Call it a remake, a reboot, or a rethinking, the “Irma Vep” series on HBO is above all meta. Start with Louis Feuillade’s 1915 French serial about a criminal gang, Les Vampires; jump eight decades into the future to 1996, when Olivier Assayas’ “Irma Vep” found Hong Kong star Maggie Cheung starring in a movie-within-a-movie adaptating the serial. Now, more than a quarter century later, the “Personal Shopper” director’s latest work both expands upon and in some ways contradicts the Cheung movie.
The fast-paced dialogue, twisty narratives, freewheeling soundtrack, and extraordinary visuals are back. Alicia Vikander plays Mira Harberg, a Swedish actor famous for American comic-book blockbusters, who arrives on set as director René Vidal (the remarkable Vincent Macaigne) is struggling with a special effects shot. As the series unfolds, relationships form and break, careers shift, and ghosts from the past haunt the set. But Assayas brings an honesty, sincerity...
The fast-paced dialogue, twisty narratives, freewheeling soundtrack, and extraordinary visuals are back. Alicia Vikander plays Mira Harberg, a Swedish actor famous for American comic-book blockbusters, who arrives on set as director René Vidal (the remarkable Vincent Macaigne) is struggling with a special effects shot. As the series unfolds, relationships form and break, careers shift, and ghosts from the past haunt the set. But Assayas brings an honesty, sincerity...
- 7/26/2022
- by Daniel Eagan
- Indiewire
Denis Podalydès as Philip with Léa Seydoux in Arnaud Desplechin’s adaptation with Julie Peyr of Philip Roth’s Deception (Tromperie).
In the second of my series of conversations with Arnaud Desplechin we discuss filming Frère Et Sœur, starring Marion Cotillard with Golshifteh Farahani and Melvil Poupaud, and working on Deception (Tromperie) with longtime collaborator composer Grégoire Hetzel (Oh Mercy!; Ismael's Ghosts; My Golden Days; La Forêt; A Christmas Tale; Kings & Queen) and for the first time with cinematographer Yorick Le Saux.
Marion Cotillard stars in Arnaud Desplechin’s upcoming Frère Et Sœur Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Arnaud Desplechin’s adaptation with Julie Peyr of Philip Roth’s Deception (Tromperie), starring Denis Podalydès, Léa Seydoux (Bruno Dumont’s France), Emmanuelle Devos, and Anouk Grinberg was a highlight of the 74th Cannes Film Festival and New York’s Rendez-Vous with French...
In the second of my series of conversations with Arnaud Desplechin we discuss filming Frère Et Sœur, starring Marion Cotillard with Golshifteh Farahani and Melvil Poupaud, and working on Deception (Tromperie) with longtime collaborator composer Grégoire Hetzel (Oh Mercy!; Ismael's Ghosts; My Golden Days; La Forêt; A Christmas Tale; Kings & Queen) and for the first time with cinematographer Yorick Le Saux.
Marion Cotillard stars in Arnaud Desplechin’s upcoming Frère Et Sœur Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Arnaud Desplechin’s adaptation with Julie Peyr of Philip Roth’s Deception (Tromperie), starring Denis Podalydès, Léa Seydoux (Bruno Dumont’s France), Emmanuelle Devos, and Anouk Grinberg was a highlight of the 74th Cannes Film Festival and New York’s Rendez-Vous with French...
- 3/23/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
You have to feel for Léa Seydoux, the star who was slated to be the all-but-official face of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with four vehicles in the official selection. Covid intervened, preventing her representing any of them in person. But the one she’s best in was also the lowest-profile.
Placed out of competition in the new Premieres sidebar, Arnaud Desplechin’s “Deception” is a strange, stifling but frequently intriguing attempt to find a cinematic match for the literary voice of Philip Roth, from his autofictional 1990 novel of the same name. It often succeeds, which is to say the filmmaking often appropriates the self-aggrandizing indulgences and knowingly oppressive masculinity of a work that isn’t among the author’s finest. But it’s Seydoux’s sly, bright presence, as an obscure object of desire who gradually places the protagonist’s failings in relief, that keeps us involved.
That...
Placed out of competition in the new Premieres sidebar, Arnaud Desplechin’s “Deception” is a strange, stifling but frequently intriguing attempt to find a cinematic match for the literary voice of Philip Roth, from his autofictional 1990 novel of the same name. It often succeeds, which is to say the filmmaking often appropriates the self-aggrandizing indulgences and knowingly oppressive masculinity of a work that isn’t among the author’s finest. But it’s Seydoux’s sly, bright presence, as an obscure object of desire who gradually places the protagonist’s failings in relief, that keeps us involved.
That...
- 8/30/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Building on what has come before, the opening act of Kornél Mundruczó and Kata Wéber’s “Evolution” recalls a monologue from the Hungarian duo’s previous film, “Pieces of a Woman,” when a Holocaust-hardened Jewish matriarch played by Ellen Burstyn repeats the mythology of her own survival — the idea that she somehow chose to live when so many around her were murdered. She tells the story of being hidden under the floorboards as an infant, and how even the doctor considered her a lost cause: “He picked me up by my feet and held me up like a chicken and said, ‘If she tries to lift her head, then there’s hope.’”
In “Evolution” — which Mundruczó adapted for the screen from his longtime collaborator’s logistically audacious Proton Theatre stage production — three generations of Jewish survivors choose to lift their heads, one after the other, across a trio of bravura single-take vignettes.
In “Evolution” — which Mundruczó adapted for the screen from his longtime collaborator’s logistically audacious Proton Theatre stage production — three generations of Jewish survivors choose to lift their heads, one after the other, across a trio of bravura single-take vignettes.
- 7/11/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Léa Seydoux Enters Erotic Entanglement In Trailer for Arnaud Desplechin’s Cannes Selection Deception
Few films in Cannes, competition or otherwise, have us excited like Arnaud Desplechin’s Deception, the director’s adaptation of Philip Roth’s erotic, dialogue-laden novel. That combination’s sufficient reason for attention, but it’s not like we’ve just heard about the thing: Desplechin—a certified Film Stage Favorite—first told us about the film in 2015, saying “Perhaps it’s a book that I will never be able to adapt for the screen, and I know I will regret it for the rest of my days.” In 2016 we talked further:
“This book fascinates me because it’s just pure dialogue — the most beautiful dialogue I’ve read between a man and a woman. The film, it’s about intimacy — so how are you dealing with a worldwide political issue when the film is dealing with intimacy? So today, I guess, my perspective is that it would be a wonderful thing,...
“This book fascinates me because it’s just pure dialogue — the most beautiful dialogue I’ve read between a man and a woman. The film, it’s about intimacy — so how are you dealing with a worldwide political issue when the film is dealing with intimacy? So today, I guess, my perspective is that it would be a wonderful thing,...
- 7/8/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Every one of our conversations with Arnaud Desplechin eventually leads to Philip Roth. As far back as 2015 he told us of ambitions to adapt the author’s 1990 novel Deception, a play-like dialogue between an American author (very heavily based on Roth) and his lover—which sounds simple enough, and in most hands would be, but for Desplechin its period-piece aspects seemed an insurmountable hurdle. Shortly thereafter he told us the following:
“This book fascinates me because it’s just pure dialogue — the most beautiful dialogue I’ve read between a man and a woman. The film, it’s about intimacy — so how are you dealing with a worldwide political issue when the film is dealing with intimacy? So today, I guess, my perspective is that it would be a wonderful thing, but I’m not sure the screen would be the perfect tool. I’m always wondering if it would...
“This book fascinates me because it’s just pure dialogue — the most beautiful dialogue I’ve read between a man and a woman. The film, it’s about intimacy — so how are you dealing with a worldwide political issue when the film is dealing with intimacy? So today, I guess, my perspective is that it would be a wonderful thing, but I’m not sure the screen would be the perfect tool. I’m always wondering if it would...
- 12/9/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The San Sebastian audience became the first in the world to see all eight episodes of Luca Guadagnino’s HBO and Sky Italy’s eight-part series “We Are Who We Are.”
The second episode of the series aired on HBO in America this week. The media had only received the first four episodes to review in advance. Thus, it was at San Sebastian Film Festival, where Guadagnino is president of the competition jury, that the acclaimed director fully unveiled what he calls “my new movie” to the world.
At a press conference in San Sebastian, Luca Guadagnino revealed that he sees “We Are Who We Are” as a film rather than a series, that he used digital technology to give the story a contemporary aesthetic and the show is an American “Paradise Lost,” signaled by the election of President Trump. He also weighed in on the new Academy Award qualification rules.
The second episode of the series aired on HBO in America this week. The media had only received the first four episodes to review in advance. Thus, it was at San Sebastian Film Festival, where Guadagnino is president of the competition jury, that the acclaimed director fully unveiled what he calls “my new movie” to the world.
At a press conference in San Sebastian, Luca Guadagnino revealed that he sees “We Are Who We Are” as a film rather than a series, that he used digital technology to give the story a contemporary aesthetic and the show is an American “Paradise Lost,” signaled by the election of President Trump. He also weighed in on the new Academy Award qualification rules.
