#Ava Safdie

[lonesomedreamereccentriclover]

Happy Birthday Benny Safdie!

[denimbex1986]

'As a director, Benny Safdie makes sleazy movies about hustlers and gamblers and criminals and strivers. Films that teem with violence and drugs, while a pulsating anxiety yanks you through a gritty underbelly of a New York you thought no longer existed.

But today? We’re about as far from that seediness as you can get. On his suggestion, we meet up at the Upper West Side deli institution Barney Greengrass. The tree-lined blocks around here are stately and idyllic, tucked between Central Park and the Hudson River. Safdie, 37, is dressed in full dadcore: glasses, striped tee, jeans, Tevas. (Tevas!) He has the personality to match, with a warmth and gregariousness that initially catch you way off guard. This is the guy responsible for Uncut Gems?

“My go-to meal here was pastrami, eggs, and Mun-chee cheese. But Mun-chee cheese doesn't exist anymore,” Safdie laments. “Nobody bought it.” He opts for a sesame bagel with butter instead.

This neighborhood is his home turf, and his favorite place in the world. He spent his childhood ping-ponging between an unstable environment with his father in Queens, then comfortable normalcy with his mother and stepdad on the Upper West Side.

As a younger man, he did a brief stint living downtown. “I looked out, I'm like, There's no trees. I didn't realize how important that is to my sanity,” he remembers. Now he and his wife, Ava, are raising their two boys, Cosmo, 7, and Murray, 4, up here.

Safdie made his name in tandem with his older brother Josh, the two perpetually mentioned in the same breath for their idiosyncratic, independent films reminiscent of the heyday of New Hollywood. Daddy Long Legs (2009) was mined from their own misadventures with an irresponsible father. (Safdie says he tends to have a more critical view of their upbringing than Josh and, though he still talks to their dad, “it can be strained.”) Good Time (2017), with Robert Pattinson as a small-time criminal and Benny as his mentally disabled brother, raised their profile.

And then came 2019’s Uncut Gems, the heart-pounding thriller starring Adam Sandler as a diamond-dealing gambling addict, which planted the Safide brothers firmly at the center of the culture. The success that followed changed everything.

“That was the first time where I had a vision beyond four feet in front of me,” Safdie says.

What does that vision look like? For Safdie, it means pursuing an increasingly successful acting career. He’s branched out on his own, diverging from the brother he’s been working with his entire life. Many actors go on to become directors; it’s much rarer for the opposite to happen. Even the few who do make the jump—say, John Huston—end up being remembered more for their first career.

Safdie, though, possesses a chameleonic talent, so much so that every role of his feels like a genuine surprise. Perhaps you saw him pop up in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘70s Valley vibefest Licorice Pizza as Joel Wachs, a closeted councilman. Or in Claire Denis’s Stars at Noon as an eerily nefarious CIA man (character’s name: CIA Man). Or as a Jedi in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Or, earlier this year, in—wait a second—the film adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume’s seminal tome about a preteen girl coming of age.

Safdie’s downtown cred, the A24-ness of it all, maybe didn’t make him the most natural casting choice for Margaret’s dad Herb on paper. “It always delights me when people find out he's in the movie. Just their total shock,” the film’s director, Kelly Fremon Craig told me.

Rachel McAdams, who plays Margaret’s mom, told me in an email that she first met Safdie at a screening he hosted for Uncut Gems. “He was so lovely and effusive with such a gentle, open energy about him,” she said. “I remember my brain not quite being able to compute that guy with the same guy who just put me through one of the most stressful movie-watching experiences of my life.”

Safdie sees acting as a way to delve into certain aspects of himself that he hasn’t had an outlet for otherwise. Playing a dad, for instance. “That's a big part of my personality that I haven't yet had the chance to explore in my own work,” he says. His experience as a director also makes him considerably less neurotic about his own performances. Watching himself in the editing room? Having a big line in a scene cut? No problem—he’s been on the other side, and he gets it.

Now, Safdie has his biggest role yet, a meaty part in Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s wildly anticipated summer blockbuster about the father of the atomic bomb. Safdie plays Edward Teller, opposite Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer. Teller was a controversial figure, a Hungarian theoretical physicist who would go on to testify against Oppenheimer in later years.

The cast of Oppenheimer is comically stacked: Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, to name a few. Nolan was looking for someone fresh and unexpected to play Teller. He had initially seen Safdie in Good Time and then Licorice Pizza. “I called Paul [Thomas Anderson] and I asked about Benny, and he gave him the strongest possible endorsement and pointed out that he's an incredible actor, but also just a wonderful guy,” Nolan told me.

There was also a bit of fate sprinkled in. Safdie had studied physics at Boston University—almost became a physicist, in fact, before he swerved off into filmmaking. Oppenheimer would allow him to combine his two passions, to dive into yet another deep interest that had otherwise not merged with his film career. It would also require him to wear layers of makeup, to have his hair straightened every day until he could hear it sizzle, and to do accent work for the first time. Safdie put off sharing his speech progress with Nolan for as long he could, until he couldn’t. Finally, he sent the director a voice memo of himself describing his breakfast in a thick Hungarian accent.

“When he sent me that recording, I listened to it about a thousand times and very much enjoyed it,” Nolan said.

Teller could have been written as a straight antagonist to Oppenheimer, but instead Nolan used him to inject rare moments of levity throughout the film. (There is one memorable scene in which Safdie slathers sunscreen all over his face before the first nuclear bomb test.) “For the tragedy of that relationship to have resonance, you have to have seen a warmth there and something between them that's more of a brotherly relationship,” Nolan said. “And I felt that Benny could really bring that to the role and give it that warmth.”

“[He’s] such a kind and gentle fella,” Cillian Murphy told me of Safdie. Much has been made of how intense the film is—take a look at any number of harrowing promotional shots of Murphy in character looking like the most haunted man of all time. In between takes, he said it always seemed as if he ended up talking to Safdie.

“You keep the atmosphere light and joke around because I feel you need to be in a relaxed state to act. Your heart rate needs to be low, your cortisol levels need to be low,” Murphy said. “And that's why I think I probably gravitated towards Benny.”

Safdie is obsessed with realism. It checks out, considering how so many characters in his movies were just ordinary people plucked off the street. That sensibility has followed him into his performances.

