Sci-Fi Editor · Blockbusters & Genre
Elena leads Celluloid's blockbuster and genre coverage, tracking franchise filmmaking and big-budget science fiction from announcement to release.
87 reviews published on Celluloid
★★★★☆
Ozan Açıktan's Aile Arasında (2017) endures as a defining comedy landmark from Turkey, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
★★★★½
Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) endures as a defining action landmark from China, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★½
Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall (2004) endures as a defining war landmark from Germany, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★½
Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One (2023) endures as a defining action landmark from Japan, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★½☆
Biyi Bandele's Half of a Yellow Sun (2013) endures as a defining drama landmark from Nigeria, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
★★★★½
Chris Columbus's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) endures as a defining fantasy landmark from United Kingdom, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
★★★★½
Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle (2004) endures as a defining comedy landmark from China, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
★★★★½
Riri Riza's Laskar Pelangi (2008) endures as a defining drama landmark from Indonesia, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★☆
Alfonso Arau's Like Water for Chocolate (1992) endures as a defining romance landmark from Mexico, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★☆
Ramsey Nouah's Living in Bondage: Breaking Free (2019) endures as a defining drama landmark from Nigeria, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
★★★★☆
Mahsun Kırmızıgül's Miracle (2015) endures as a defining drama landmark from Turkey, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Worth watching for context — influential even where opinions split.
★★★★★
Bong Joon Ho's Parasite (2019) endures as a defining thriller landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★½
Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) endures as a defining romance landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★½
Cary Joji Fukunaga's Sin Nombre (2009) endures as a defining crime landmark from Mexico, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★½
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's The Lives of Others (2006) endures as a defining drama landmark from Germany, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★☆
Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann (2016) endures as a defining comedy landmark from Germany, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★½
Yeon Sang-ho's Train to Busan (2016) endures as a defining horror landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
★★★★☆
Azazel Jacobs traps Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, and Carrie Coon in a dying father's apartment — and the claustrophobia is the whole point.
Ensemble drama at its most precise.
★★★★☆
Shih-Ching Tsou observes a fractured Taipei family with documentary-like patience, making small betrayals sting in the neon bustle of a night market.
A modest, piercing drama that rewards attention.
★★★★☆
Greg Kwedar's prison theater drama pairs Colman Domingo's career-defining turn with formerly incarcerated actors playing versions of themselves.
A rare film where authenticity earns every tear.
★★★★☆
A stacked ensemble cast carries a sci-fi thriller more interested in fallout and control than spectacle.
Tense, deliberate, and well-acted.