- 9/22/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
The sunny subterfuge of Wasp Network, about a knotty web of anti-Castro groups and Cold War residuals, is a relief from the blue skin, suits and shadows of heavy political thrillers. It’s an Olivier Assayas film after all, shot in Cuba, Miami and the blue sky and ocean in between. As on Carlos, Assayas’ go-to DPs Denis Lenoir and Yorick Le Saux shot their own half of Wasp Network. With Carlos, Le Saux started the film and chose the film stock, lenses, etc. On Wasp Network, Lenoir shot the first […]...
- 7/15/2020
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The sunny subterfuge of Wasp Network, about a knotty web of anti-Castro groups and Cold War residuals, is a relief from the blue skin, suits and shadows of heavy political thrillers. It’s an Olivier Assayas film after all, shot in Cuba, Miami and the blue sky and ocean in between. As on Carlos, Assayas’ go-to DPs Denis Lenoir and Yorick Le Saux shot their own half of Wasp Network. With Carlos, Le Saux started the film and chose the film stock, lenses, etc. On Wasp Network, Lenoir shot the first […]...
- 7/15/2020
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
After last weekend’s influx of movies from big-name directors like Spike Lee and Judd Apatow, the landscape for movies looks to be comparatively calmer this weekend. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a fair share of worthwhile releases hitting VOD and streaming services this weekend, from studio movies with big stars, independently produced treasures coming off of buzzy festival runs and projects from major foreign filmmakers being distributed in the United States.
Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried star in Blumhouse Productions’ latest thriller “You Should Have Left.” Following its release strategies for “Trolls World Tour” and “The King of Staten Island,” Universal has decided to give the movie a “home premiere” and price 48-hour digital rentals at $19.99.
Meanwhile, French director Olivier Assayas’ latest film “Wasp Network” is premiering on Netflix nine months after its debut at the Venice Film Festival last September. The primarily Spanish language film...
Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried star in Blumhouse Productions’ latest thriller “You Should Have Left.” Following its release strategies for “Trolls World Tour” and “The King of Staten Island,” Universal has decided to give the movie a “home premiere” and price 48-hour digital rentals at $19.99.
Meanwhile, French director Olivier Assayas’ latest film “Wasp Network” is premiering on Netflix nine months after its debut at the Venice Film Festival last September. The primarily Spanish language film...
- 6/19/2020
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Literary adaptation delivers more than $27m in UK, $10m in Australia, $6m in Italy.
Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-winning Little Women is on course to cross $100m at the international box office this spring according to sources, as the period drama’s remarkable trajectory continues to charm fans.
At time of writing Columbia Pictures’ Louisa May Alcott adaptation stood at $178m worldwide, with international markets contributing $75.1m, and North America accounting for $102.9m through Sony’s distribution pipeline.
Ever since the film premiered in New York on December 7, 2019, Gerwig and her cast including Oscar-nominated Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet and...
Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-winning Little Women is on course to cross $100m at the international box office this spring according to sources, as the period drama’s remarkable trajectory continues to charm fans.
At time of writing Columbia Pictures’ Louisa May Alcott adaptation stood at $178m worldwide, with international markets contributing $75.1m, and North America accounting for $102.9m through Sony’s distribution pipeline.
Ever since the film premiered in New York on December 7, 2019, Gerwig and her cast including Oscar-nominated Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet and...
- 2/12/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Little Women movie review is here. The coming of age period drama written and directed by Greta Gerwig is said to be the seventh film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott.
Nominated in six categories at the 92nd Academy Awards that includes best picture, best actress (Ronan), best supporting actress (Pugh), and best-adapted screenplay, The movie stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timoth?e Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep. Does it fulfills the expectations and stays true with the hype?. Let?s find out in the movie review of Little Women.
Immediate reaction when the end credits roll
Every generation deserves Little Women and Greta Gerwig?s retelling of this 1868 classic by Louisa May Alcott may be non-linear but it?s preciously seamless.
The Story of Little Women
It?s...
Nominated in six categories at the 92nd Academy Awards that includes best picture, best actress (Ronan), best supporting actress (Pugh), and best-adapted screenplay, The movie stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timoth?e Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep. Does it fulfills the expectations and stays true with the hype?. Let?s find out in the movie review of Little Women.
Immediate reaction when the end credits roll
Every generation deserves Little Women and Greta Gerwig?s retelling of this 1868 classic by Louisa May Alcott may be non-linear but it?s preciously seamless.
The Story of Little Women
It?s...
- 2/5/2020
- GlamSham
Unlike most critics groups, the National Society of Film Critics (Nsfc) discloses the results of voting. Forty-two of the 60 members of the society cast ballots on Saturday, January 4, with 20 in attendance at Lincoln Center and another nine joining in via Skype from cities nationwide. In addition, 14 members voted by proxy but their votes only count in races that are decided on the first ballot.
Below: The complete list of winners, including the voting scores for each award (note how one-sided some of the contests were). Read the full winners report on the 2020 Nsfc Awards.
Best Picture
“Parasite” (44 points)
Runners-up
“Little Women” (27 points)
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (22 points)
Best Director
Greta Gerwig, “Little Women” (39 points)
Runners-up
Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite” (36 points)
Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman” (31 points)
Best Actress
Mary Kay Place, “Diane” (40 points)
Runners-up
Zhao Tao, “Ash is Purest White” (28 points)
Florence Pugh, “Midsommar” (25 points)
Best Actor
Antonio Banderas,...
Below: The complete list of winners, including the voting scores for each award (note how one-sided some of the contests were). Read the full winners report on the 2020 Nsfc Awards.
Best Picture
“Parasite” (44 points)
Runners-up
“Little Women” (27 points)
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (22 points)
Best Director
Greta Gerwig, “Little Women” (39 points)
Runners-up
Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite” (36 points)
Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman” (31 points)
Best Actress
Mary Kay Place, “Diane” (40 points)
Runners-up
Zhao Tao, “Ash is Purest White” (28 points)
Florence Pugh, “Midsommar” (25 points)
Best Actor
Antonio Banderas,...
- 1/4/2020
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
“Parasite” has been named Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics. It’s the latest win for South Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s film, which won the Palme d’Or by a unanimous vote after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival.
The critics group convened in New York and Los Angeles to vote Saturday using a weighted scoring system, choosing winners and runners up across a variety of categories.
Bong’s genre-bending look at class in South Korea also won Best Screenplay, which the director co-wrote with Han Jin Won, while Song Kang Ho was a runner up for Best Supporting Actor. Bong was also a runner up for Best Director, an award won by Greta Gerwig for “Little Women.”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Little Women” were runners up for Best Picture and those films, along with “Marriage Story” were particularly favored by the society.
The critics group convened in New York and Los Angeles to vote Saturday using a weighted scoring system, choosing winners and runners up across a variety of categories.
Bong’s genre-bending look at class in South Korea also won Best Screenplay, which the director co-wrote with Han Jin Won, while Song Kang Ho was a runner up for Best Supporting Actor. Bong was also a runner up for Best Director, an award won by Greta Gerwig for “Little Women.”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Little Women” were runners up for Best Picture and those films, along with “Marriage Story” were particularly favored by the society.
- 1/4/2020
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
The National Society of Film Critics held its vote on the best of 2019’s film Saturday, with “Parasite” taking the top prize for best film as well as best screenplay for Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won.
“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” Dp Claire Mathon was lauded for her work, as well as Laura Dern for “Marriage Story” and Mary Kay Place for “Diane.” “Pain & Glory’s” Antonio Banderas took best actor while “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star Brad Pitt scooped best supporting actor.
The Nsfc this year consisted of 38 critics, who voted by proxy and in person in L.A. and New York.
Full list of winners:
Best Picture
“Parasite” (Runners-up: “Little Women”; “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Best Screenplay
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, “Parasite”
Best Cinematography
Claire Mathon, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”
Best Supporting Actor
Brad Pitt, “Once...
“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” Dp Claire Mathon was lauded for her work, as well as Laura Dern for “Marriage Story” and Mary Kay Place for “Diane.” “Pain & Glory’s” Antonio Banderas took best actor while “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star Brad Pitt scooped best supporting actor.
The Nsfc this year consisted of 38 critics, who voted by proxy and in person in L.A. and New York.
Full list of winners:
Best Picture
“Parasite” (Runners-up: “Little Women”; “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Best Screenplay
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, “Parasite”
Best Cinematography
Claire Mathon, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”
Best Supporting Actor
Brad Pitt, “Once...
- 1/4/2020
- by Erin Nyren
- Variety Film + TV
Bong Joon Ho‘s “Parasite” won Best Picture from the National Society of Film Critics, which met at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City on Saturday to choose its winners for the 54th time. The South Korean drama also won Best Screenplay from the group.
The society recognized two indies for the top acting prizes: Mary Kay Place for “Diane” and Antonio Banderas for Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory.” The supporting acting honors went to Brad Pitt for “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Laura Dern for her work in both “Marriage Story” and “Little Women.”
The National Society of Film Critics was established in 1966, with its co-founders including Pauline Kael, Joe Morgenstern and Richard Schickel. The group currently has 60 active members. Members who have not seen most or all of the contending films can disqualify themselves from voting.
Also Read: New York Film...