Eating, for instance. It drives him nuts when people don’t eat on camera. “I hate it when people don't eat,” he says, tearing into his bagel. “It destroys me.” When he filmed a dinner scene in Licorice Pizza, he made sure to eat in every take. “I don't know how many tiramisus I ate, but it must have been 30,” he says. Same thing happened in The Curse, his secretive upcoming Showtime series with Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone about a couple producing an HGTV show: “Sixty chips in one take, and we must have had nine takes…”

“It wasn't just the nine bags of chips,” Fielder told me in an email. “Any scene that involved food, everyone would pace themselves on the first take.… But Benny for some reason would keep shoving food in his mouth the entire scene ’cause he thought it would be funnier. And he was right. There was one scene where he ate an entire Chinese buffet plate every single take for 15 takes and he would always match the exact same volume of food. You'd think any sane person would eat a couple less popcorn shrimp each time as the takes went on. But he wouldn't.”

And then there’s the crying. Safdie tends to cry when he gets into character—thinking of all the things he might be feeling if he were in that person’s shoes. When Adam Sandler, in Uncut Gems, had to weep, dejected, that he was “so sad and so fucked up,” it was Safdie who went into his trailer to pump him up.

“In a weird way, there's nothing better than being able to do that in front of people because it's usually a very private moment that you're ashamed of and you don't want to show anybody. But to actually get the opportunity to show people what it's like when you're really sad,” Safdie recalls saying. “And then I started crying. He goes, ‘You got to stop. Can you take it easy?’”

Before Uncut Gems, even with a handful of celebrated movies under his belt, a film career didn’t feel truly viable. At the back of his mind, he still thought he might have to go back to school and actually become a physicist. His wife was the primary breadwinner, and so when he edited Good Time, he’d set his son Cosmo in bed with a bunch of pillows surrounding him so he wouldn’t roll over, turn on the baby monitor, and work while he slept.

Last year, it was announced that Sandler would be working on a new movie with Elara Pictures, the Safdie brothers’ production company. The project would be set in the world of sports memorabilia collectors, with Megan Thee Stallion also reported to star.

Shortly after, news broke that Benny would not be directing the Sandler movie with Josh. “Elara is still there. We work on a lot of documentaries and there's just a constant flow of ideas,” Safdie says. “It just felt like, okay, there's things that I want to explore that don't necessarily align right now with Josh. So it's a divide and conquer mentality. He wants to tell this story, he can go and do that. I'm going to go and do a couple of other things. It seems like a natural progression for how things have happened.”

Mainly, he had gone away to act on several projects and work on The Curse. By the time he returned, Josh and their longtime third collaborator Ronald Bronstein, were already deep into working on the new Sandler movie. “It was just a matter of, ‘This works for me right now and this is what I've got to do,’” Safdie explains.

Elara also had a shakeup earlier this year. One of its founding producers, Sebastian Bear-McClard, was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. A spokesperson for the Safdies had previously said they fired him upon becoming aware of the behavior in July 2022. “It’s disgusting, and when you find out something about somebody that you didn't realize, you just have to be much more careful,” Safdie says when I ask him about the incident. “It's a lot, and it's not something that you want to have happen to anybody. And when you find it out, the one thing that you can do is really just take control.”

When we speak, Safdie is just finishing up final sound editing on The Curse. The show originated through his friendship with Fielder. Safdie had been a longtime Nathan for You enthusiast, and had even written a Cinema Scope article about his love for the show. Fielder was similarly a fan of Safdie’s. “In those initial hangouts it was clear we were on a similar wavelength,” Fielder said.“We both think a lot about tone and realism. We weren't even intending to collaborate on a project actually, it just sort of happened organically the second time we hung out.”

“We came up with the idea for The Curse and we're like, ‘This is so stupid, but it's really funny,’” Safdie explains. They kept texting and texting about it, until the bit became real.

In The Curse, Fielder and Emma Stone play a couple, while Safdie is a long-haired, turquoise jewelry-wearing HGTV producer. “They live in an area called Española, which is close to Santa Fe. And that's where they're building their new homes. They have a very different way of gentrifying the community. They want to do it ethically, and they want to do it in a way that doesn't hurt anybody. So they want to make a show about that. And you follow their lives as they're doing it,” Safdie explains. “It started out as a 30-minute comedy and became an hour-long comedy-drama.”

So he filmed Oppenheimer in the New Mexico desert and then returned to New Mexico to film The Curse for several more months. While he emerged without any turquoise jewelry, he did leave the set having purchased a ton of props from production. “I do have an insane amount of Talavera dishware, which I love. I love it so much. It brings me so much joy to look down and see the bright colors,” he says.

This enthusiasm and attention to detail saturates everything. Directing, acting, physics—they’re all connected.

“All of it is just trying to understand what this thing is that we're going through,” Safdie says. “How in the world is the universe expanding and here I am, sitting here. What's 14 billion years ago? What's time? How much time is left?”'

[nowheregirl25]

Robert Pattinson and Ava Duvernay (and Benny Safdie) at the 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards

[jechristine]

What are some of the directors you'd like to see Tom and/or Z work with? I'd love to see them do something with the Coen brothers, the Safdie brothers, Robert Eggers, and then obviously Nolan, Guillermo del Toro, Wes Anderson…

Fun question + i like your answers especially Coen brothers, Anon. I would love to hear from others, too.

Adding to what you said—

For Tom: Armando Iannucci, Baz Luhrmann, Danny Boyle, Edgar Wright, Greta Gerwig

For Zendaya: Alfonso Cuaron, Ang Lee, Darren Aronofsky, Sophia Coppola, Jordan Peele, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, Ava DuVernay, Edgar Wright, Greta Gerwig

[interesting-ladies-on-wikipedia]

"Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter, photographer, and artist. Her pioneering work was central to the development of the widely influential French New Wave film movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Her films focused on achieving documentary realism, addressing women's issues, and other social commentary, with a distinctive experimental style.

Her death drew a passionate response from the filmmaking community with Martin Scorsese releasing a statement writing, 'I seriously doubt that Agnès Varda ever followed in anyone else’s footsteps, in any corner of her life or her art. Every single one of her remarkable handmade pictures, so beautifully balanced between documentary and fiction, is like no one else’s — every image, every cut … What a body of work she left behind: movies big and small, playful and tough, generous and solitary, lyrical and unflinching … and alive.' Barry Jenkins tweeted, 'Work and life were undeniably fused for this legend. She lived FULLY for every moment of those 90 damn years.' Ava DuVernay wrote about her relationship with Varda meeting her at the Cannes Film Festival ending her statement writing 'Merci, Agnes. For your films. For your passion. For your light. It shines on.' Other filmmakers and artists spoke out paying tribute to Varda including Guillermo del Toro, the Safdie brothers, Edgar Wright, JR and Madonna."

