If you are Xavier Dolan and your last three movies have failed critically, and yes I am including the just-premiered “Matthias & Maxime,” then what should be your next move?
Read more‘Rambo' At 72: Stallone Debuts New Trailer ...
When Sylvester Stallone decided to bring back Rambo for one last go-around in 2008, he wasn’t joking around. This time, John Rambo was given the task of saving a group of missionaries held captive in a remote area by a militant Burmese regime. Once missionaries were killed and revenge entered the equation, there were many horrific images to behold: Rambo, literally, liquefying dozens of bad guys with a mounted Gatling gun and literally disembowels another, just in case you missed anatomy class that night.
Read moreMoby vs Portman
The headline is so absurd that it warrants some double-checking to make sure it isn’t misleading or click-bait. Alas, it’s all true, Moby axed his book tour because Natalie Portman denies his "creepy" assertion that they had a brief romantic history back in 1999.
Scorsese's ‘The Irishman' Delayed Due to De-aging VFX Issues
There has been a hold-up in post-production for Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.” It does seem to be a case of unrealistic expectations in regards to the CGI being used for the de-aging process, something an old-school filmmaker like Scorsese probably didn’t expect would happen. He is used to finding great shots through composition and experimentation, not drawing them into existence. The de-aging process being used by the film seems to require more than just filmmaking talent but a hefty amount of VFX talent as well.
Read more‘Goldfinch’ Trailer: ‘Brooklyn’ Director Teams With DP Roger Deakins, Nicole Kidman And Ansel Elgort
Donna Tartt’s novel “The Goldfinch” won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It is no doubt a story that needed to eventually be told on-screen and, no surprise, we are getting a screen adaptation already set for release this coming fall.
Read moreAccording to the British Board of Film Classification, Jennifer Lawrence’s ‘Red Sparrow’ Was the Most-Complained-About Film of 2018
The Francis Lawrence-directed “Red Sparrow” was given a hard R in the States. It starred Jennifer Lawrence as a Russian spy and, by, all accounts, the sexuality and violence in the film was something that we rarely see these days in a big studio movie. J-Law even delivered the first nude scene of her career. The film itself was a well-made spy thriller, albeit one with some overlength issues, but, again, it was the kind of adult drama that is rarely greenlit these days in Hollywood.
Read moreAva DuVernay Says She's Not Being Offered Genre Movies Because She's a Woman
For the most part, I like Ava Duvernay’s work from “Selma” to”Middle of Nowhere,” but the outspoken political mindset the writer-director has displayed, especially on Twitter, these last few years hasn’t always helped her out. Take for example her latest point of contention, that she doesn’t get offered the same opportunities as her white male counterparts.
Read moreA Date With Joanna Hogg's ‘The Souvenir'
I only saw about 30 minutes of Joanna Hogg‘s The Souvenir at the Sundance Film Festival — I wasn’t taken by the narrative — but it felt like a rather unfair way to assess the film. Regardless, a rendez-vous awaits for tonight as I will finally catch the best reviewed film of the year so far — 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, 93% on Metacritic.
Read moreSource: Dardennes' ‘Young Ahmed' Almost Won the Palme D'or
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are the most influential European filmmakers of the last 20 years. Their social-realist handheld camera style has become a sort of cliché for the Euro arthouse world, but why complain that the developers of a certain style of filmmaking cannot continue making such films? If their last effort, 2016’s "The Unknown Girl," felt a little off, "Young Ahmed" is no doubt a unique film in their cinematic oeuvre because it tackles a controversial character that feels relevant to 21st century realities.
Read more‘Rocket Man' Review: Taron Egerton Is Impressive In Dexter Fletcher's Elton John Biopic — Cannes
Taron Egerton pours heart and soul playing Elton John in Dexter Fletcher's hyperactive, familiar but consistently entertaining biopic of the legendary musician.
Read moreBox-Office: ‘Aladdin' Makes $100M in Just 4 Days; ‘Booksmart' Disappoints.
Yesterday, I mentioned that “Booksmart” director Olivia Wilde urged audiences to go see her film, noting that the film is “getting creamed by the big dogs out there.” Wilde’s plea didn’t have much effect, at least in terms of the film’s Sunday earnings.
