The 44th edition of Sundance kicked off with a few minor notes last night.

Consider us very excited for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming “Oppenheimer.” This is going to be the director’s return to non-sci-fi filmmaking and we all know how good he can be outside the genre.

Blacklisted in Hollywood, Johnny Depp has just been cast by French director Maïwenn to play Louis XV in her next film. Shooting is set to begin in Versailles next summer.

On 10.13.21 we reported, based on test-screenings, that Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” will be close to three hours long. We can now confirm that will indeed be the case, according to Variety.

The Sundance Film Festival kicks off tonight with the screenings of “Fire With Love” and “Lovesong.” There are over 82 films in this year’s lineup, up a few from last year’s 74 titles. I have seen around twenty Sundance 2022 titles thus far via press viewing links.

A good movie, said legendary Howard Hawks, is one that has “three great scenes and no bad ones.” Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells has been consistently using this protocol to identify legitimate Oscar contenders.

These past few weeks have felt like a total shutdown of the film industry. Movie releases have been delayed, the Golden Globes had no ceremony, Sundance went digital (again), the PGA/DGA delayed their awards … it’s depressing.

We had reported on 12.20.21 that Bong Joon-ho was setting his sights on his next film and that Tilda Swinton was going to be part of it.

The 72nd Berlin Festival announced its competition lineup this morning. I will sadly not be going there this year, but I hope that many of these titles are available via film publicists. The lineup sure does look marvellous.

It's been more than six years since George Miller gave us his masterpiece, "Mad Max: Fury Road." We all expected his next film to be the ‘Mad Max’ prequel ‘Furiosa,’ alas that project had so many delays, due in part to legal issues, that its future was in limbo for years.

Michel Franco is quite clearly a nihilist. His films have such a gloomy outlook on humanity, but if it sometimes feels like overkill, he hits just the right spot in “Sundown.” It’s by far the best work of his career.

“Spider Man: No Way Home,” the 8th Spider Man movie, has surpassed “Black Panther” at the all-time box office, reaching the number 4 spot with its domestic total of $704 million. Can it reach #3? That’ll be difficult. It needs $56 million to reach Avatar’s $760 million.

Along with Francois Ozon’s “Peter Von Kant” and Claire Denis’ “Fire” (screening on 02.12.21), you can also add Li Ruijun, Mikhael Hers, and Carla Simon’s new films for the Berlinale 2022 competition.

83-year-old Ridley Scott released two movies this year. “The Last Duel,” which absolutely deserves a Best Picture slot, and “House of Gucci,” a film that will most likely become a cult classic in the years to come.