[dizzymoods]

Watchlist February 2020

Rewatch Favorites*

Good Time (Safdie Bros 2017) Mother of George (Andrew Dosunmu 2013)* Selma (Ava Duvernay 2014) Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (Timothy Greenfield-Sanders 2019)* Space Is The Place (John Coney 1974) Love Dot Com (Charnice Fox 2019) Nina Simone: Live at Montreaux 1976 (1976)* Perfect Image (Maureen Blackwood 1989)* Fucked Like A Star (Stefani Saintonge 2018)* BoneShaker (Nuotama Bodomo 2013) A Dream Is What You Make It (Carolyn Y. Johnson & Larry Bullard 1978)* Cane River (Horace B. Jenkins 1982)* PokemonL Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution (Kunihiko Yuyama & Tetsuo Yajima 2019)

~TV~ Cells at Work (S01) Hunty x Hunty (S01-03) Love Is Blind (S01) The Circle (S01) RPDR S12 (E01)

[letterboxd]

Decadent—Best of the 2010s.

The best films and directors of the decade, according to the Letterboxd community. As the 2010s stumble to a close, we release a collection of lists celebrating the best films and directors of the decade, and reveal your most underrated and overlooked gems.

When Parasite overtook The Godfather this past November to become the highest-rated film of all time on Letterboxd, it was also confirmation of what we’ve been noticing since we launched the service in 2011: that the 2010s have ushered in a new golden era of filmmaking. Alongside the rise in blockbuster franchises, the film world has seen new innovations in genre films, financing models and talent pathways, helping a new generation of indie filmmakers to get traction in the competitive and unpredictable feature film scene.

And while the industry continues to reckon with upheavals in the studio system and theatrical landscape, the upside is that cinephiles have more and more platforms through which we can find and share new discoveries, back-catalog classics and obscure treasures. Indeed, our own recently launched partnership with JustWatch is helping many of you more easily track down and watch old favorites and recent releases. (JustWatch keeps track of streaming data for 38 countries and rising, and in the US alone, it monitors well over 100 services.)

In the spirit of discovery, and ahead of our 2019 Year in Review (coming in early January) we’ve run the numbers on the past decade of movies. Read on for the results—you have a couple of days left to squeeze some of them into your year’s viewing, in order to influence your 2019 and decade stats! (By the way, if you’re a Pro or Patron member, and you have best-of-decade lists for this or any other decade, you can now tag them so they appear on your all-time stats page. Use this format: top2010s, top1980s etc. We’ve also extended support for all-time top lists past the previous maximum of ten.)

The Top 20 Uncut Gems of the 2010s

Each fortnight, we run a Showdown where you get to pick your favorite films for a given theme. For the final Showdown of 2019—and the decade—we asked you to list your favorite ‘uncut gems’ of the 2010s—the overlooked, under-seen, not-loved-enough movies that you think more people need to know about.

It’s been the most popular Showdown ever, with pages and pages and pages of lists worth exploring in their entirety. We added up the most-mentioned films, removed those that had been watched by more than 15,000 members (per the specific rules of this challenge) and arrived at a final top 20, with Alex Ross Perry’s messy rock drama Her Smell taking the top spot (read our write-up about the Elisabeth Moss-starring film here). It’s quite an international list, with six women directors (Josephine Decker, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Kelly Reichhardt, Hélène Cattet, Cristina Gallego and Mélanie Laurent), two Ciro Guerra films from Colombia, and a film from the Safdie brothers, the directors behind Uncut Gems, which has an impressive 4.3 average on Letterboxd right now.

The Top 250 Narrative Feature Films of the 2010s

Parasite, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Portrait of a Lady on Fire topped the highest-rated 250 narrative feature films of the 2010s. The busiest directors on this list were Denis Villeneuve and Taika Waititi, with five films each. Hirokazu Kore-eda, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino and Lee Chang-dong all feature with three films each.

The Top 100 Directors of the 2010s

We set out to find the narrative feature film directors whose work in the 2010s, as ranked by the Letterboxd community, combined with their overall placing on our Top 250 of the 2010s list, signified their excellence in the directing field. After some data-heavy research, backed by a solid methodology, one name emerged at the top: Denis Villeneuve. Taika Waititi and Lee Chang-dong round out the top three.

Interestingly, only two Best Director Oscar winners from the 2010s made the list: Damien Chazelle and Alejandro González Iñárritu. The most prolific directors on the list are Hong Sang-soo (14 films) and Sion Sono (11 films).

The 100 Most Popular Films of the 2010s

This list is determined by the films that have the most activity across our community, including watches, reviews, comments, list additions and more. Get Out topped this list, with Avengers: Infinity War and La La Land close behind.

This is a heavily US-based list, with very few films made outside the US and only two made primarily in non-English languages: Parasite and Roma. Christopher Nolan is tied for first place with the Russo brothers in terms of having the highest number of films on the list, at four each.

The Top 50 Most Obsessively Rewatched Films of the 2010s

By “obsessive” we mean total watches from all members who logged a film five or more times. The top three are: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Infinity War and La La Land. The Marvel Cinematic Universe accounts for a full 20 percent of the list (including the Guardians of the Galaxy films and Spider-Man: Homecoming, but not including Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse). The Star Wars franchise has six films on the list.

The Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe, are the MVPs of this list, with four MCU directing credits. Jon Favreau is represented all over the list as a director (Elf), a writer and a producer. And, of course, the late Stan Lee is credited across the MCU. We made an accompanying list for those who have Paddington obsessions.

The Top 100 Documentary & Non-Fiction Films of the 2010s

O.J.: Made in America is the top non-fiction title of the 2010s, while For Sama is the top feature-length documentary. The MVP of documentary directors is American great Frederick Wiseman, who has three films in the list. Joshua Oppenheimer, Agnès Varda, Steve James, Adam Curtis, Asif Kapadia, Petra Costa and the filmmaking duo Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin all have two films apiece. 24 women directors feature in the list, across 26 films.

The Top 100 International Films of the 2010s

An incredibly strong list, this was topped—of course—by Parasite, with Portrait of a Lady on Fire and The Handmaiden completing the top three. There were some notable exclusions on this list, due to not having a US release date until 2020. They are: Bacurau, System Crasher, And Then We Danced, Vitalina Varela and Two Blue Stripes. Maybe we’ll see them in our 2020 round-up.

The Top 100 Animated Feature Films of the 2010s

This is a Japan-heavy list, with more than 35 films in the top 100. The US follows with 26 films, including the first-placed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Don Hertzfeldt’s It’s Such a Beautiful Day is at number two and Lee Unkrich’s Coco takes third place.

The Top 100 Women-Directed Feature Films of the 2010s

A truly international cross-section of feature films is represented in this list, which is topped by Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, one of three by the director to appear in the list. Greta Gerwig has an impressive two films in the top ten. Other directors to appear twice are: Kathryn Bigelow, Dee Rees, Lynne Ramsey, Marielle Heller, Andrea Arnold, Maren Ade, Juliana Rojas, Zoya Akhtar, Meghna Gulzar, Nadine Labaki, Kelly Reichhardt and Naoko Ogigami. More recent films feature heavily, with 22 from 2017 versus just one from 2013.

The Top 50 Directorial Debuts of the 2010s

We looked for the highest-rated feature film debuts by directors who had not helmed a film solo prior. We included directing partnerships where part of the collaborative team had not made a feature before; that’s why Peter Ramsey is in the mix alongside feature newcomers Rodney Rothman and Bob Persichetti, taking the top spot for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Rounding out the top three are Don Hertzfeldt and Jordan Peele.

A full quarter of this list is comprised of women directors: Lulu Wang, Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Olivia Wilde, Dee Rees, Nora Twomey, Alma Har'el, Rebecca Sugar, Yoon Ga-Eun, Jennifer Fox, Shouko Nakamura, Dorota Kobiela and Naoko Yamada.

The Top 50 Comedy Specials of the 2010s

John Mulaney topped this list, with four specials included, and a fifth likely to make the list by year’s end. Fun fact: twelve of these were from 2017, which is double the next most represented year (six are from 2018). Un-fun fact: only five comedy women here.

The Top 50 Limited or Miniseries of the 2010s

David Lynch’s Twin Peaks took the top spot, closely followed by Craig Mazin’s Chernobyl, and When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s dramatic series about the Central Park 5.

The Top 50 Horror Films of the 2010s

We made room for a single genre list, and horror was it—you’ll note we’ve erred on the generous side with what might be considered a horror film (so, yes, there are comedy horrors and psychological thrillers included). Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse swept in late in the decade to take the top spot, while Get Out and What We Do in the Shadows also ranked highly.

The 50 Most Divisive Films of the 2010s

These were the 50 most divisive feature films, concert movies, comedy specials and other curiosities of the 2010s. These are the titles from the 2010s that had the widest spread of ratings (note: this list has been updated using a more appropriate methodology and higher minimum viewer count since this post was published).

That’s all, folks. Huge thanks to Jack for compiling the lion’s share of these lists. We’ll see you in 2020 with our 2019 Year in Review. (All the decade best-of list rankings are provisional and will be finalized after 31 December.)

[eggymovies]

Movies Watched in 2018

Here’s a list of every movie I watched in 2018 at home or in theaters, in order. Re-watches are listed as well so some things will appear move than one.

Mr. Roosevelt (Noel Wells) Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino) Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson) Jumanji (Jake Kasdan) Split (M. Night Shyamalan) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (David Yates) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (David Yates) The Post (Steven Spielberg) Good Time (Josh and Ben Safdie) I, Tonya (Craig Gillespie) Paddington 2 (Paul King) The Big Sick (Michael Showalter) Get Out (Jordan Peele) The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey) Coco (Lee Unkrich) Black Panther (Ryan Cooler) Creed (Ryan Coogler) Black Panther (Ryan Cooler) Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson) Annihilation (Alex Garland) Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley) Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater) Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) A Wrinkle In Time (Ava Duvernay) Tomb Raider (Roar Uthaug) Justice League (Abrams/Snyder) Before Midnight (Richard Linklater) Game Night (John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein) Love, Simon (Greg Berlanti) Columbus (Kagonada) Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson) Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig) Ready Player One (Steven Spielberg) Pacific Rim: Uprising (Steve S. DeKnight) A Quiet Place (John Krasinski) Free Fire (Ben Wheatley) The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthamos) The Lovers (Azazel Jacobs) Blockers (Kay Cannon) Home Again (Hallie Meyers-Shyer) You Were Never Really Here (Lynn Ramsay) Lean on Pete (Andrew Haigh) It Comes at Night (Trey Edward Shultz) Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham) Beirut (Tony Gilroy) Avengers: Infinity War (Anthony and Joseph Russo) The Rider (Chloé Zhao) Kodachrome (Mark Raso) Tully (Jason Reitman) Rampage (Brad Peyton) Breaking In (James McTeigue) Life of the Party (Ben Falcone) Let the Sunshine In (Claire Denis) Book Club (Bill Holderman) Beast (Michael Pierce) Deadpool 2 (David Leitch) First Reformed (Paul Schader) Solo: A Star Wars Story (Ron Howard) The Seagull (Michael Mayer) On Chesil Beach (Dominic Cooke) Training Day (Antoine Fuqua) Upgrade (Leigh Whannell) Tully (Jason Reitman) The Beguiled (Sophia Coppola) The Social Network (David Fincher) Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Burnt (John Wells) Hereditary (Ari Aster) Ocean’s 8 (Gary Ross) Won’t You Be My Neighbor (Morgan Nelville) American Animals (Bart Layton) Hearts Beat Loud (Brett Haley) Incredibles 2 (Brad Bird) Tag (Jeff Tomsic) Faces Places (Agnes Varda, JR) Set It Up (Claire Scanlon) Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (J.A. Bayona) 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick) Sicaro:Day of the Soldado (Stefano Sollima) Mamma Mia (Phyllida Lloyd) The Last Movie Star (Adam Rifkin) The First Purge (Gerard McMurray) Uncle Drew (Charles Stone III) Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell) Leave No Trace (Debra Granik) Ant Man and the Wasp (Peyton Reed) Coco (Lee Unkrich) Sorry To Bother You (Boots Riley) Three Identical Strangers (Tim Wandel) Skyscraper (Rawson Marshall Thurber) Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird) The Equalizer 2 (Antoine Fuqua) Mamma Mia 2 (Ol Parker) Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (Gus Van Sant) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie) Hot Summer Nights (Elijah Bynum) Sleeping With Other People (Leslye Headland) Mission: Impossible 3 (JJ Abrams) Kicking and Screaming (Noah Baumbach) Jaws (Steven Spielberg) Mission: Impossible - Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie) A Star Is Born (Frank Pierson) Enough Said (Nicole Holofcener) Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham) Christopher Robin (Marc Forster) Set It Up (Claire Scanlon) The Witch (David Eggers) The Spy Who Dumped Me( Susanna Fogel) Under The Tuscan Sun (Audrey Wells) Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig) The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Desiree Akhavan) Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach) Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh) Puzzle (Marc Turletaub) Never Goin’ Back (Augustine Frizzle) Crazy Rich Asians (Jon M. Chu) Like Father (Lauren Miller Rogen) Reality Bites (Ben Stiller) Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater) Gattaca (Andrew Niccol) Mission: Impossible - Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie) Please Give (Nicole Holofcener) Everybody Wants Some (Richard Linklater) We The Animals (Jeremiah Zagar) Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski) Juliet, Naked (Jesse Peretz) Operation Finale (Chris Weitz) Searching (Aneesh Chaganty) Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón) The Wife (Björn Runge) Before Midnight (Richard Linklater) Paterson (Jim Jarmusch) Columbus (Koganada) The Predator (Shane Black) Girls Trip (Malcolm D. Lee) Madeline’s Madeline (Josephine Decker) Black Panther (Ryan Cooler) The Land of Steady Habits (Nicole Holofcener) Edge of Seventeen (Kelly Fremon Craig) Slice (Austin Vesely) Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins) True Romance (Tony Scott) Blaze (Ethan Hawke) 20th Century Women (Mike Mills) A Simple Favor (Paul Feig) Colette (Wash Westmoreland) A Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper) The Old Man and the Gun (David Lowery) Free Solo (Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi) Private Life (Tamara Jenkins) Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuarón) Venom (Ruben Fleischer) First Man (Damien Chazelle) Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance) Bad Times at the El Royale (Drew Goddard) Wildlife (Paul Dano) Beautiful Boy (Felix Van Groeningen) Halloween (David Gordon Green) Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen) mid90s (Jonah Hill) Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino) Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller) Bohemian Rhapsody (Bryan Singer) Boy Erased (Joel Edgerton) A Private War (Matthew Heineman) Burning (Lee Chang-dong) Green Book (Peter Farrelly) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel and Ethan Coen) Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen) Border (Ali Abbasi) Widows (Steve McQueen) First Reformed (Paul Schrader) Hail Caesar (Joel and Ethan Coen) Creed II (Steven Caple Jr.) The Front Runner (Jason Reitman) A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen) Thunder Road (Jim Cummings) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel and Ethan Coen) Ralph Breaks The Internet (Rich Moore, Phil Johnston) At Eternity’s Gate (Julian Schnabel) The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos) Copenhagen (Mark Raso) Roma (Alfonso Cuarón) Brad’s Status (Mike White) Shoplifters (Hirokazu Kore-eda) Minding The Gap (Bing Liu) La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke) The Mule (Clint Eastwood) Minding The Gap (Bing Liu) Bumblebee (Travis Knight) Let The Sunshine In (Claire Denis) Spider-man: Into The Spiderverse (Bob Perischetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman) Crazy, Stupid, Love (Glenn Ficarra) Love, Actually (Richard Curtis) In Bruges (Martin McDonaugh) Momentum Generation (Jeff and Michael Zimbalist) If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) Aquaman (James Wan) Before We Go (Chris Evans) Vice (Adam McKay) Jackass 2 (Jeff Tremaine)

[marriedwiki95]

'Uncut Gems' famed director Benny Safdie is married to Ava Francis Safdie. He and his wife share two children. The 34-year-old filmmaker has a decent Net Worth.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Feb. 7, 2020 – BIRDS OF PREY: ETC. ETC.

Thank heavens that there’s only one new wide release this weekend, and just as thankfully, it’s a movie that could help revive an ailing box office that’s been all about Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, Universal’s 1917 and Dolittle for the past few weeks. I never got around to seeing last week’s Gretel and Hansel, and I might still if I have time, but The Rhythm Section wasn’t that bad, and it certainly shouldn’t have bombed as badly as it did, making less than $3 million in 3,000 theaters. Yup, last weekend wasn’t great, and it was only partially due to the Super Bowl.

Clearly, it’s time to move on to this week with the first “superhero” movie of the year, the follow-up to one of DC Entertainment’s biggest outings but also meant to be its own thing, which is BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF HARLEY QUINN (Warner Bros.). It stars recent Oscar nominee Margot Robbie reprising her role as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s girlfriend/therapist, who is branching out on her own with her own supergirl group, which includes Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winsted), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Renée Montoya (Rosie Perez) and Cassandra Cain (at one point, called Batgirl), played by Ella Jay Basco.  Robbie first played the role in 2016’s Suicide Squad, which earned over $300 million domestic, which some might point to the popularity of Harley as a comic character, but you could also point to things like the fact it starred bonafide box office star Will Smith (whose most recent movie Bad Boys 2 is currently the biggest movie of the year. Birds of Prey also stars Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina, as two well-known Bat-villains, Black Mask and Victor Zsasz, making their big screen live action debuts.

Unlike Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey is Rated R as DC and Warner Bros. have seen the huge success of the recent Joker movie, as well as the two Deadpool movies as proof that R-rated comic book movies can still do well even without the teen and tween audiences that usually go to see them. Presumably, Birds of Prey will attract more women due to the characters, although I’m sure there will be some men who who are just as interested due to the connections to the DC Universe. I’m just not sure this will be as big a draw to men as some of those other movies. I’ll have my own review on the blog a little later today.

While I don’t think Birds of Prey will open as big as Joker– let’s face it, the characters therein just aren’t nearly as well known, even Harley – I do think it will do quite well, making somewhere in the $60 million range, maybe more if the reviews are as positive as the early raves that were posted last week. (Having seen the movie and with my review on the way, I don’t think it will fare that well among real critics. You can read my own REVIEW here.)

Either way, Birds of Prey will the weekend with relative ease, although we’ll have to see how Sunday’s Oscar celebration affects all the movies’ business towards the end of the weekend.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Birds of Prey, Etc. Etc (Warner Bros.) - $64.5 million N/A (up $1.9 million)*

2. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $9.7 million –45%

3. 1917 (Universal) - $6.3 million -35%

4. Dolittle  (Universal) - $4.7 million -40%

5. Jumanji: The Next Level  (Sony) - $3.7 million -38%

6. The Gentlemen (STXfilms) - $2.9 million -48%

7. Gretel and Hansel  (U.A. Releasing) - $2.8 million -55%

8. Little Women (Sony) - $2 million -35%

9. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Lucasfilm/Disney) - $1.7 million -46%

10. The Turning  (Universal) - $1.3 million -55%

* UPDATE: I lowered my prediction a bit after seeing the movie but seeing that reviews have mainly been positive, I think it will help the movie bring in more business before Sunday.

LIMITED RELEASES

Two genre films that have been playing on the genre festival for the last year or so will open in select cities, the first being COME TO DADDY (Saban Films), the directorial debut by horror producer Ant Timpson, who was responsible for horror anthologies, The ABCs of Death and The Field Guide to Evil, as well as popular genre flicks Turbo Kid and The Greasy Strangler. In the movie, Elijah Wood plays Norval Grenwood, a young man called to the remote cabin of his estranged father (Stephen McHattie) who he hasn’t seen in 30 years, since his father walked out on his mother when he was just five years old. Once he gets there, he learns that his father is an abusive alcoholic, and yet, nothing is really what it seems. I saw this at the Tribeca Film Festival and mostly enjoyed it, and I really like Timpsons’s sensibilities as a filmmaker but it really starts to go off the rails as it goes along. Some will definitely enjoy that.

Severin Fialla and Veronika Fanz, the Belgian filmmakers behind Goodnight Mommy, return with THE LODGE (NEON), a creepy thriller in which a couple kids (Lia McHugh, Jaeden Martell) go to a remote cabin near a lake for the Christmas holidays with their new stepmother (Riley Keough) after learning a lot more about her dark past before meeting their widowed father (Richard Armitage). There’s so much more to this movie than what you can see in the suitably eerie trailer, and I certainly will not spoiler any of the experience, although personally, I found this to be more of a downer than Hereditary, a movie that I absolutely loved. This one might take another viewing for me to really get behind it, but other than the performances, the overall look and eerie feel and the twists, it’s pretty dark and depressing, so I’m not 100% sure I’d really want to see it again or can recommend it wholeheartedly.  Either way, both of these movies are opening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn as well as other select cities.

Ben Cookson’s Waiting for Anya (Vertical), adapted from the novel by the same name from the author of War Horse, stars Noah Schnapp as Jo Lalande, a 13-yearold sheperd boy who joins with a reclusive widow (the amazing Anjelica Huston) to help smuggle Jewish children into Spain during World War II.

From Yash Raj Films comes this week’s Bollywood selection Mohit Suri’s Malang, starring Aditya Roy Kapoor as the introverted Advit, who visits Goa where he meets a free-spirited girl from London named Sara (Disha Patani), who has come to India to live like a vagabond or “Malang.” Something happens that changes as five years later, we meet a vigilante killer cop (Anil Kapoor) and a righteous cop (Kunal Kemmu)… And suddenly, I feel like I need to see this movie. It will probably open in 100 theaters or more.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Let’s start out with the Netflix offerings, beginning with the recent Sundance premiere, HORSE GIRL, the new film from Jeff Baena (The Little Hours, Life after Beth), co-written and starring Alison Brie as a socially awkward woman into horses and supernatural crime whose lucid dreams start infiltrating into her waking life. I haven’t seen it yet but I’m definitely interested in the premise, and I generally like Brie’s work.

I never really got into Joe Hill’s books/comics, but I’ll probably give the series LOCKE AND KEY a look when it debuts its first season on Friday. It involves three kids who move with their Mom to an ancestral estate where a series of keys unlock secrets and powers.

On Wednesday debuts the Netflix docuseries They’ve Gotta Have Us from Simon Frederick and Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY will premiere, looking at some of the important and iconic voices in Black Cinema.

If you haven’t had a chance to see DGA winner Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy, starring Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe, based on Shia’s semi-autobiographical screenplay, then it will premiere on Amazon Prime this Friday.

Premiering on Hulu this Friday is Into the Dark: My Valentine, the latest horror feature from Blumhouse as part of this ongoing horror series, this one written and directed by Maggie Levin, who has directed a bunch of shorts. It involves a pop singer whose songs and identity are stolen by her manager ex-boyfriend and pasted on his new girlfriend, which comes to a head when they’re locked up in a small concert venue and things get violence.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

If you went out to see Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering with You and enjoyed it but haven’t seen his previous movie Your Name (which is just as excellent) then you’re in luck cause the Metrograph is showing it a number of times starting Friday. Thursday might be your last chance to see the new 35mm print of Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film New York, New York unless it’s extended, but the Hal Hartley serieshas been extended through the weekend with reruns of Trust (1990), Simple Men (1992) and Amateur (1994), all good, but Trust is my favorite of those three. This week’s Welcome To Metrograph: Redux is a good one, Lars von  Trier’s 1996 film Breaking the Waves, which will screen Saturday and Sunday nights.This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai (1947), while the Playtime: Family Matinee sselection is Amy Heckerling’s classic Clueless (1995).

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Wednesday might you can maybe get tickets for the “Weird Wednesday,” the Lone Wolf and Cub movie Shogun Assassin (1980) – I’ll be there for the 7pm screening. Thursday night is a screening of the 1932 Dorothy Arzner film Merrily We Go to Hell. On Monday, Video Vortex presents a J-Horror Bloodbath double feature of Demon Within and Biotherapy, both from 1985. ($5 admittance!) Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is 1980’s Terror Train, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and then next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is 1990’s White Palace, starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader, picked by Alamo programmer Christina Cacioppo, so you know it’s gotta be very weird! J

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Weds matinee is the musical The King and I (1956), starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. Weds. and Thurs. night are double features of the Safdies’ Uncut Gems with The Object of Beauty (1991), starring John Malkovich and Andie McDowell with the Safdies doing a QnA on Thursday. Friday’s matinee is the 1982 Paul Schrader Cat People remake, while that Friday’s midnight is True Romance, while Saturday’s midnight movie is 1975’s Aloha, Bobby and Rose. This weekend’s Kiddee Matinee is 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, continuing that series, as well as there being a Cartoon Club on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Monday’s matinee is Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ’66while the Monday night double feature is Fear is the Key (1972) and Villain(1971). Tuesday’s Grindhouse double is Hot Potato (1976) and Golden Needles  (1974)..

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Mostly taking a break this week to air the Oscar-nominated shorts but Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1950 classic All About Eve will screen in 35mm as part of the “Sunday Print Edition.”

AERO  (LA):

Elliot Gould will be on hand Friday to discuss M*A*S*H* airing as part of the “Antiwar Cinema,” then Friday, there will be a double feature of Grand Illusion(1937) and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence  (1983). On Friday, Aero will screen Masaki Kobayashi’s “The Human Condition” trilogy, three movies from 1959 through 1961, airing as a triple feature.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC): This Friday, the Quad begins screening Albert E. Lewin’s 1951 film Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, starring Ava Gardner and James Mason, restored from Martin Scorsese’s own 35mm print. Also starting Friday, the Quad will also be screening a series of Man Ray shorts from 1926 to 1929.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The “Black Women” series continues this week with The Omega Man and Strange Days on Wednesday, Set It Off, Bright Road and Poetic Justice on Thursday and more over the weekend. It continues through Thursday, February 13. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the recent movie-musicalDreamgirls.

MOMA  (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Jack Lemmon continues this week on Weds with 1951’s Kotch, Thursday with Robert Altman’s 1993classic Short Cuts, and then on Friday, another screening of the 1960 Oscar winner The Apartment co-starring Shirley MacLaine.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

On Friday, FilmLinc starts a new one-week series called “Dreamed Paths: The Films of Angela Shanelec,” and I honestly have no idea who that is. It’s a pretty comprehensive retrospective of the German filmmaker’s work, so I’m shocked that I’ve never seen a single one of her movies. Besides her work, the filmmaker will also be showing a few hand-selected films like Manoel de Oliveira’s I’m Going Home (2001), the Korean film The Day After and Maurice Pialat’s 1972 film We Won’t Grow Old (1972).

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES (NYC):

The Anthology’s “The Devil Probably: A Century of Satanic Panic” continues this weekend with Edgar J. Ulmer’s The Black Cat (1934) on Wednesday, Sidney Hayers’ Burn Witch Burn (1962), Terence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out (1968), Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and more screening over the next week.

NITEHAWK CINEMA  (NYC):

Not to be outdown by the Roxy, Brooklyn’s Nitehawk is getting on the Nicolas Cage love-a-thon with the Williamsburg doing an “Uncaged” series starting with Cage’s latest Color Out of Spaceat midnight on Friday, and then Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) on Tuesday. (The latter is sold out.) Williamsburg is also screening Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993) on Saturday afternoon.Prospect Park is showing Barry Jenkins’ Schmoonlight Saturday to kick off its Valentine’s Day series.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuel is taking another weekend off for no obvious reason – it’ll be back next week -- but Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s will screen the 1973 sci-fi classic Soylent Green and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020 is going with the 4k restoration of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Starting Friday at BAM is Horace Jenkins 1982 film Cane River, starring Richard Romain and Tommye Myrick (both doing QnAs over the weekend), and the actors and relatives of Jenkins will be appearing at a number of screenings this weekend.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

2001: A Space Odyssey will once again screen as a Saturday matinee in conjunction with MOMI’s exhibit.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

The Nicolas Cage love continues with two of his movies from 2003: Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation (2003) on Wednesday and Disney’s National Treasure on Thursday.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

Not to be outdown by the IFC Center, the Nuart’s Friday midnight movie is Dario Argento’s Suspiriafrom 1977.

Next week is Presidents Day weekend, another four-day holiday weekend, but it’s also Valentine’s Day Friday, so we’ll get kiddie movies like Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount), romantic movies like The Photograph (Universal) and horror movies like Fantasy Island (Sony).

[savetopnow]

2018-04-04 10 MOVIE now

MOVIE

Birth. Movies. Death.

SXSW 2018 Review: TAKE YOUR PILLS Shines A Light On An Alarming Problem

Is Denis Villeneuve Still Making a DUNE Movie? Nope! Now He’s Making TWO Of Them

FIRST MATCH Trailer Takes A Girl’s Troubles To The Mat

Wes Anderson And Bill Murray: A Cinematic Rapport

Book Review: S. Craig Zahler’s HUG CHICKENPENNY Is A Touching Gothic Parable

CineVue

Film Review: A Quiet Place

Criterion Review: La Cage Aux Folles

DVD Review: Score: A Film Music Documentary

Film Review: The Island and the Whales

Film Review: Midnight Sun

Cinema Blend

One Legends Of Tomorrow Character Will Show Up Even More In Season 4

6 Questions We Have After Ready Player One

Why Star Wars: The Last Jedi Cut So Many Finn Scenes, According To Rian Johnson

True Detective Season 3 Went Through A Shake-Up Behind The Scenes

Why A Groundhog Day Sequel Will Never Happen, According To One Of The Actors

Cinema Scope

Cinema Scope 74 Contents

The Work (Jairus McLeary & Gethin Aldous, US)

Global Discoveries on DVD: A Few Peripheral Matters

Canadiana | Hometown Horror: Robin Aubert’s Les affamés

Exploded View: Bruce Conner’s Crossroads

Comicboook.com

'Jigsaw' Writers Working on New 'Saw' Sequel

Alex Ross Explains Difference Between Marvel and DC Characters

'Wonder Woman': Gal Gadot Congratulates Lynda Carter on Getting Hollywood Walk of Fame Star

Denny's Trading Cards Confirm More 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Character Names

Robert Downey Jr. Responds To 'Avengers: Infinity War' Directors' Secrecy Request

Film Comment Magazine

The Film Comment Podcast: ND/NF 2018

TCM Diary: Alvarez Kelly and the Confederates

Interview: Kantemir Balagov

ND/NF Interview: Valérie Massadian

Interview: Ishmael Reed

Film Inquiry

The Beginner’s Guide: Coming-Of-Age

REAR WINDOW: A Masterpiece Of Visual Cinema & Sound Design

MISS KIET’S CHILDREN: Meet Your New Favorite Class

FLOWER: Zoey Deutch Blossoms As A Teen Vigilante

Staff Inquiry: I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying

Film School Rejects

Our Pick of the Week Aims True and Hits Its Thrilling and Mildly Salacious Target

An Impressive Cast is Coming Together For ‘Paradise Hills’

Neil Gaiman and Akiva Goldsman Partner for an Epic Fantasy Series

The Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Movies of 2018 So Far

The Best Year in Movies Was 1988

Reddit Movies

Bill & Ted 3 close to becoming reality, writers reveal

Upgrade - Official Trailer | Blumhouse

Fox Searchlight Makes Overall Deal With Guillermo Del Toro

Adam Sandler To Star In ‘Uncut Gems’ For Safdie Brothers And A24

The Hobbit: Battle of Five Studios (Part 2/2)

Roger Ebert

Video: Chaz Ebert on "Day4Empathy"

Share Your Empathy: Table of Contents

Among the Stars: Roger's Writing About "2001: A Space Odyssey"

2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey

Screen Rant

10 Comic Book Movie Stars Who Are Sweethearts (And 10 Who Aren’t)

Legends of Tomorrow Season 4 Makes Ava a Series Regular

The End of The All-New X-Men Teased By Marvel Comics?

American Gods Casting New Media Role to Replace Gillian Anderson

The Meg Author Praises Trailer As ‘Excellent’ & Explains Delay

Slash Film

/Filmcast Ep. 461 – Ready Player One

Superhero Bits: Possible ‘Flashpoint’ Title Change, Looking Back at the ‘Lois & Clark’ Finale & More

Daily Podcast: Guillermo Del Toro, Armada, Avengers, Jurassic Park, Universal Studios, Venom

‘Night School’ Trailer: Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish Go Back to School

Helen Mirren Thinks Stunt Performers Should Get Oscars

[double-croche1]

[CANNES 2017] Les films du Festival de Cannes programmés dans la Sélection Officielle, Un Certain Regard, la Quinzaine des Réalisateurs et la Semaine de la Critique ont été dévoilés. Ceux hors-compétition et ceux des Séances spéciales et des Séances de minuit sont désormais également connus. Vous pourrez retrouver prochainement les infos complémentaires (synopsis, affiches, bandes-annonces...) des films des sélections principales sur notre page dédiée : http://bit.ly/2o196xs Film d'ouverture du festival : ‘Les Fantômes d’Ismaël’ d’Arnaud Desplechin (17/05) Sélection Officielle : ‘Rodin’ de Jacques Doillon (24/05) ‘L'Amant double' de François Ozon (26/05) ‘Le Jour d’après' de Hong Sangsoo (07/06) ‘Okja’ de Bong Joon-ho (28/06)  ‘Une femme douce' de Sergei Loznitsa (16/08) ‘Les Proies’ de Sofia Coppola (23/08) ‘120 battements par minute' de Robin Campillo (23/08) ‘Le Redoutable’ de Michel Hazanavicius (13/09) ‘Faute d’amour' d'Andrey Zvyagintsev (20/09) ‘Vers la lumière’ de Naomi Kawase (20/09) ‘Good Time' de Benny & Josh Safdie (11/10) ‘Happy End’ de Michael Haneke (18/10) ‘Mise à mort du cerf sacré' de Yorgos Lanthimos (01/11) ‘La Lune de Jupiter' de Kornél Mandruczó (01/11) ‘Le Musée des merveilles’ de Todd Haynes (15/11) ‘The Square’ de Ruben Östlund ‘In the Fade' de Faith Atkin ‘The Meyerowitz Stories' de Noah Baumbach ‘You Were Never Really Here' de Lynne Ramsay Un Certain Regard :  ‘Les Filles d'avril' de Michel Franco (26/07) ‘Barbara’ de Matthieu Amalric (06/09) ‘L'Atelier' de Laurent Cantet (11/10) ‘La Belle et la meute' de Kaouther Ben Hania (18/10) ‘En attendant les hirondelles' de Karim Moussaoui (08/11) ‘La Fiancée du désert' de Cecilia Atan et Valeria Pivato ‘Une vie à l’étroit' de Kantemir Balagov ‘Fortunata' de Sergio Castellito ‘Western' de Valeska Grisebach ‘Directions' de Stephan Komandarev ‘Out' de Gyorgy Kristof ‘Avant que nous ne disparaissions' de Kiyoshi Kurosawa ‘Un homme intègre' de Mohammad Rasoulof ‘Jeune femme' de Léonor Serraille ‘Wind River' de Taylor Sheridan ‘Après la guerre' d'Annarita Zambrano ‘El Presidente’ de Santiago Mitre ‘Walking Past the Future’ de Li Ruijun Quinzaine des Réalisateurs : ‘L’Amant d’un jour’ de Philippe Garrel (31/05) ‘Nothingwood’ de Sonia Kronlund (24/06) ‘Patti Cake$’ de Geremy Jasper (30/08) ‘Otez moi d'un doute’ de Carine Tardieu (06/09) ‘Un beau soleil intérieur’ de Claire Denis (27/09) ‘Jeannette, l'enfance de Jeanne d'Arc’ de Bruno Dumont ‘The Florida Project’ de Sean Baker ‘Alive in France’ d’Abel Ferrara ‘A Ciambra’ de Jonas Carpignano ‘Bushwick’ de Cary Murnion & Jonathan Milott ‘Cœurs purs’ de Roberto De Paolis ‘Frost’ de Sharunas Bartas ‘I Am Not a Witch’ de Rungano Nyoni ‘L'Intrusa’ de Leonardo Di Costanzo ‘La Defensa del Dragon’ de Natalia Santa ‘Marlina Si Pembunuh Dalam Empat Babak’ de Mouly Surya ‘Mobile Homes’ de Vladimir de Fontenay ‘The Rider’ de Chloé Zhao ‘West of The Jordan River (Field Diary Revisited)’ d’Amos Gitai Semaine de la Critique : ‘Ava’ de Léa Mysius (21/06) ‘Gabriel e a Montanha’ de Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa (16/08) ‘La Familia’ de Gustavo Rondón Córdova ‘Makala’ d’Emmanuel Gras ‘Oh Lucy!’ d’Atsuko Hirayanagi ‘Los Perros’ de Marcela Said ‘Téhéran Tabou’ d’Ali Soozandeh Hors-Compétition : ‘Visages, villages' de Agnès Varda & JR (28/06) ‘D’après une histoire vraie’ de Roman Polanski (01/11) ‘Blade of the Immortal' de Takashi Miike ‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties' de John Cameron Mitchell Séances spéciales : ