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 […]
Brazil has been well represented throughout the years at the annual New Directors/New Films series, and this year Marcelo Lordello’s They’ll Come Back arrives, following last year’s Neighboring Sounds, which made quite a splash. Here’s hoping for more of a Brazilian new wave offering engaging, clear-eyed, and varied vivisections of contemporary life, of both rich […]
Directed by Matteo Garrone
Produced by Domenico Procacci & Garrone
Written by Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Garrone & Massimo Gaudioso, based on a story by Garrone & Gaudioso
Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories
Italian, with English subtitles
Italy/France. 115 min. Not rated
With Aniello Arena, Loredana Simioli, Nando Paone, Graziella Marina, Nello Iorio, Raffaele Ferrante & Nunzia Schiano
The U.S. version of the […]
As usual, the mid-winter Film Society of Lincoln Center mini-fest is strong in variety—an animated film here, a biopic there, some audience pleasing and others inscrutable—but it doesn’t necessarily represent the best of what France has to offer. Conspicuously missing in the lineup are the latest from star sourpuss Jean-Pierre Bacri in the droll rom-com […]
Directed by Raúl Ruiz
Produced by Christian Aspee & François Margolin
Written by Ruiz, based on original stories by Hernán del Solar
Released by Cinema Guild.
Spanish & French with English subtitles
Chile/France. 101 min. Not rated
With Christian Vadim, Sergio Hernandez, Valentina Vargad, Chamila Rodriguez, Santiago Figueroa, Pedro Villagra & Sergio Schmied
Young college students, all men in suit and tie, […]
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Produced by Mark Boal, Bigelow & Megan Ellison
Written by Boal
Released by Columbia Pictures
USA. 156 min. Rated R
With Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, Edgar Ramirez, James Gandolfini, Chris Pratt, Callan Mulvey, Fares Fares, Reda Kateb & Stephen Dillane
Much ink and pixels have been spent on the […]
With so many end-of-the-year releases garnering awards and nominations, you might ask the various selection committees and critics groups, “Where have you been?” Going over their 10 best lists, some overlap is inevitable, but it’s as if they have had amnesia for 10 months, overlooking many films released before November. And if you had a […]