Read moreTIFF/Venice/Telluride Spitballing
A random, non-prioritized list of 45 potential titles for the 2019 Venice/Telluride and/or Toronto festivals
10 Hottest tickets
1. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese); 2. Knives Out (Rian Johnson); 3. The Laundromat (Steven Soderbergh); 4. Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi); 5. Uncut Gems (The Safdie brothers); 6. Ad Astra (James Gray); 7. First Cow (Kelly Reichardt); 7. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Marielle Heller); 8. Joker (Todd Phillips) 9. Wendy (Benh Zeitlin) ; 10. Lucy in the Sky (Noah Hawley)
11. Nomadland (Chloe Zhao) 12. Waiting for the Barbarians (Cirro Guerra); 13. Untitled Noah Baumbach (Noah Baumbach); 14. Dry Run (Todd Haynes); 15. Ford vs Ferrari (James Mangold); 16. The King (David Michod); 17. Fair and Balanced (Jay Roach); 18. Little Women (Greta Gerwig); 19. The Last Thing He Wanted (Dee Rees); 20. Fonzo (Josh Trank)
21. An Officier and A Spy (Roman Polanski); 22. Gemini Man (Ang Lee); 23. The Personal History of David Copperfield (Armando Iannucci) 24. Antlers (Scott Cooper); 25. The Glorias: A Life on the Road (Julie Taymor); 26. The Nest (Sean Durkin); 27. Waves (Trey Edward Schultz); 28. The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright); 29. Downhill (Nat Faxon/Jim Rash); 30. The Hunt (Craig Zobel);
31. Against All Enemies (Benedict Andrews); 32. Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton); 33. The True History of the Kelly Gang (Justin Kurzel); 34. The Good Nurse (Tobias Lindholm); 35. The Devil All the Time (Antonio Campos); 36. The Goldfinch (John Crowley); 37. The Rhythm Section (Reed Morano); 38. A Rainy Day in New York (Woody Allen) 39. The Truth (Hirokazu kore-eda); 40. Ema (Pablo Larrain);
41..Bergman Island (Mia Hanson-Love); 42. About Endlessness (Roy Andersson); 43. One Second (Zhang Yimou, China); 44. MalmKrog (Christian Puiu); 45. Undine (Christian Petzold) 46. Shirley (Josephine Decker) 47. Untitled Miranda July (Miranda July) 48. Harriet (Kasi Lemmons) 49. Proxima (Alice Wincour) 50. Radioactive (Marjane Satrapi)
Thoughts on Kantemir Balagov's ‘Beanpole' — Cannes
28-year-old Writer-Director Kantemir Balagov, whose debut feature, “Closeness,” shocked and astonished many at Cannes just two years ago, is back with another challenging and bleak statement set in his native Russia.
Read more‘The Wild Goose Lake' Review: Yinan Diao's Gangster Film is All Style No Substance — Cannes
Visual poetry is again on display in Yinan Diao’s “The Wild Goose Lake,” his latest action-noir, following the visually-dazzling 2014 Berlinale-winning, “Black Coal, Thin Ice.”
Read more‘Booksmart' Failing at the Box-Office
“Booksmart” and its bad box-office are no doubt of concern this weekend as the female version of “Superbad,” from director Olivia Wilde, just didn’t cut the mustard for audiences. It garnered some rather tepid numbers, in fact. Critics have been pushing this film ever since its triumphant SXSW debut. Fact of the matter is this; the film itself, “Booksmart,” felt like it was set in a faux world. If “Lady Bird” was lived-in and authentic then “Booksmart” turned out to be quite the opposite. The movie is entertaining enough as it goes but much of the comedy feels implausible. It isn’t the second-coming that many critics have claimed it to be (85 Metascore, 97% on RT) and it sure as hell isn't remotely close to “Superbad”-level goodness.
Read moreGeorge Lucas on ‘The Phantom Menace' 20 Years Later: “I love Episode I very much"
The official Star Wars site has a nice little “looking-back “ anecdote on the 20th anniversary of “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace.”
Read moreCannes-Winning ‘Diamantino’ Is A Surreal Hybrid of Sci-fi, Comedy, Fantasy and Satire [Review]
Sometimes a film cannot be pinned down to a specific genre. "Diamantino," now screening at the New York Film Festival, is that perfect example. A hybrid of sci-fi, comedy, fantasy, romance, and surrealism, it defies explanation and follows its own beautifully dark and twisted creative freedom.
Read moreCannes 2019 Wrap-up: Tarantino and Sciamma Stole the Show — Cannes
It's always interesting to go through the competition lineup at Cannes, especially if, like me, you've been attending the fest for quite a few years now. The stakes are always high for world cinema whenever this film fest to end all film fests kicks off. A good chunk of the European film industry counts on Cannes to produce a fair number of successes with every passing edition. Sometimes it doesn't pan out. More recently, in 2017, Cannes had a mediocre lineup which was a hint at the terrible year in foreign language cinema to come. During that year, the best films in competition The Safdies' "Good Time," Ruben Ostlund's "The Square," barely made a dent at the international box-office.
Read moreBong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' Wins Palme d'Or
The jury led by director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, awarded the Palme D’or to Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite.” As predicted, no Palme for Almodovar, whose film was a little too distance-filled for many. In fact “Pain and Glory” won a Best Actor award for Antonio Banderas, a real slap-in-the-face honor. Great news that, despite mixed reviews, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne won the Best Director award for the excellent “Young Ahmed.” Also, Don’t get me started on “Atlantics” winning the Grand Prix, which I found middling and amateurish
Read more‘Lighthouse' Snubbed by Cannes ...
Wasn’t sure if I was going to write about this, but HE beat me to it with a simple and satisfactory blurb, 5.24.19:
“So why wasn’t Robert Eggers‘ The Lighthouse offered a Cannes competition slot? Jordan Ruimy‘s French-speaking festival whisperer, who’s been fairly accurate this year, confirms that it was fiat–out rejected for competition by Cannes topper Thierry Fremaux. A midnight slot was offered as compensation, but Eggers and A24 decided instead on a Director’s Fortnight slot, and it all worked out in the end”