It does look like the September release date will mostly just coincide with TIFF, and then be swept away into oblivion in the chaotic fervor of ensuing Oscar season months, but “The Report” could still make a mark, it’s as relevant as any movie likely to be released this year. I wrote this on AW earlier this weekend: Contribute Hire me Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy
And this coming from an unadorned fans of his, Lee could practically do no wrong in my books between his debut “She’s Gotta Have It” back in 1986 all the way to 2006’s heist flick “Inside Man,” let’s pretend 2004’s misbegotten “She Hate Me” doesn’t exist in that realm of movies. The filmography speaks for itself, really, “Do the Right Thing,” “Jungle Fever,” “Malcom X,” “The 25th Hour,” “Summer of Sam,” and his most underrated movie and, quite curiously, the most pertinently relevant to 2019, what with its satirical depiction of blackface in the mainstream, “Bamboozled....
And yet, I’m skeptical they can pull it off. It’s a brave decision on their part to try and make the Park City event happen, but we’re at a stage right now where our culture, particularly the media, still hasn’t really accepted to just live with this virus. Cases are still being counted, and quarantines for the infected still in effect. Sundance has already reduced capacity for their screenings, banned eating and drinking during movies, installed on-site testing and demands you to be triple-vaccinated to attend the festival....
Solving these problems requires a holistic approach that includes proactive actions from all parties – consumers, brands, and governments. Fortunately, many brands have taken in the numerous discussions about the environmental implications of their processes and subsequently make changes to their processes and procedures. They are going greener in favor of the environment; the following 4 brands have put in impressive work. Stella McCartney This luxury fashion brand leads the way in producing eco-friendly high-fashion....
Even years before “The Tree of Life,” Malick had tried to develop a film for Paramount in the ’70s about the origins of earth, titled “Q.” He eventually abandoned the project, but some of the footage, shot nearly 40 years ago, is employed in “Voyage of Time.” There’s also a bunch of deleted scenes from “Tree of Life” added in for good measure. Malick and cinematographer Paul Atkins have tried to achieve the impossible with this film: make a movie about the beginning, the middle, and the end of time....
I had skepticism going into this year’s all-virtual Sundance Film Festival, but count me as wholly impressed by the way they pulled it off. This should be the way every other festival does it digitally this year. The streaming was smooth, the sense of community very present and the quality of the movies was, surprisingly, decent. Especially given the fact that most of the titles that screened this year were shot in 2019....
Of course, when you have a ratings-hungry Academy and your numbers are tanking so hard that they’re basically on life-support, then you ignore that “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” isn’t nominated and feature a live performance of it during the ceremony. That’s what the AMPAS announced today. While we’re at it, can we have Emilia Jones singing Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” from “CODA”? That would be much better than the “Bruno” song....
A few weeks ago, a prominent Oscar pundit for a trade hinted that a rival studio started a rumour Spielberg’s film would be having its world premiere in Toronto. I brushed that off as well. A rival studio? Pfff .. “The Fabelmans” has just officially been announced as a World Premiere for the Toronto International Film Festival. The full TIFF lineup won’t be coming to us until the first week of August....
The amount of American titles for festival boss Alberto Barbera to choose from is enormous. A riches of submissions that will likely, and unfairly, overshadow the more euro-centric Cannes. Barbera has a gifted problem in his hands. He usually picks 4-6 American films in competition every year. This year he has more than a dozen A-list filmmakers who want to bring their US films to competition. Theres also a quota of 4-5 Italian films in competition....
Then ‘Everything Everywhere’ topped our mid-year critics poll, appearing on 40% of the lists submitted. It also, slow but surely, became an indie smash at the box-office, and A24’s highest-grossing movie of all-time with a cumulative intake of $101 million. And so, here we are, many months later, and it’s practically a lock for a Best Picture nomination. We are being told or, are supposed to believe, that a 142 minute movie about multiverses, taxes, millennial angst and over-the-top visual nothingness is going to be a hit with the AMPAS voting body (average demographic over 50, white, and male)....
The notable South Korean writer-director has won prizes at the last three Berlinales: in 2020, Best Director (The Woman Who Ran), in 2021, Best Screenplay (Introduction) and 2022, the Runner-Up Prize for “The Novelist’s Wife. I’m hearing the prolific Hong has another movie already shot and completed, possibly for this coming May’s Cannes. The man is an unstoppable machine. If you ask me, Hong hasn’t made a better movie than his 2016 gem “Right Now, Wrong Then....
More importantly, Tarantino has hinted that he may re-edit the film by adding more scenes and extending the run-time to almost two-hours-and-forty-five-minutes. And today, when asked about these possible re-edits, the head of Sony’s film division, Tom Rothman blatantly stated“You’d have to ask the maestro himself,” Rothman said (via THR). Tarantino’s film is supposed to be released on July 26th. It’s been more than two weeks since I saw Tarantino’s joyously playful new movie....
This one is said to be a darker drama in the same vein as “Match Point.” A French cast has supposedly been assembled, with some subtitled dialogue most likely set to be used in the film. There are no additional plots details, or a title, about this new film set in France. I’ve been tracking this project for the better part of a year now, and I’ll have more on the film whenever I get more info....
Also, “Can You Ever Forgive Me writers Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty won the WGA’s Best Adapted Screenplay award, another surprise. Well-deserved. What can I say, this is wonderful news as it is, to me at least, more legitimate than winning an Oscar considering your peers are still voting for this and it is the quintessential writing award in the industry. Green Book’s support is even softer than we think, I imagine....
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is played, in straight-shooting fashion, by British actress Felicity Jones. Natalie Portman was originally cast as RBG, a better pick, and the strain in Jones’ performance is apparent. Bader’s distinctive Brooklyn/Jewish accent is butchered by Jones as it awkwardly goes in and out of tune throughout the film. However, I must mention that if Jones was given a better script then maybe, just maybe, she would have been able to stretch her Oscar-winning talents a little further, alas what we have instead is a none-too-bright and conventionally rendered film that lacks any sort of subtlety and is, in fact, extremely manipulative as it tries to tug at the heartstrings....
South Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho is more known for genre fare such as “The Host,” “Snowpiercer,” “Memories of A Murder,” and “Okja,” but—and don’t be fooled by its title—in his latest film, “Parasite,” the monsters are all human and even scarier at that. It is rather strange how thematically similar this latest exercise in shock-genre is to last year’s Palme d’Or winner, “Shoplifters,” but without the subtleties of Hirokazu Kore-Eda‘s film....
Ever since winning an Oscar statuette for her film debut “Dreamgirls,” Hudson has been stuck in a rut, having appeared in mostly inconsequential films including “Sandy Wexler,” and “The Three Stooges.” However, “Respect” has Hudson going back to her roots: song. The former American Idol contestant has one hell of a voice and it looks as though she will be actually singing the songs on “Respect” (unlike Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody”) with the filmmakers likely not using Aretha’s dubbed voice....
Set in the early 2000s, the lead teenage protagonist in Karen Maine’s hilarious and heartfelt directorial debut “Yes, God, Yes” discovers Internet porn for the first time, but, being a Catholic school girl, it’s probably best not to go such sites because you know, God’s watching. The comedy premiered at SXSW last year, where it garnered Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble. The film is now set for a digital release in July and you all should watch this 78-minute romp....
Just a year after Morgan Neville’s indispensable documentary on Mister Rogers (“Won’t You Be My Neighbour?”), director Marielle Heller’s “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” has iconic everyman Tom Hanks playing the good-hearted children’s TV host in a role that not only perfectly suits him, but also embodies everything we love about the legendary Oscar-winning actor. Adapting Esquire reporter Tom Junod’s famous cover story on Rogers, Heller’s first big studio effort, after the indie successes of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?...
Set in an aforementioned post-apocalyptic world, “A Quiet Place” had John Krasinski starring alongside his wife Emily Blunt as a couple with their two children (Cade Woodward, Millicent Simmonds) forced to live in a world of near-silence so as to not awaken the mysterious monsters roaming around the woods. Using sign language 24/7 as a means to silently communicate, the technique allowed the family to survive longer than their dearly departed neighbors....