The society recognized two indies for the top acting prizes: Mary Kay Place for “Diane” and Antonio Banderas for Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory.” The supporting acting honors went to Brad Pitt for “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Laura Dern for her work in both “Marriage Story” and “Little Women.”
The National Society of Film Critics was established in 1966, with its co-founders including Pauline Kael, Joe Morgenstern and Richard Schickel. The group currently has 60 active members. Members who have not seen most or all of the contending films can disqualify themselves from voting.
Also Read: New York Film...
- 1/4/2020
- by Steve Pond and Thom Geier
- The Wrap
The National Society of Film Critics (Nsfc) will be the latest voting group to chime in with their list of winners today. Keep checking back for a full list of winners, updating live.
See Over 100 interviews with 2020 Oscar contenders
For almost half a century, the National Society, which was founded in 1966, rarely previewed the Oscar winner for Best Picture, doing so only five times in 49 years. Then in 2016, it foreshadowed the two Oscar wins for “Spotlight”: Best Picture and Best Screenplay. In 2017, it went all in for “Moonlight” over Oscar rival “La La Land” naming it Best Picture, and awarding prizes to director Barry Jenkins, supporting actor (Mahershala Ali ) and lenser James Laxton. The next year, it was enamored with “Lady Bird,” which won four awards including Best Picture. Rookie solo helmer Greta Gerwig won both the directing and screenplay prizes while Laurie Metcalf claimed Supporting Actress.
Sign Up...
See Over 100 interviews with 2020 Oscar contenders
For almost half a century, the National Society, which was founded in 1966, rarely previewed the Oscar winner for Best Picture, doing so only five times in 49 years. Then in 2016, it foreshadowed the two Oscar wins for “Spotlight”: Best Picture and Best Screenplay. In 2017, it went all in for “Moonlight” over Oscar rival “La La Land” naming it Best Picture, and awarding prizes to director Barry Jenkins, supporting actor (Mahershala Ali ) and lenser James Laxton. The next year, it was enamored with “Lady Bird,” which won four awards including Best Picture. Rookie solo helmer Greta Gerwig won both the directing and screenplay prizes while Laurie Metcalf claimed Supporting Actress.
Sign Up...
- 1/4/2020
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Greta Gerwig named best director for Little Women.
Bong Joon Ho’s impressive awards season continued on Saturday night (January 4) as Parasite was named best picture of the year in the National Society Of Film Critics’ 54th annual vote.
The South Korean dark comedy, which is in the running for best foreign language film in Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, earned 44 votes under the Society’s weighted ballot system, finishing ahead of Little Women on 27 and Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood on 22.
Greta Gerwig was named best director for Little Women, edging out Bong with 39 votes against 36, while Martin Scorsese...
Bong Joon Ho’s impressive awards season continued on Saturday night (January 4) as Parasite was named best picture of the year in the National Society Of Film Critics’ 54th annual vote.
The South Korean dark comedy, which is in the running for best foreign language film in Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, earned 44 votes under the Society’s weighted ballot system, finishing ahead of Little Women on 27 and Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood on 22.
Greta Gerwig was named best director for Little Women, edging out Bong with 39 votes against 36, while Martin Scorsese...
- 1/4/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Little Women is a paradox. It’s a movie that is so warm, so innocent and so full of life that you leave excited for whatever comes next in your own. Yet it’s also a movie that makes our everyday lives look boring by comparison. The world outside the theater can’t compare to Greta Gerwig’s beautiful adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s wonderful novel.
The eighth version of the American classic is a return to the book’s roots. The time is the 19th century and the place is Massachusetts. A Civil War looms just beyond the woods. It’s a war that leaves the March girls without their dad (Bob Odenkirk) and without money. But the girls are rich in spirit, with a courteous glow that extends to everything around them.
Autumn leaves and golden hour light shower the countryside. Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) is running...
The eighth version of the American classic is a return to the book’s roots. The time is the 19th century and the place is Massachusetts. A Civil War looms just beyond the woods. It’s a war that leaves the March girls without their dad (Bob Odenkirk) and without money. But the girls are rich in spirit, with a courteous glow that extends to everything around them.
Autumn leaves and golden hour light shower the countryside. Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) is running...
- 1/2/2020
- by Asher Luberto
- We Got This Covered
When director Greta Gerwig introduces each of the four March sisters, at the beginning of her adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” each has already gone off in her own direction of adulthood. Even when the illness of the youngest sister Beth (Eliza Scanlen) brings them back home, the four sisters are never again reunited.
“They’re never all together again, not the four of them,” said Gerwig when she was a guest on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “When I realized that about the book, once they are in their separate lives that’s it, I found that unbearably heartbreaking. I thought, ‘Oh, the thing you miss is already gone.'”
Gerwig plays with time in structuring her adaptation, starting with the sisters on their own in early adulthood, and then flashing back seven years to when they were living in the family home as teenagers. In essence,...
“They’re never all together again, not the four of them,” said Gerwig when she was a guest on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “When I realized that about the book, once they are in their separate lives that’s it, I found that unbearably heartbreaking. I thought, ‘Oh, the thing you miss is already gone.'”
Gerwig plays with time in structuring her adaptation, starting with the sisters on their own in early adulthood, and then flashing back seven years to when they were living in the family home as teenagers. In essence,...
- 12/26/2019
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
On the surface, a remake of Little Women seems unnecessary, and arguably even a waste of Greta Gerwig’s filmmaking talents. Sure, this story is hardly told as often as others, but the most recent version is still well regarded, so many were hoping Gerwig would tackle something more original. However, her take on Little Women is more than different enough to make its own case for existence. With a modern touch, some strong acting, and a wit that shines through, this new take on the old story is very solid. Is it as good as the internet is telling you? No, but it’s also nothing to be avoided, like other parts of the internet are stating. As always, the discourse is terrible, when in truth, this is just a charming movie. The film is a new take on the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott. As always, it...
- 12/25/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
It’s the Louisa May Alcott novel that most women cherish and some guys approach like Kryptonite. Far from it. Instead, she shows why this story of four sisters and their mother, living in a house without men (their chaplain father is off serving in the Civil War), is both surprisingly timely and enduringly timeless.
Isn’t Alcott’s warhorse novel milked dry, you ask? Not with Gerwig, who scored a hit with her own coming-of-age story in Lady Bird, in charge. Plus, the last film version, directed by Gillian Armstrong,...
Isn’t Alcott’s warhorse novel milked dry, you ask? Not with Gerwig, who scored a hit with her own coming-of-age story in Lady Bird, in charge. Plus, the last film version, directed by Gillian Armstrong,...
- 12/23/2019
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
Greta Gerwig wrote and directed Sony’s “Little Women,” a new look at Louisa May Alcott’s much-loved 19th-century classic. Eager to pay tribute to her artisan colleagues, Gerwig says, “It was a joy for me to work with all these people. It’s a movie that’s impossible to create without world-class artists. They killed themselves for me!”
Yorick Le Saux, cinematographer
“We shot on film, which was critical to having the film look like we wanted. Yorick made every scene look like source lighting. I didn’t want the film to be overlit in evening scenes, especially interiors; I was Ok with dark corners falling away. Besides, it’s more romantic to have the light of a candle and to have things fall into shadow. It’s his skill and his team’s skill that allowed us to shoot that way.
In pre-production, there were a lot of films we used as reference.
Yorick Le Saux, cinematographer
“We shot on film, which was critical to having the film look like we wanted. Yorick made every scene look like source lighting. I didn’t want the film to be overlit in evening scenes, especially interiors; I was Ok with dark corners falling away. Besides, it’s more romantic to have the light of a candle and to have things fall into shadow. It’s his skill and his team’s skill that allowed us to shoot that way.
In pre-production, there were a lot of films we used as reference.
- 12/12/2019
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
We have all, by this point in history, seen multiple adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” but we have never seen one quite like writer-director Greta Gerwig’s moving and meaningful 2019 version.
This isn’t a radical rethinking of the “Hamlet”-staged-on-Mars school, but Gerwig makes decisions throughout that enhance the story, from juggling the timeline and giving certain characters more presence in the spotlight to the thoughtful craftsmanship employed throughout. From the uniformly excellent performances of a talented ensemble to the just-right choices in scoring, art direction, costuming and editing, this is a stunning interpretation.
I still revere the 1994 adaptation (directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Winona Ryder as Jo), and I have great fondness for the 1933 (George Cukor-Katharine Hepburn) and 1949 (Mervyn LeRoy-June Allyson) versions as well, but Gerwig takes a gamble here that pays off brilliantly.
Watch Video: Greta Gerwig's 'Little Women:' See Saoirse Ronan,...
This isn’t a radical rethinking of the “Hamlet”-staged-on-Mars school, but Gerwig makes decisions throughout that enhance the story, from juggling the timeline and giving certain characters more presence in the spotlight to the thoughtful craftsmanship employed throughout. From the uniformly excellent performances of a talented ensemble to the just-right choices in scoring, art direction, costuming and editing, this is a stunning interpretation.
I still revere the 1994 adaptation (directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Winona Ryder as Jo), and I have great fondness for the 1933 (George Cukor-Katharine Hepburn) and 1949 (Mervyn LeRoy-June Allyson) versions as well, but Gerwig takes a gamble here that pays off brilliantly.
