s Great Debuts
At barely two years old, Harmony Korine’s “post-cinema” company EDGLRD is already branching out. After directing AGGRO DR1FT and Baby Invasion, Korine takes on a producer role for Barrio Triste, the f...
thefilmstage.com
September 14, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Stillz's Harmony Korine-backed Barrio Triste is exhilarating, tense, personal, enigmatic, and among this year’s best first features.
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review:
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's review:
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 TIFF review:
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's TIFF review:
TIFF Review: Two Pianos is Another Rich, Thoughtful Drama from Arnaud Desplechin
The past rears its not-so-ugly head in Two Pianos, Arnaud Desplechin’s latest film exploring the ways gorgeous people make an even bigger mess out of the messiness of life itself. Set amidst the world...
thefilmstage.com
September 14, 2025 at 10:48 AM
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 TIFF review:
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's TIFF review:
Reposted by C.J. Prince
Genki Kawamura's videogame adaptation #Exit8 relies on horror’s tried-and-true method of leaning into allegory.
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's TIFF review:
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's TIFF review:
TIFF Review: Exit 8 is a Videogame Adaptation Heavy on Allegory
Adapting a video game like 2023's indie-horror hit The Exit 8 comes with a challenge. Unlike other adaptations, this has no real plot or story to work with––just a high-concept hook. A first-person wa...
thefilmstage.com
September 5, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Genki Kawamura's videogame adaptation #Exit8 relies on horror’s tried-and-true method of leaning into allegory.
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's TIFF review:
Read @cjprince.bsky.social's TIFF review:
My annual round up of highlights from TIFF's Short Cuts programme is now live at @thefilmstage.com. As always, whittling it down to just ten films was difficult, and I wanted to mention other films I enjoyed and couldn't include...
thefilmstage.com/10-must-see-...
thefilmstage.com/10-must-see-...
10 Must-See Short Films at TIFF 2025
Comprising 48 titles from 28 countries, this year’s Short Cuts program at the Toronto International Film Festival doesn’t represent any sort of significant change from 2024 (48 shorts but from 23 coun...
thefilmstage.com
September 2, 2025 at 2:03 PM
My annual round up of highlights from TIFF's Short Cuts programme is now live at @thefilmstage.com. As always, whittling it down to just ten films was difficult, and I wanted to mention other films I enjoyed and couldn't include...
thefilmstage.com/10-must-see-...
thefilmstage.com/10-must-see-...