The moral ambiguity of “Corpus Christi” is one of it’s most compelling elements. A film I regret missing at TIFF 2019, despite it’s well promoted debut, is among the most provocative of this years International Films submitted for Academy Award consideration. From Poland, Jan Komasa directs the script by 27-year-old first-time feature film screenwriter Mateusz […]
Typically with Russian submissions to the Academy for International Film, you see dark, brutal, dramatic epics often focused on violence. Loveless and Leviathan come to mind. The Russian selection committee look to the future with promising 26-year-old director Kantemir Balagov, only on his third feature but already capturing three major awards at Cannes, two this
Director Hans Petter Moland has adapted Per Petterson’s dense novel of the same name into a film that’s cinematically ornamental. Internationally, the film is being sold as a Stellan Skarsgård vehicle, despite the fact he’s a minor character in the story. Narratively framed similar to The Reader, Out Stealing Horses exists almost entirely in flashback.
In Tyler Perry’s latest film A Fall From Grace, there is murder, sex, and family drama, all wrapped up in a crime mystery. Perry tosses aside his iconic Madea costume to deliver his first original film on Netflix. More interesting than the plot is the fact the Atlanta filmmaker shot the film in five days.
Filmmaker François Girard (The Red Violin) is interested in music first, film second, and history third. His latest The Song of Names, like all his work, combine those three elements, this time into a familiar WWII film. The Song of Names also functions somewhat as a coming of age story, or at least it’s flashbacks.
Atlantics marks the second foreign film submission for Senegal for consideration in the Academy Awards International Film category. An easy choice for the west coast African country after actress-turned director Mati Diop, became first black female director in history to compete at Cannes earlier this year. Atlantics’ supernatural element makes it stand out among many
You don’t have to be Catholic, know anything about the Papacy, or even follow religion to be moved by Fernando Meirelles’ (“The Constant Gardner”) latest film. “Any journey can start with a mistake.” The Two Popes isn’t about mistakes, despite featuring the subplot of the first Pope to resign in over 700 years. It’s also
I have serious questions about the critical reactions coming from the Telluride Film Festival. Numerous times recently critics there, who got the first crack at some of the most anticipated fall season films, oversold expectations. All that to say that James Mangold is the kind of director you can usually count on. His films “Walk
Writer/director Ira Sachs (Love is Strange, Keep the Lights On) has always been interested in exploring human interaction, more specifically, strenuous relationships. Noah Baumbach gets a mention in the script, but it’s Woody Allen that Sachs unintentionally molds the framing and pacing of Frankie after. The assembly of actors is quite impressive, just seeing Oscar
Television shows adapted into big screen events are rare and difficult to pull off. The X-Files did it, once while the show was still on air, and a revival after the series ended. The wildly popular Downton Abbey has been off the air four years, this film takes place in 1927 just where near where