Watch Video: Greta Gerwig's 'Little Women:' See Saoirse Ronan,...
- 11/25/2019
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Olivier Assayas, Penélope Cruz, Édgar Ramírez, and producer Rodrigo Teixeira with Kent Jones at the New York Film Festival Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Wasp Network, another highlight of this year's New York Film Festival, stars Penélope Cruz and Édgar Ramírez with Gael García Bernal, Wagner Moura, Ana de Armas, and Leonardo Sbaraglia. Inspired by Fernando Morais’s book The Last Soldiers Of The Cold War, the director/screenwriter Olivier Assayas announced that the film shot by Yorick Le Saux and Denis Lenoir, had been edited substantially since it was first shown at the Venice Film Festival on September 1. Assayas considered what we watched at the press screening on the afternoon of Friday, October 4 to be the film's new final cut world première.
Penélope Cruz: "I love babies. Once they get to the set they're mine!" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Wasp Network transports us into the realm of Cubans...
Wasp Network, another highlight of this year's New York Film Festival, stars Penélope Cruz and Édgar Ramírez with Gael García Bernal, Wagner Moura, Ana de Armas, and Leonardo Sbaraglia. Inspired by Fernando Morais’s book The Last Soldiers Of The Cold War, the director/screenwriter Olivier Assayas announced that the film shot by Yorick Le Saux and Denis Lenoir, had been edited substantially since it was first shown at the Venice Film Festival on September 1. Assayas considered what we watched at the press screening on the afternoon of Friday, October 4 to be the film's new final cut world première.
Penélope Cruz: "I love babies. Once they get to the set they're mine!" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Wasp Network transports us into the realm of Cubans...
- 10/6/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
An astronaut on an odyssey to a distant black hole faces the challenges of parenting – and existential panic – in Claire Denis’ superbly eerie, mysterious space drama
Claire Denis’s deep-space trauma High Life is an Old Testament parable catapulted forward into the 23rd century, a primal scene in a pressurised cabin of sci-fi pessimism, suppressed horror and denied panic. As if in a recurring dream, Denis brings us repeatedly to the image of a cream-panelled spaceship corridor that curves sharply around to the right; the area is at first pristine and then, as the years go by, shabby and derelict, stained with what may be body fluids. And what is around that corner?
This is a bizarre new creationist myth for those of us who ever wondered in childhood, and then forgot to wonder, about the taboo-breaking involved in propagating a race from just two people in the Garden of Eden,...
Claire Denis’s deep-space trauma High Life is an Old Testament parable catapulted forward into the 23rd century, a primal scene in a pressurised cabin of sci-fi pessimism, suppressed horror and denied panic. As if in a recurring dream, Denis brings us repeatedly to the image of a cream-panelled spaceship corridor that curves sharply around to the right; the area is at first pristine and then, as the years go by, shabby and derelict, stained with what may be body fluids. And what is around that corner?
This is a bizarre new creationist myth for those of us who ever wondered in childhood, and then forgot to wonder, about the taboo-breaking involved in propagating a race from just two people in the Garden of Eden,...
- 5/8/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Juliette Binoche stars in Olivier Assayas’ exploration of love, the Internet, and the death of literature.
Following the more esoteric but still pointed concerns of his last two films, Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper, French auteur Olivier Assayas heads into surprisingly straightforward territory with Non-Fiction. The director takes an almost traditional approach in following the lives of two couples--a high-end book editor named Alain (Guillaume Canet) and his actress wife Selena (Juliette Binoche), along with novelist Leonard (Vincent Macaigne) and his political consultant partner Valerie (Nora Hamzawi)--as their lives entwine around each other both professionally and romantically.
As the film opens, Alain delivers the bad news to Leonard that he is not going to publish his new novel, the latest in a long line of thinly disguised roman à clefs about Leonard’s own affairs. What Alain doesn’t know -- or perhaps he does--is that the...
Following the more esoteric but still pointed concerns of his last two films, Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper, French auteur Olivier Assayas heads into surprisingly straightforward territory with Non-Fiction. The director takes an almost traditional approach in following the lives of two couples--a high-end book editor named Alain (Guillaume Canet) and his actress wife Selena (Juliette Binoche), along with novelist Leonard (Vincent Macaigne) and his political consultant partner Valerie (Nora Hamzawi)--as their lives entwine around each other both professionally and romantically.
As the film opens, Alain delivers the bad news to Leonard that he is not going to publish his new novel, the latest in a long line of thinly disguised roman à clefs about Leonard’s own affairs. What Alain doesn’t know -- or perhaps he does--is that the...
- 5/2/2019
- Den of Geek
It begins in a lush, green garden, but “High Life,” the quiet, bracing and ultimately moving first English-language film from acclaimed French director Claire Denis, is the antithesis of a creation story. A science-fiction parable of despair, filled with more brutality than kindness and more pessimism than hope, its optimistic title is a sliver of bitter irony.
The garden, bursting with vegetables and shrouded in mist, sits housed inside a shabby spaceship containing Monte (Robert Pattinson) and his baby daughter Willow (Scarlett Lindsey), the last two living people onboard. In a series of flashbacks, the vessel’s function becomes somewhat clear and significantly more ominous: Formerly a cell block full of death-row inmates, this floating utilitarian prison box is on a one-way trip to a black hole.
Monte, in for murder alongside other violent criminals but assuming the role of the ship’s most monk-like crew member, delivers narration explaining the task.
The garden, bursting with vegetables and shrouded in mist, sits housed inside a shabby spaceship containing Monte (Robert Pattinson) and his baby daughter Willow (Scarlett Lindsey), the last two living people onboard. In a series of flashbacks, the vessel’s function becomes somewhat clear and significantly more ominous: Formerly a cell block full of death-row inmates, this floating utilitarian prison box is on a one-way trip to a black hole.
Monte, in for murder alongside other violent criminals but assuming the role of the ship’s most monk-like crew member, delivers narration explaining the task.
- 4/4/2019
- by Dave White
- The Wrap
As the vampire stud of the Twilight franchise, Robert Pattinson hit multiplex paydirt. Since then, he’s been raising his personal bar in the indie sphere (Good Time, Damsel). The star does himself proud in this elusive but bracing brainteaser from Claire Denis, the great French filmmaker (Beau Travail, Trouble Every Day) who’d much rather challenge audiences than coddle them. High Life is the writer-director’s first film in English, and the only one set in space. In the script she wrote with Jean-Pol Fargeau, her concerns about existence...
- 4/2/2019
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
When we use the term “science fiction,” almost invariably the branch of science we’re thinking of is physics: Quantum levels and warp speeds, artificial intelligence and advanced alien technologies. But Claire Denis’ first English-language film, the extraordinary, difficult, hypnotic, and repulsive “High Life” doesn’t give a damn about physics, and not just in the way that bodies tumble wrongly out of airlocks and nobody seems to spend a moment of their day engaged in cosmic problem-solving. In the science fiction of Denis’ forbiddingly austere and audacious imagining, the science is biology: Out here, we are not made of stars but of blood, hair, spit and semen.
We’re far from earth but this earthiness is everywhere. “Never drink your own urine, never eat your own shit — even if they’ve been recycled,” murmurs crew member Monte (Robert Pattinson) to the little baby in his care. “It’s what we call a taboo.
We’re far from earth but this earthiness is everywhere. “Never drink your own urine, never eat your own shit — even if they’ve been recycled,” murmurs crew member Monte (Robert Pattinson) to the little baby in his care. “It’s what we call a taboo.
- 9/10/2018
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
In many respects, the mesmerizing and elusive “High Life” is a first for writer-director Claire Denis: the first of her films to be shot in English, the first of her films to be set in space, and the first of her films to follow Juliette Binoche inside a metal chamber that’s referred to as “The Fuckbox,” where the world’s finest actress — playing a mad scientist aboard an intergalactic prison ship on a one-way trip to Earth’s nearest black hole — straddles a giant dildo chair and violently masturbates in a scene that’s endowed with the tortured energy of a Cirque du Soleil routine.
Needless to say, “High Life” isn’t your average science-fiction movie. In fact, Denis rejects the genre designation outright, insisting that her latest and most elliptical opus is far too grounded to be lumped in with the likes of “Star Wars” and “Solaris.
Needless to say, “High Life” isn’t your average science-fiction movie. In fact, Denis rejects the genre designation outright, insisting that her latest and most elliptical opus is far too grounded to be lumped in with the likes of “Star Wars” and “Solaris.
- 9/10/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
It’s difficult to ask hard questions about change and technology and progress — particularly to consider whether “progress” is actually progress or not — without sounding like a cranky old man, but writer-director Olivier Assayas has now done it twice. 2008’s “Summer Hours” contemplated a world in which new generations seemed uninterested in preserving art history and cultural treasures of the past, and now a decade later, with “Non-Fiction,” he asks similarly pointed questions about the future of books and literature in the internet age.
That he does so with a minimum of breast-beating and a surfeit of sparkling wit no doubt helps the message go down, particularly since it’s clear that he’s not offering answers but instead merely asking the questions.
The film introduces us to a group of friends, lovers and colleagues, all of whom engage in spirited conversations about the state of writing, acting and politics,...
That he does so with a minimum of breast-beating and a surfeit of sparkling wit no doubt helps the message go down, particularly since it’s clear that he’s not offering answers but instead merely asking the questions.
The film introduces us to a group of friends, lovers and colleagues, all of whom engage in spirited conversations about the state of writing, acting and politics,...
- 8/31/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
After highlighting 55 anticipated titles confirmed to arrive in theaters this fall, we now turn our attention to the festival-bound films either without distribution or awaiting a release date. Looking over Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival titles, we’ve rounded up 20 movies — most of which we’ll be checking out over the next few weeks — that we can’t wait to see.
Check out our 20 most-anticipated festival premieres below, and return for our review.
American Dharma (Errol Morris)
We apologize for the triggering image right off the bat in this feature, but as much he doesn’t deserve any more attention, the thought of watching master interviewer Errol Morris interrogate one of America’s most warped minds does have its intrigue. The Fog of War director’s documentary on former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon will premiere at Venice and play at...
Check out our 20 most-anticipated festival premieres below, and return for our review.
American Dharma (Errol Morris)
We apologize for the triggering image right off the bat in this feature, but as much he doesn’t deserve any more attention, the thought of watching master interviewer Errol Morris interrogate one of America’s most warped minds does have its intrigue. The Fog of War director’s documentary on former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon will premiere at Venice and play at...
- 8/27/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
With Halloween only a week away now (how in the heck did that happen?), of course there are a ton of horror and sci-fi home entertainment offerings arriving on Tuesday, ready to get you primed for all your spooky shenanigans leading up to October 31st. In terms of new titles, both War of the Planet of the Apes and Annabelle: Creation hit various formats, and Criterion has put together a stellar release for Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper as well.
On the cult side of the genre spectrum, we have a myriad of movies to look forward to, including a quartet of titles from Vinegar Syndrome: The Corpse Grinders, Demon Wind, Blood Beat, and the double feature of Prime Evil and Lurkers. Arrow Video has assembled a special edition set for Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast that’s a must-own for any splatter fans out there, and the Warner Archive Collection...
On the cult side of the genre spectrum, we have a myriad of movies to look forward to, including a quartet of titles from Vinegar Syndrome: The Corpse Grinders, Demon Wind, Blood Beat, and the double feature of Prime Evil and Lurkers. Arrow Video has assembled a special edition set for Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast that’s a must-own for any splatter fans out there, and the Warner Archive Collection...
- 10/24/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Ever since making his feature debut with the darkly comical Sitcom, French writer/director François Ozon has been making the world feeling horny and shocked with his films, often at the same time. With a body of work that also includes Water Drops on Burning Rocks, Under the Sand, In the House and the glorious one-two punch of 8 Women and Swimming Pool, you’d think the prolific provocateur might soon be running out of tricks.
Think again. His latest erotic thriller, L’amant double, which premiered in competition at Cannes this year, proved to be the film scandaleux of the festival. Starring Marine Vacth as Chloé, a young woman who one day discovers her psychiatrist partner Paul (Jérémie Renier) might have an evil twin brother and gradually loses herself in a web of deceit and kinks, it’s the kind of dangerously sexy farce at which Ozon excels.
We had...
Think again. His latest erotic thriller, L’amant double, which premiered in competition at Cannes this year, proved to be the film scandaleux of the festival. Starring Marine Vacth as Chloé, a young woman who one day discovers her psychiatrist partner Paul (Jérémie Renier) might have an evil twin brother and gradually loses herself in a web of deceit and kinks, it’s the kind of dangerously sexy farce at which Ozon excels.
We had...
- 10/18/2017
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
Personal Shopper
Blu-ray
Criterion
2016 / Color / 2.4:1 widescreen / Street Date October 24, 2017
Starring Kristen Stewart
Cinematography by Yorick Le Saux
Written by Olivier Assayas
Produced by Genevieve Lemal
Directed by Olivier Assayas
Written and directed by the French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper is the story of a young woman in the midst of a spiritual crisis, both of the existential and ectoplasmic variety. Her name is Maureen and she works as an assistant to Kyra, a flighty day-tripper famous for flattering herself in haute couture and being seen at the right parties. It’s a job so demeaning that Maureen has jettisoned most of her own identity in deference to the whims of her jet-setting boss.
Along with those earthbound skills, Maureen has a flair for communicating with the dead; she’s a bonafide medium and that uncanny talent may help provide the answer to a mystery tormenting her since the death of her twin brother,...
Blu-ray
Criterion
2016 / Color / 2.4:1 widescreen / Street Date October 24, 2017
Starring Kristen Stewart
Cinematography by Yorick Le Saux
Written by Olivier Assayas
Produced by Genevieve Lemal
Directed by Olivier Assayas
Written and directed by the French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper is the story of a young woman in the midst of a spiritual crisis, both of the existential and ectoplasmic variety. Her name is Maureen and she works as an assistant to Kyra, a flighty day-tripper famous for flattering herself in haute couture and being seen at the right parties. It’s a job so demeaning that Maureen has jettisoned most of her own identity in deference to the whims of her jet-setting boss.
Along with those earthbound skills, Maureen has a flair for communicating with the dead; she’s a bonafide medium and that uncanny talent may help provide the answer to a mystery tormenting her since the death of her twin brother,...
- 10/7/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
It has long been apparent that Kristen Stewart is a future Academy Award winner, not just a surefire nominee one day. Part of the double edged sword that you have with her output is that post Twilight, she’s been almost determined to stick to challenging independent fare. Cinephiles are obviously lucking out, but a lot of her work is flying under the radar. As such, she remains on the outside looking in, for now. This week, another indie featuring a stupendous turn from Stewart hits theaters in Personal Shopper. It’s a flawed film and not for everyone, but she is absolutely great in it. As such, if she keeps showcasing her talents in this way, it might take time before the Academy notices. At the same time, if these smaller movies continue to have top notch Stewart performances in them, Oscar could take heed anyway before long. The...
- 3/7/2017
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist — moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As we continue our year-end coverage, one aspect we must highlight is, indeed, cinematography, among the most vital to the medium. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the examples that have most impressed us this year. Check out our rundown below and, in the comments, let us know your favorite work.
Arrival (Bradford Young)
At this point, it would be unfair to call Bradford Young an up-and-coming cinematographer. While it’s an accurate description in terms of his relative years behind the camera, the caliber of his work already feels like one of the most accomplished in the genre. Ahead of a Han Solo prequel, he got his first taste with sci-fi thanks to Denis Villeneuve‘s Arrival.
Arrival (Bradford Young)
At this point, it would be unfair to call Bradford Young an up-and-coming cinematographer. While it’s an accurate description in terms of his relative years behind the camera, the caliber of his work already feels like one of the most accomplished in the genre. Ahead of a Han Solo prequel, he got his first taste with sci-fi thanks to Denis Villeneuve‘s Arrival.
- 12/28/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
We've celebrated the male performances and the heroes and villains of the year's first half. But before we get to the actresses -- what? foreplay makes it hotter -- let's revel in the beauty of Cinematography & Production Design. These five choices in each category are what yours truly, Nathaniel, would nominate if the year ended on June 30th. Please share your list of praiseworthy achievements in the comments. Movies are communal and loving them should be, too.
Halfway Mark Beauty Break
Cinematography & Production Design
(January to June theatrical releases only. Disclaimer: I have not yet seen The Mermaid which I hear is an eyeful)
Best Cinematography
If I had a ballot right now (January to June releases only...)
A Bigger Splash, Yorick Le Saux
From gold dust sunshine to postcard istas, from the ambient light of off white seaside architecture to intimate dinners by candlelight, Le Saux is always caressing...
Halfway Mark Beauty Break
Cinematography & Production Design
(January to June theatrical releases only. Disclaimer: I have not yet seen The Mermaid which I hear is an eyeful)
Best Cinematography
If I had a ballot right now (January to June releases only...)
A Bigger Splash, Yorick Le Saux
From gold dust sunshine to postcard istas, from the ambient light of off white seaside architecture to intimate dinners by candlelight, Le Saux is always caressing...
- 7/2/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
In lieu of a full review for Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love follow up A Bigger Splash -- who can type with one hand -- a hot and bothered top ten list.
The Sexiest Things In "A Bigger Splash"
10. Reflective Sunglasses.
The great cinematographer Yorick Le Saux (look up his filmography. Seriously) makes full use of the reflections in everyone's glasses. We're staring at them, but what are they staring at in this voyeuristic vacation?
09. Tilda Whispering to Matthias
As the movie begins world famous rockstar Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) is on vocal rest, doctor's orders. Her visiting friend/ex lover Harry (Ralph Fiennes) and a daughter he didn't know he had until recently (Dakota Johnson) arrive in town unexpectedly and they're told she can't speak. It's not strictly true. Marianne reserves her whispering, which she's allowed, for her younger filmmaker boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts). Secretive conspiratorial intimacy is a panty-dropper.
The Sexiest Things In "A Bigger Splash"
10. Reflective Sunglasses.
The great cinematographer Yorick Le Saux (look up his filmography. Seriously) makes full use of the reflections in everyone's glasses. We're staring at them, but what are they staring at in this voyeuristic vacation?
09. Tilda Whispering to Matthias
As the movie begins world famous rockstar Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) is on vocal rest, doctor's orders. Her visiting friend/ex lover Harry (Ralph Fiennes) and a daughter he didn't know he had until recently (Dakota Johnson) arrive in town unexpectedly and they're told she can't speak. It's not strictly true. Marianne reserves her whispering, which she's allowed, for her younger filmmaker boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts). Secretive conspiratorial intimacy is a panty-dropper.
- 5/10/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Lush, seductive and thrilling, Luca Guadagnino’s latest is an ultra-stylish visual feast.
A Bigger Splash is the most pleasurably stylish new release I have seen this year.
With this rather hyperbolic praise for its distinctive sense of style, I am not only referring to the ultra-luxe and magnificent Dior ensembles Tilda Swinton gracefully wears throughout. (That is a big part of the deal however, so more on that later.) I am instead talking about the entire visual package of A Bigger Splash: a chocolate-lava-cake-of-a-film that delectably pours out its warm insides once gently pierced, and is designed to nourish one’s optical pleasures first and foremost. From its costumes to its camerawork, the breezy crafts of this sun-soaked, gorgeously sensual thriller gently brush your skin with visual splendor, rather than forcibly get under it. As director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love) softly applies a persistent, luscious and sexual tease onto his Italy-set, low-key...
A Bigger Splash is the most pleasurably stylish new release I have seen this year.
With this rather hyperbolic praise for its distinctive sense of style, I am not only referring to the ultra-luxe and magnificent Dior ensembles Tilda Swinton gracefully wears throughout. (That is a big part of the deal however, so more on that later.) I am instead talking about the entire visual package of A Bigger Splash: a chocolate-lava-cake-of-a-film that delectably pours out its warm insides once gently pierced, and is designed to nourish one’s optical pleasures first and foremost. From its costumes to its camerawork, the breezy crafts of this sun-soaked, gorgeously sensual thriller gently brush your skin with visual splendor, rather than forcibly get under it. As director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love) softly applies a persistent, luscious and sexual tease onto his Italy-set, low-key...
- 5/10/2016
- by Tomris Laffly
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
There’s almost an embarrassment of riches on display in the new movie A Bigger Splash, at least in terms of the main cast members. Consider how excited most cinema buffs would be for anything that starred Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton, but then factor in how this is a change of pace for them both, along with A Bigger Splash being a high profile title on the fall festival circuit last year, and that only adds to the hype, as it were. Having seen the final product, I’m not too wild about it, but it is really hard to beat this cast. With the film headed to theaters this week, I figured it paid to discuss this one a bit. It’s certainly an indie movie of note, no doubt about that. The film is loosely inspired by La Piscine (or The Swimming Pool), but mostly is just its own thing.
- 5/4/2016
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Personal Shopper
Director: Olivier Assayas
Writer: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas returns with another English language Euro drama starring Kristen Stewart, Personal Shopper. Their last collaboration was the Cannes premiered Clouds of Sils Maria, which snagged Stewart a Cesar for Best Supporting Actress (the first American to be awarded) and was one of the best theatrical releases of 2015. While Assayas was originally intending to film a project known as Idol’s Eye starring Robert Pattinson and Robert De Niro, funding fell through before filming, paving the way for the director to re-team with Stewart for a film described as a ghost story set in the fashion underworld of Paris. Also re-teaming with Assayas DoP Yorick Le Saux (Carlos; Clouds of Sils Maria) and German star Lars Eidinger. Danish actor Anders Danielsen Lie (of Trier’s Reprise and Oslo, August 31st) is also a notable cast member.
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger,...
Director: Olivier Assayas
Writer: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas returns with another English language Euro drama starring Kristen Stewart, Personal Shopper. Their last collaboration was the Cannes premiered Clouds of Sils Maria, which snagged Stewart a Cesar for Best Supporting Actress (the first American to be awarded) and was one of the best theatrical releases of 2015. While Assayas was originally intending to film a project known as Idol’s Eye starring Robert Pattinson and Robert De Niro, funding fell through before filming, paving the way for the director to re-team with Stewart for a film described as a ghost story set in the fashion underworld of Paris. Also re-teaming with Assayas DoP Yorick Le Saux (Carlos; Clouds of Sils Maria) and German star Lars Eidinger. Danish actor Anders Danielsen Lie (of Trier’s Reprise and Oslo, August 31st) is also a notable cast member.
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger,...
- 1/14/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Watching a film by Olivier Assayas is a little like wandering into the bedroom of a teenager, taking in the aesthetic décor that clings to his or her walls and bookshelves—posters, pop records, hastily cut-out collages of idols, and literature—and being left to draw a logical conclusion based on these ephemeral scraps. This idea of collage, assembling or reinventing an identity, has always been a concept inherent to punk and youth culture: British punk historian Jon Savage coined the term “living collage” to describe European teenagers in the 1970s who tore apart thrifted vintage clothing at the seams to fuse and repurpose them with safety pins. Assayas’ work is essentially the filmic equivalent of that same idea: he populates his frames with torrents of ideas and surfaces and lets loose cinematographers Yorick Le Saux and Eric Gautier to pan wildly, struggling to encapsulate everything into their widescreen, handheld compositions.
- 5/8/2015
- by Mark Lukenbill
- MUBI
Designer biopic leads the pack with 10 nominations; Kristen Stewart, Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche in the running for actress awards.Scroll down for full list of nominees
Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent and Olivier Assays’ Sils Maria are the hot favourites in France’s 40th annual Cesar awards.
France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations for this year’s César Awards at its traditional news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs Elysées on Friday morning.
Biopic Saint Laurent - exploring fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent’s life from 1967 to 1976 - led the pack with 10 nominations including best film, best director for Bonello, best actor for Gaspard Ulliel and best supporting actor for Louis Garrel.
Jalil Lespert’s rival biopic, Yves Saint Laurent, secured seven nominations. While it missed out in the best film and director categories, it scored nods with Pierre Niney for best actor, Charlotte Le Bon for best...
Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent and Olivier Assays’ Sils Maria are the hot favourites in France’s 40th annual Cesar awards.
France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations for this year’s César Awards at its traditional news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs Elysées on Friday morning.
Biopic Saint Laurent - exploring fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent’s life from 1967 to 1976 - led the pack with 10 nominations including best film, best director for Bonello, best actor for Gaspard Ulliel and best supporting actor for Louis Garrel.
Jalil Lespert’s rival biopic, Yves Saint Laurent, secured seven nominations. While it missed out in the best film and director categories, it scored nods with Pierre Niney for best actor, Charlotte Le Bon for best...
- 1/28/2015
- ScreenDaily
Palm Springs International Film Festival is the most accommodating to the industry, the easiest to get around with a frequent shuttle, the easiest to see great films, the best environment, the best audiences (all the shows are sold out) of festivals.
However, it is strange being surrounded by old people who are all my age. My prejudices against “old people” remains the same as when I considered them to be a part of my mother’s generation. However, some of these “old people” know so much more about the films, and their educated way of making choices of what to see are so much better than mine. I thought I knew everything...what a laugh. They know every director, all their past films, and they painstakingly plan with handwritten schedules and lots of discussion which films they will see.
I have been coming to the festival, almost “dropping in” on it since it is a mere 2 hour drive from L.A. for many years and everyone is always so helpful. It is totally familiar to me; it’s leisurely, very few restaurants (if any) are really great, there is a certain tackiness to the shops And there are always new film adventures and new folks to see.
This year I was happily hanging out the first weekend with Nancy Gerstman from Zeitgeist, and on the second weekend with Fortissimo’s Michael Werner and Tom Davia whose new company CineMaven (www.Cinemaven.com) sounds like a great company for festivals, filmmakers and companies needing acquisition help. We had a great dinner at Spencer’s where the Awards Luncheon was held.
On the recommendation of Mattijs Wouter Knol, the new head of the European Film Market at Berlin – on Facebook as he is now preparing the Efm and was not here – I watched “Clouds of Sils Maria” by Olivier Assayas. Opinions on this film as with most films by Assayas, vary, but mine is that this languid study on acting and real life and how aging and death fit into the mix was a major treat. Like Polanski’s “Venus in Fur”, the alternating currents of acting and real life flow electrically with shocks and illumination included. Rather than aging, let’s call ourselves “ageless” and have an end to confusion about the inevitable life processes.
Like “Winters Sleep," another of my favorite “intellectual cinema” choices, in “Sils Maria”, the interior processes of the protagonists are revealed only in the unfolding of the story.
Kirsten Stewart played an amazing role as the actress’s young assistant in this deeply felt, intellectually worked out study of aging vs. ageless.
By biting off what seems like more than she can chew in consenting to play opposite the great Juliette Binoche who is at the height of her career, a young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal (Chloë Grace Moretz) gives Juliette Binoche the resolution to the unhappiness that has been nagging at her throughout the film.
Maria Enders is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years earlier. But back then, she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena. She doesn’t want to play this role but is coaxed by circumstances into playing it and when she discusses it with the young actress who blithely tells her it’s time to move on, she becomes the Eve of “All About Eve” and Juliette “gets” it.
Cinematography is by Yorick Le Saux (“Only Lovers Left Alive," “Potiche," “Carlos”). IFC has North American rights.
Moving on, I can’t wait to see Juliette Binoche in her next role, the Opening Night film of the Berlinale, Isabel Croixet's “Nobody Wants the Night ”. The film co-stars Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi (“Babel”) and Gabriel Byrne (as explorer Robert Peary) and takes place in 1908 in the Arctic and Greenland. (Isa: Elle Driver
The other film I saw that first weekend was “Dancing Arabs” (Isa: The Match Factory) by Eran Riklis who was there to discuss the film as well. He had been a soldier in Israel’s worst war. He witnessed Sadat making peace with Israel. However, when Perez was assassinated, he saw Israel declining into a violent nation as peace became more and more elusive.
Dancing Arabs is a very popular novel in Israel. It is an odd title for this film, but it derives from a saying, “you can't dance at two weddings at the same time”. The film is also loosely based on another novel...Second Person Singular. But after filming a while, the characters took on lives of their own and the novels were more or less forgotten in the process of making the movie.
Lots of questions are left open in this film because there are no answers. In a way, the film is experimental. It opens as a charming family film, but changes and actually becomes almost morbid. People however do change, and the young “genius” living in a small Arab town in Israel/ Palestine becomes a mature man living in Berlin at the end of the story.
This is the first film of the male lead, Tawfeek Barhom. Who plays Eyad. While casting, Riklis said that the young actor told him he had known him since he was ten when he saw him making the movie “The Syrian Bride” in his village. He went to set every day for three weeks, and he knew he wanted to be an actor. On screen he is playing himself, and a lot of the story was true...he lived too long with the Jews, his Arab was no longer good. This he said at a screening held in the north of Israel to an audience of mostly Arabs who do not go to many movies, but were invited by Israel to see the film.
In the film he gives up his education for love of girl and she gives up her love for him for the love of her country. This is how minority relationships often turn out.
Eyad’s father’s reaction to the relationship of his university student son with an Israeli Jewish student is unexpected, but he too is buried by tradition whereas the mother with her small smile gives a ray of hope.
The scriptwriter-novelist, Sayed Kashua is brilliant, and this is a part of his real life. Kashua and Riklis have a love-hate relationship: when Kashua, who based the novel on his own life, saw the fine cut...he fainted. His wife said, “What are you complaining about, did your mother look like that?”
Sayed said complained that his own kids don't speak Arabic anymore, and so he took a sabbatical and is now in Champaign-Urbana at the University of Illinois.
The audience in Israel, judging by the 20 to 30 Facebook comments, they get daily consists of 20% Arabs which is great because they don't normally go to movies. Even a right wing Israeli said he liked the movie. The goes beyond right and left.
It is not a blockbuster, but it doing well. The word “Arab” might keep some people away.
On the second weekend I went to see “Salt of the Earth” (Isa: Ndm), now nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the Academy Awards, and “Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” by her grandniece Michelle Boyaner.
Sebastião Salgado’s photographs are linked by his son and director Wim Wenders to his life. With his own voice and that of his son, Juliano, they discover the undiscovered in photography and in their own lives.
“Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” is the story of artist Edith Lake Wilkinson, committed to an asylum in 1925 and never heard from again. All her worldly possessions were packed into trunks and shipped to a relative in West Virginia where they sat in an attic for 40 years. Edith's great-niece, Emmy Award winning writer and director Jane Anderson, grew up surrounded by Edith's paintings, thanks to her mother who had gone poking through that dusty attic and rescued Edith's work. The film follows Jane in her decades-long journey to find the answers to the mystery of Edith's buried life, return the work to Provincetown and have Edith's contributions recognized by the larger art world.
Read More: Sydney Levine on "Finding Vivian Maier"
In many ways this is similar to “Finding Vivian Maier," which also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Feature Documentary category, in that both recover long lost and never acknowledged art which is astoundingly good art. This one goes further into the lesbian relationships of artists Edith and Jane and takes another unexpected step into the psychic world of a medium who actually solves the mystery of why Edith was committed and then forgotten. This is a must-see for art lovers and would make a great fiction film as well.
Another notable aspect of Psiff that is how, just before the Awards begin for Golden Globe and for the Academy, all the big name stars are here for two awards events. One, the opening night gala raises millions for the festival. The other, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch brunch, brings more stars and that funny speech by Chris Rock (See Video Here).
Read More: Dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev on his Oscar-Nominated "Leviathan"
Also remarkable is that, aside from the above Awards and then the final festival awards bestowed, the Golden Globes mirrored the Palm Springs Fest’s awards:
Actress in a drama: Julianne Moore, “Still Alice” (Isa: Memento) won Psiff’s Achievement Award
Actor in a drama: Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything” (Uip) also received the Psiff Desert Palm Achievement Award.
Supporting actor, drama: J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash” (Isa: Sierra/ Affinity) received the Psiff Spotlight Award.
Director Richard Linklater, “Boyhood” (Uip/ Paramount) received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.
Foreign Language Film: "Leviathan” (Isa: Pyramide) received the PSiFF Best Foreign Language Film.
Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, “Birdman” (Fox Searchlight), Inarritu received Psiff Director of the Year Award which was bestowed by “Birdman” star Michael Keaton. And the Golden Globe Award for Actor, musical or comedy, went to Michael Keaton for “Birdman”...
However, it is strange being surrounded by old people who are all my age. My prejudices against “old people” remains the same as when I considered them to be a part of my mother’s generation. However, some of these “old people” know so much more about the films, and their educated way of making choices of what to see are so much better than mine. I thought I knew everything...what a laugh. They know every director, all their past films, and they painstakingly plan with handwritten schedules and lots of discussion which films they will see.
I have been coming to the festival, almost “dropping in” on it since it is a mere 2 hour drive from L.A. for many years and everyone is always so helpful. It is totally familiar to me; it’s leisurely, very few restaurants (if any) are really great, there is a certain tackiness to the shops And there are always new film adventures and new folks to see.
This year I was happily hanging out the first weekend with Nancy Gerstman from Zeitgeist, and on the second weekend with Fortissimo’s Michael Werner and Tom Davia whose new company CineMaven (www.Cinemaven.com) sounds like a great company for festivals, filmmakers and companies needing acquisition help. We had a great dinner at Spencer’s where the Awards Luncheon was held.
On the recommendation of Mattijs Wouter Knol, the new head of the European Film Market at Berlin – on Facebook as he is now preparing the Efm and was not here – I watched “Clouds of Sils Maria” by Olivier Assayas. Opinions on this film as with most films by Assayas, vary, but mine is that this languid study on acting and real life and how aging and death fit into the mix was a major treat. Like Polanski’s “Venus in Fur”, the alternating currents of acting and real life flow electrically with shocks and illumination included. Rather than aging, let’s call ourselves “ageless” and have an end to confusion about the inevitable life processes.
Like “Winters Sleep," another of my favorite “intellectual cinema” choices, in “Sils Maria”, the interior processes of the protagonists are revealed only in the unfolding of the story.
Kirsten Stewart played an amazing role as the actress’s young assistant in this deeply felt, intellectually worked out study of aging vs. ageless.
By biting off what seems like more than she can chew in consenting to play opposite the great Juliette Binoche who is at the height of her career, a young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal (Chloë Grace Moretz) gives Juliette Binoche the resolution to the unhappiness that has been nagging at her throughout the film.
Maria Enders is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years earlier. But back then, she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena. She doesn’t want to play this role but is coaxed by circumstances into playing it and when she discusses it with the young actress who blithely tells her it’s time to move on, she becomes the Eve of “All About Eve” and Juliette “gets” it.
Cinematography is by Yorick Le Saux (“Only Lovers Left Alive," “Potiche," “Carlos”). IFC has North American rights.
Moving on, I can’t wait to see Juliette Binoche in her next role, the Opening Night film of the Berlinale, Isabel Croixet's “Nobody Wants the Night ”. The film co-stars Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi (“Babel”) and Gabriel Byrne (as explorer Robert Peary) and takes place in 1908 in the Arctic and Greenland. (Isa: Elle Driver
The other film I saw that first weekend was “Dancing Arabs” (Isa: The Match Factory) by Eran Riklis who was there to discuss the film as well. He had been a soldier in Israel’s worst war. He witnessed Sadat making peace with Israel. However, when Perez was assassinated, he saw Israel declining into a violent nation as peace became more and more elusive.
Dancing Arabs is a very popular novel in Israel. It is an odd title for this film, but it derives from a saying, “you can't dance at two weddings at the same time”. The film is also loosely based on another novel...Second Person Singular. But after filming a while, the characters took on lives of their own and the novels were more or less forgotten in the process of making the movie.
Lots of questions are left open in this film because there are no answers. In a way, the film is experimental. It opens as a charming family film, but changes and actually becomes almost morbid. People however do change, and the young “genius” living in a small Arab town in Israel/ Palestine becomes a mature man living in Berlin at the end of the story.
This is the first film of the male lead, Tawfeek Barhom. Who plays Eyad. While casting, Riklis said that the young actor told him he had known him since he was ten when he saw him making the movie “The Syrian Bride” in his village. He went to set every day for three weeks, and he knew he wanted to be an actor. On screen he is playing himself, and a lot of the story was true...he lived too long with the Jews, his Arab was no longer good. This he said at a screening held in the north of Israel to an audience of mostly Arabs who do not go to many movies, but were invited by Israel to see the film.
In the film he gives up his education for love of girl and she gives up her love for him for the love of her country. This is how minority relationships often turn out.
Eyad’s father’s reaction to the relationship of his university student son with an Israeli Jewish student is unexpected, but he too is buried by tradition whereas the mother with her small smile gives a ray of hope.
The scriptwriter-novelist, Sayed Kashua is brilliant, and this is a part of his real life. Kashua and Riklis have a love-hate relationship: when Kashua, who based the novel on his own life, saw the fine cut...he fainted. His wife said, “What are you complaining about, did your mother look like that?”
Sayed said complained that his own kids don't speak Arabic anymore, and so he took a sabbatical and is now in Champaign-Urbana at the University of Illinois.
The audience in Israel, judging by the 20 to 30 Facebook comments, they get daily consists of 20% Arabs which is great because they don't normally go to movies. Even a right wing Israeli said he liked the movie. The goes beyond right and left.
It is not a blockbuster, but it doing well. The word “Arab” might keep some people away.
On the second weekend I went to see “Salt of the Earth” (Isa: Ndm), now nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the Academy Awards, and “Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” by her grandniece Michelle Boyaner.
Sebastião Salgado’s photographs are linked by his son and director Wim Wenders to his life. With his own voice and that of his son, Juliano, they discover the undiscovered in photography and in their own lives.
“Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” is the story of artist Edith Lake Wilkinson, committed to an asylum in 1925 and never heard from again. All her worldly possessions were packed into trunks and shipped to a relative in West Virginia where they sat in an attic for 40 years. Edith's great-niece, Emmy Award winning writer and director Jane Anderson, grew up surrounded by Edith's paintings, thanks to her mother who had gone poking through that dusty attic and rescued Edith's work. The film follows Jane in her decades-long journey to find the answers to the mystery of Edith's buried life, return the work to Provincetown and have Edith's contributions recognized by the larger art world.
Read More: Sydney Levine on "Finding Vivian Maier"
In many ways this is similar to “Finding Vivian Maier," which also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Feature Documentary category, in that both recover long lost and never acknowledged art which is astoundingly good art. This one goes further into the lesbian relationships of artists Edith and Jane and takes another unexpected step into the psychic world of a medium who actually solves the mystery of why Edith was committed and then forgotten. This is a must-see for art lovers and would make a great fiction film as well.
Another notable aspect of Psiff that is how, just before the Awards begin for Golden Globe and for the Academy, all the big name stars are here for two awards events. One, the opening night gala raises millions for the festival. The other, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch brunch, brings more stars and that funny speech by Chris Rock (See Video Here).
Read More: Dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev on his Oscar-Nominated "Leviathan"
Also remarkable is that, aside from the above Awards and then the final festival awards bestowed, the Golden Globes mirrored the Palm Springs Fest’s awards:
Actress in a drama: Julianne Moore, “Still Alice” (Isa: Memento) won Psiff’s Achievement Award
Actor in a drama: Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything” (Uip) also received the Psiff Desert Palm Achievement Award.
Supporting actor, drama: J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash” (Isa: Sierra/ Affinity) received the Psiff Spotlight Award.
Director Richard Linklater, “Boyhood” (Uip/ Paramount) received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.
Foreign Language Film: "Leviathan” (Isa: Pyramide) received the PSiFF Best Foreign Language Film.
Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, “Birdman” (Fox Searchlight), Inarritu received Psiff Director of the Year Award which was bestowed by “Birdman” star Michael Keaton. And the Golden Globe Award for Actor, musical or comedy, went to Michael Keaton for “Birdman”...
- 1/17/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Previously... I shared brief thoughts about rewatches of Big Hero, Grand Budapest, Babadook well as The Homesman and Skeleton Twins.
What came next in the home-screening adventures, you ask? Here I am to answer. I haven't had as much time as I'd hope (aint that always the case) but I've been trying to cram movies in. Here are a handful of notes on movies from the screener stack.
American Sniper
Credit where credit is due: For once a Clint Eastwood movie is not filmed like its sinking into an inky black void where color is a total affront to sober intent. It turns out Tom Stern can make movies that take place in reasonably well lit places. Okay, okay, let's not get carried away. It's still largely colorless but this time there is daylight though the subject matter remains brutal. I'm not sure what to make of its dead-eyed killings...
What came next in the home-screening adventures, you ask? Here I am to answer. I haven't had as much time as I'd hope (aint that always the case) but I've been trying to cram movies in. Here are a handful of notes on movies from the screener stack.
American Sniper
Credit where credit is due: For once a Clint Eastwood movie is not filmed like its sinking into an inky black void where color is a total affront to sober intent. It turns out Tom Stern can make movies that take place in reasonably well lit places. Okay, okay, let's not get carried away. It's still largely colorless but this time there is daylight though the subject matter remains brutal. I'm not sure what to make of its dead-eyed killings...
- 12/31/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
This list is in alphabetical order.
Only Lovers Left Alive (voted by Rick)
Only Lovers Left Alive, the latest film from cult indie director Jim Jarmusch, stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as Adam and Eve, two century old vampires. Adam is an underground musician with a dedicated cult following. In his past time, he drives through the city in his classic Jaguar, collects music memorabilia, photographs, books, vintage musical instruments and old vinyls. He lives in an isolated home in the ruins of Detroit Michigan where he reunites with his enigmatic lover Eve. There, he enlists the help of one of his most dedicated fans (Anton Yelchin) to help collect the analog equipment he needs, and his doctor (Jeffrey Wright) to provide him with a steady supply of his favourite drink, type O-negative. Immortality is weighing on him and thoughts of suicide slowly take over. Not much happens, and not much needs to.
Only Lovers Left Alive (voted by Rick)
Only Lovers Left Alive, the latest film from cult indie director Jim Jarmusch, stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as Adam and Eve, two century old vampires. Adam is an underground musician with a dedicated cult following. In his past time, he drives through the city in his classic Jaguar, collects music memorabilia, photographs, books, vintage musical instruments and old vinyls. He lives in an isolated home in the ruins of Detroit Michigan where he reunites with his enigmatic lover Eve. There, he enlists the help of one of his most dedicated fans (Anton Yelchin) to help collect the analog equipment he needs, and his doctor (Jeffrey Wright) to provide him with a steady supply of his favourite drink, type O-negative. Immortality is weighing on him and thoughts of suicide slowly take over. Not much happens, and not much needs to.
- 12/9/2014
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Margaret here, reporting from the La festival beat with short takes on upcoming indies before they head to a theater near you.
Five Reasons To See... Song Of The Sea
An Irish animated film from Oscar-nominee Tomm Moore about the mythical selkies-- women who turn into seals, or vice-versa-- and a small seaside family in Western Ireland.
1) Breathtakingly stunning artwork. This is quite possibly the most beautiful animated film I've ever seen. The lush backgrounds (reminiscent of Klimt paintings!) are all handpainted-- director Tomm Moore compared moving his designing from paper to digital with "Dylan going electric." Much of the team from 2009’s The Secret of Kells reunited here, though Sea's visuals are a bit softer and have more of a Japanese influence.
2) A refreshing lack of cynicism. Song of the Sea is a rare thing: a children's feature with no winking adult jokes, pop references, or corporate tie-ins-- just a lovely story,...
Five Reasons To See... Song Of The Sea
An Irish animated film from Oscar-nominee Tomm Moore about the mythical selkies-- women who turn into seals, or vice-versa-- and a small seaside family in Western Ireland.
1) Breathtakingly stunning artwork. This is quite possibly the most beautiful animated film I've ever seen. The lush backgrounds (reminiscent of Klimt paintings!) are all handpainted-- director Tomm Moore compared moving his designing from paper to digital with "Dylan going electric." Much of the team from 2009’s The Secret of Kells reunited here, though Sea's visuals are a bit softer and have more of a Japanese influence.
2) A refreshing lack of cynicism. Song of the Sea is a rare thing: a children's feature with no winking adult jokes, pop references, or corporate tie-ins-- just a lovely story,...
- 11/15/2014
- by Margaret de Larios
- FilmExperience
If the guy from the Dos Equis commericals is The Most Interesting Man In The World, it’s possible that Tilda Swinton is The Most Interesting Woman – though she has the advantage since she’s real, and so are her accomplishments. Taleted, thoughtful and endlessly idiosyncratic, Swinton has been crafting indelible characters on film since the late 1980s, when she worked with late director Derek Jarman, and slowly moved into more mainstream projects where her natural singularity created distinctive, memorable characters and performances. And since 2005, she has collaborated closely with equally unique filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, in whose latest project, Only Lovers Left Alive, she plays Eve, an anachonristic – and yet timeless – vampire in a long-term, and long-distance relationship with her equally immortal partner Adam (Tom Hiddleston).
Swinton recently spoke to press at the film’s Los Angeles press day, where she unpacked the film’s themes – and its impact on...
Swinton recently spoke to press at the film’s Los Angeles press day, where she unpacked the film’s themes – and its impact on...
- 4/10/2014
- by Todd Gilchrist
- DailyDead
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.