Week of « Prev | Next »
1-20 of 52 items « Prev | Next »
The Lasting Impact of Peter Weir’s ‘The Truman Show’
15 hours ago
The finest testament to powerful, visionary filmmaking is its lasting impact. Films whose theories about the state of things, or the future state of things, move from being portent to simply relevant. Peter Weir‘s 1998 drama The Truman Show fits firmly into the latter category, carrying messages of paranoia versus celebrity and denial versus discovery that have only rung more and more true with each passing day.
The Nerd Writer has just released a video essay that delves into this. Titled “What The Truman Show Teaches Us About Politics,” it considers, among other things, the process of “waking up” from one state of political and ideological understanding, then moving towards another. What The Truman Show does so powerfully, he states, is show how this process is not easy. It is painful. It is difficult. Enlightenment and freedom are not always a path full of sunny skies and gently rocking waves, »
- Mike Mazzanti
Posterized September 2016: ‘American Honey,’ ‘Blair Witch,’ ‘Queen of Katwe,’ and More
16 hours ago
“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably.
It feels like the window between Toronto International Film Festival screenings to our local multiplexes has compressed to non-existence. I’m not saying there aren’t a few gems with no intention of being released this side of the New Year (I’m looking at you Free Fire), but there are at least six September releases that will have been shown at Tiff mere weeks or even days beforehand. Either the cinematic quality of blockbusters has gone through the roof or festival programmers have fallen a tad too commercial. »
- Jared Mobarak
Enter a Genius’ Mind In Trailer for Documentary ‘David Lynch: The Art Life’
16 hours ago
Even as one who loves his work and the traffic it brings this site, I can readily admit that we probably have just about enough in the way of David Lynch-related explorations — until Twin Peaks premieres next year, that is, and in spite of reasonable anticipation for David Lynch: The Art Life, a new look-behind-the-closed-door documentary that will premiere at the Venice Film Festival. A follow-up (of sorts) to 2007’s Lynch, it follows him “back to his formative years in small-town Montana and the harder streets of Philadelphia,” featuring, as you can see in both a new trailer and clip, plenty of archival materials (which this obsessive’s never seen!), sit-downs, and trips into the man’s workshop, among other things.
Lynch, as you probably well know, is a funny figure all his own, as was evidenced in a batch of footage that was captured on the set of Inland Empire. »
- Nick Newman
[Venice Review] The Bleeder
17 hours ago
The Bleeder looks a bit familiar. A film of browns and greens; disco music and ‘70s rock tunes; big haircuts and even bigger lapels. Indeed, in a way reminiscent of recent period efforts such as Black Mass and David O. Russell’s last two outings, The Bleeder is drenched in that particular decade’s elaborate trappings. It also owes a lot to the school of Scorsese, complete with wise-guy narration, east-coast working-class lilts, and a sense of “You gotta be shitting me! Is this really my life?” But it’s a sports film at heart and a rather good one at that, all plucky underdog right hooks and tragic, humiliating falls. In a way, it’s also a film about movies, too. Coming from decorated Québécois filmmaker Philippe Falardeau, it is the true life story of Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner, the man who fought Muhammed Ali after the champ »
- Rory O'Connor
Kiyoshi Kurosawa Captures Fear In First Trailer for Tiff Entry ‘Daguerrotype’ Starring Tahar Rahim and Mathieu Amalric
18 hours ago
I have seen Kiyoshi Kurosawa‘s Daguerrotype, and the most I’m currently allowed to say is this: no, I’ve not yet learned how to blind-type that title. (It’s spelled differently from the traditionally used [and still-uncommon] term, which doesn’t help in the slightest.) If you want some quick taste of what the Japanese master has cooked up with his third feature in just one year’s time, peek at a trailer made in advance of this month’s Tiff showing — or don’t, since it probably gives away more than interested parties would care to know.
Daguerrotype is filled with incident on a scene-to-scene, sometimes moment-to-moment basis, so it only follows that any preview longer than, say, a minute will end up conceding things, even if you don’t immediately realize that things are being conceded. Nevertheless: those who want hints — including what the likes of Tahar Rahim, »
- Nick Newman
First Trailer For Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes Winner ‘The Salesman’
20 hours ago
According to our coverage, this year’s Cannes Film Festival was among the more fulfilling in recent memory, which might explain why a (reportedly) solid effort from one of world cinema’s more refined voices didn’t leave much impact. With a Toni Erdmann here, an Elle there, and a Paterson somewhere in between, Asghar Farhadi‘s The Salesman failed to stand out — among critics, at least; winning the jury’s Best Screenplay and Best Actor prizes (the latter for Shahab Hosseini) isn’t so bad — but the Iranian writer-director always demands attention. The film is making theatrical debuts around the world — Cohen Media Group will bring it to the U.S. this fall — and there’s now a preview for its French opening.
But for all my qualifications about its mild presence at Cannes, let’s be honest: our review offered no ringing endorsement. As we said then, “Excessively »
- Nick Newman
New to Streaming: ‘The Neon Demon,’ ‘Wiener-Dog,’ ‘To the Wonder,’ ‘Heaven’s Gate,’ and More
20 hours ago
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Captain America: Civil War (Russos)
In seeking to create an expansive multi-film universe, Marvel has managed to both bless and curse each of its subsequent films. The blessing comes in the form of a character development that takes place over the course of films and phases instead of scenes and acts. Characters who we met eight years ago have grown and changed before our eyes, and »
- The Film Stage
[Review] The 9th Life of Louis Drax
1 September 2016 9:01 PM, PDT
Ten years after Anthony Minghella optioned Liz Jensen‘s The 9th Life of Louis Drax to develop cinematically, it was his son Max who saw it begin production. The younger Minghella’s first credited screenplay, probably brought to director Alexandre Aja on set of their previous collaboration Horns, it would ultimately take another two for the finished film’s release. If I were to wager a guess as to why I’d say the distributors found themselves painted in a corner unable to figure out how to sell it. Rated R for reasons that probably could have been cut to earn a PG-13 if desired, the story arrives from the viewpoint of a nine year-old boy—his dark fantasy delivered in a way that feels perfectly primed for teenagers rather than adults.
Young Louis Drax (Aiden Longworth) is an original. He’s smart, perceptive, and extremely accident-prone from the womb. »
- Jared Mobarak
NYC Weekend Watch: Double Bills, ‘Inherent Vice’ on 70mm, Kurosawa, Minnelli & More
1 September 2016 7:30 PM, PDT
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film Forum
Cinema’s holy trinity — Ed Wood (technically Burton-Wood), Malick, and Chaplin — have two-for-one double-billings this weekend.
Howards End continues its run.
Museum of the Moving Image
“See It Big! The 70mm Show” concludes with Kenneth Branagh‘s Hamlet and Inherent Vice.
If you missed it in theaters, see the great Kaili Blues when »
- Nick Newman
Mia Hansen-Løve Talks New Film ‘Bergman Island’; See Four Clips From ‘Things to Come’
1 September 2016 1:09 PM, PDT
Today brings some clarification on a recently announced new project from Mia Hansen-Løve, whose excellent new drama Things to Come will arrive in December. Speaking to The Guardian about not making a film directly about herself, but “transpositions” of people she knows, the strength of realizing that filmmaking is what she wanted to do, and more, she also touched on the aforementioned project about a “filmmaking couple.”
She reveals she recently returned from a trip to Ingmar Bergman’s old stomping ground, the island of Faro, where she was getting inspiration when it came to writing the project. Titled Bergman Island, it follows the professional and personal relationship between a film-making couple, but it’s “not really about” her relationship with Olivier Assayas.
“There are a lot of films where you feel like there is no subconscious in them because they are so self-conscious in a way that it blocks the access to the unconscious, »
- Mike Mazzanti
Derek Cianfrance to Direct ‘Empire of the Summer Moon’ Next Year
1 September 2016 12:36 PM, PDT
With his latest drama, The Light Between Oceans, opening this Friday (our review), Derek Cianfrance is already eyeing his next project. According to Variety, he’s prepping an adaptation of Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, S.C. Gwynne‘s book about the last great Comanche chief, Quanah Parker. The project will be made for Warner Bros., with Cianfrance co-writing with Darius Marder, collaborators on The Place Beyond the Pines.
Cianfrance calls Parker, who had his mother abducted and spent years trying to find her, “really one of the great American heroes. [He] grew into his manhood, raged against the theft of his mother and spent his whole life trying to find her again.” He also tells Indiewire, “Hopefully I’ll be in production on in the spring, but then again, that’ll be like »
- Mike Mazzanti
Sebastian Stan Joins Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Logan Lucky,’ Set For October 2017 Release
1 September 2016 12:20 PM, PDT
After some incredible photos from the set of Steven Soderbergh‘s new heist caper Logan Lucky, we now have another addition to the already eclectic cast. According to THR, Sebastian Stan of Marvel fame has signed on to the project in the role of a Nascar driver who has spent time away from the profession, but is now back in the game. This may pose as unfortunate timing, due to the heist being planned on that very same Nascar track.
Stan, who plays the Winter Soldier in the Captain America films, is joining a stacked cast in Soderbergh’s picture that includes Daniel Craig, Hillary Swank, Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Seth MacFarlane, Katherine Waterston, Riley Keough, and more. Check out some of Soderbergh’s snaps from the set below as we await more details.
Dusting off the Lucky Shooting Shoes, purchased pre-Haywire… pic.twitter.com/4fiHwmX2Dm
— Bitchuation (@Bitchuation »
- Mike Mazzanti
The Film Stage Roundtable Ep. 7 – Best Scores and Scariest Films
1 September 2016 11:40 AM, PDT
Welcome, one and all, to the newest episode of The Film Stage Roundtable, a spin-off podcast from the madmen who bring you The Film Stage Show.
On this show we discuss the films that scared us the most, which aren’t necessarily horror features. Then we discuss our favorite scores of the century so far.
Give a listen, and then share your thoughts on Twitter and Facebook. Let us know what you think, and what you want to hear about next. Subscribe on iTunes (if you are subscribed to The Film Stage Show, you’ll get it in the same feed) or see below to stream download (right-click and save as…).
M4A: The Film Stage Roundtable Ep. 7 – Best Scores and Scariest Films
00:00 – 5:11 – Introductions
5:12 – 34:33 – Foremost Fearful Films
34:34 – 1:18:48 – Superior Scores
The Film Stage is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, »
- Brian Roan
[Venice Review] Arrival
1 September 2016 10:42 AM, PDT
In Arrival, prolific Québécois director Denis Villeneuve ponders the ramifications and possibilities of a potential first-contact between human beings and an advanced alien race and comes up with a sporadically incoherent film, but also some interesting ideas. This is, perhaps, largely thanks to the Ted Chiang novella, Story of Your Life, upon which the film is based. Adapted by screenwriter Eric Heisserer, Arrival can never quite seem to navigate the novella’s trickiest knots and U-turns. However, Villeneuve does manage (in his characteristically stylish manner) to get to the story’s core idea: that our understanding of the world is both the reason for and result of the language we use, and that a message of war on one side can easily be read as a message of peace on the other.
Amy Adams plays Dr. Louise Banks, a renowned linguist currently lecturing in a Montana university. She’s haunted »
- Rory O'Connor
First Trailer for Kelly Reichardt’s ‘Certain Women’ With Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams & Laura Dern
1 September 2016 10:16 AM, PDT
Just last week, it was proposed that there is (currently) no better director of actors than Kelly Reichardt, which we tend to agree with. This notion is further on display with her latest film, Certain Women, which tells three very loosely connected stories featuring Michelle Williams, Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, Lily Gladstone, James LeGros, and Jared Harris. Ahead of screenings at Tiff and Nyff, and a release in October, IFC Films has now released the first trailer.
As I said in my review, “The cinema of Kelly Reichardt lives in quiet, tender observations with deeply rooted characters and location. Even when adding a thriller element as with her last feature, the overlooked Night Moves, her style is never compromised. Her latest feature, Certain Women, is a loosely connected three-part drama adapted from the short stories of Maile Meloy. It’s perhaps the purest distillation of her sensibilities yet as she »
- Jordan Raup
15 Films to See in September
1 September 2016 9:36 AM, PDT
While the summer had a number of gems, our sights are now set on the majorly promising fall slate as we’ve highlighted 75 to keep on your radar. For a more specific breakdown, we now have our monthly rundown, which includes some Tiff and Venice films, and much more. It should also be noted that Michelangelo Antonioni‘s restored masterpiece La Notte will get a theatrical run starting on September 16 at NYC’s Film Forum, and will expand from there. Check out our recommendations below and let us know what you’re looking forward to.
Matinees to See: White Girl (9/2), Max Rose (9/2), The Academy of Muses (9/2), Zoom (9/2), Other People (9/9). Kicks (9/9), Dancer (9/9), London Road (9/9), Come What May (9/9), The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (9/16), My Blind Brother (9/23), Girl Asleep (9/23), Goat (9/23), The Lovers and the Despot (9/23), The Magnificent Seven (9/23), Chronic (9/23), Sand Storm (9/28), Do Not Resist (9/30), Deepwater Horizon (9/30), Miss Peregrine’s »
- Jordan Raup
Meet Christopher Guest’s ‘Mascots’ in First Full-Length Trailer
1 September 2016 8:52 AM, PDT
The fall is about to get a whole lot funnier. Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman director Christopher Guest is finally back to feature filmmaking with the new Netflix-distributed comedy Mascots. Set in the world of “competitive mascots,” it will first premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before heading to Netflix in October, and today the first full-length trailer has landed.
Featuring the massive cast of Jane Lynch, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Ed Begley Jr., Christopher Moynihan, Don Lake, Brad Williams, Zach Woods, Chris O’Dowd, Matt Griesser, Susan Yeagley, Sarah Baker, Tom Bennett, Kerry Godliman, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Coolidge, Michael Hitchcock, Maria Blasucci, John Michael Higgins, and Jim Piddock, check out the trailer below via EW for one of our most-anticipated films of the fall.
Director Christopher Guest (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind) and members of his beloved stock company — Parker Posey, Bob Balaban, Jane Lynch, »
- Jordan Raup
Telluride 2016 Reveals Line-Up With ‘La La Land,’ Arrival,’ ‘Manchester By the Sea,’ ‘Sully,’ and More
1 September 2016 8:05 AM, PDT
One of the last question marks of the early fall film festival onslaught was Telluride Film Festival, who announces their line-up just a day before the event kicks off. Today now brings the slate for the 43rd edition of the festival, which runs from Friday through Monday.
Featuring the world premiere of Clint Eastwood‘s Sully, there’s also the Venice favorites La La Land and Arrival, as well as past festival highlights and some highly-anticipated dramas headed to Tiff, including Manchester By the Sea, Moonlight, Things to Come, Bleed For This, Toni Erdmann, Una, Neruda, and more. Check out the line-up below, along with links to our reviews where available.
Line-Up
Arrival (d. Denis Villeneuve, U.S., 2016)
The B-side: Elsa Dorfman’S Portrait Photography (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2016)
Bleed For This (d. Ben Younger, U.S., 2016)
California Typewriter (d. Doug Nichol, U.S., 2016)
Chasing Trane (d. John Scheinfeld, »
- Jordan Raup
[Venice Review] The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez
1 September 2016 7:06 AM, PDT
The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez, the latest wistful, contemplative narrative effort from German director Wim Wenders, is the type of “European Film” you might have expected Homer to stumble upon in an arthouse cinema in an earlier season of The Simpsons. Based on Peter Handke’s celebrated play, the film focuses solely on a German writer, at his desk, as he types out an imagined erotic conversation between a man and a women (both French and unnamed) sitting in the sunny terrace of his front garden.
Shot in 3D on a grand-looking estate, presumably on the outskirts of Paris, we follow the stream of consciousness of a woman (Sophie Semin) recalling her romantic exploits as a man (Reda Kateb) lightly goads her on. As she slowly reveals more and more of her previous conquests (or “silhouettes,” as she calls them), the man begins to tell his own tales of a time spent in Aranjuez. »
- Rory O'Connor
An Eccentric Family Reconnects in First Trailer For Zach Clark’s ‘Little Sister’
1 September 2016 6:49 AM, PDT
After crafting one of our favorite (and most darkly uncomfortable) yuletide favorites over the last few years with White Reindeer, director Zach Clark is back with the new film Little Sister. Executive produced by Joe Swanberg, the film follows a family re-connecting, then things get a little strange. Ahead of a release in October, the first compelling trailer has now arrived.
We said in our review, “Saying Zach Clark‘s Little Sister being called a comedy does a disservice to the film seems like a slight on the genre. I know. But I don’t mean it that way. What this label does — even if it’s clarified with the word “dark” — is build an expectation that’s able to hurt the film’s true appeal. Clark and Melodie Sisk‘s script is definitely a drama first: a tough familial drama consisting of broken souls seeking an avenue to mend »
- Jordan Raup
1-20 of 52 items « Prev | Next »