Programming a vast array of some 288 features films, the Toronto International Film Festival offers a varied and overwhelming selection. One course of action is to see films by known directors or that have played at other festivals, with some allowance for happenstance, taking a chance on a movie based on the very brief synopsis […]
Directed by Zachary Heinzerling
Produced by Heinzerling, Lydia Dean Pilcher, Patrick Burns & Sierra Pettengill
Released by Radius/TWC
USA. 82 min. Rated R
Just show up. That sound and practical advice applies for actors who schlep from one discouraging audition to another or when you really don’t want to go near a gym. Off and on for about 98 […]
Directed by Fernando Trueba
Produced by Cristina Huete
Written by Jean-Claude Carrière & Trueba
French with English subtitles
Released by Cohen Media Group.
Spain/France. 105 min. Not rated
With Jean Rochefort, Aida Folch, Claudia Cardinale, Götz Otto, Chus Lampreave, Martin Gamet & Christian Sinniger
Even if you’re not great with names, you’ll recognize 83-year-old actor Jean Rochefort—tall, with a regal bearing, and […]
Directed by Havana Marking
Produced by Mike Lerner
Released by Doppelgänger Releasing
UK. 90 min. Not rated
Wow. Talk about free publicity. The July 28th robbery of an estimated $137 million worth of jewelry on the French Riviera (at the Carlton International hotel, coincidentally a location in Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief) occurred just days before the U.S. premiere […]
For the first time since it was founded 11 years ago, the narrative films competing for awards at the Tribeca Film Festival made up a noteworthy and motley bunch, and it was a real race. Usually gems by an unknown filmmaker made without any stars can be discovered in the various sidebars, but this year, […]
Written & Directed by Woody Allen
Produced by Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum & Edward Walson
Released by Sony Pictures Classics
USA. 96 min. Rated PG-13
With Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, Louis C. K., Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, Sally Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard & Michael Stuhlbarg
Spot the reference. That’s part of the appeal of movies heavily influenced by (or […]
Produced & Directed by Jamie Kastner
Released by Screen Media
Canada. 84 min. Not rated
Were such hits as “Boogie Wonderland,” “Boogie Fever,” or “Boogie Oogie Oogie” songs of political protest? In his amicable and gossipy overview of 1970’s dance music, director Jamie Kastner poses that question to powerhouse singer Martha Walsh, forever known as one half of […]
Perhaps the two main stories that emerged from this year’s Cannes Film Festival were the jewelry heists (who knew Brian De Palma’s Femme Fatale was so prescient?) and the praise and immediate backlash heaped on the Palm d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Color, namely Elaine Sciolino’s piece in the New York Times in which […]
The main difference that sets the Cannes Film Festival apart from other fests is the anticipation: you want to see the films debuting in the competition, especially if they are directed by the likes of the Coen brothers, Alexander Payne, Roman Polanski, and Asghar Farhadi, to name four. Few shots in the dark here.
There was […]
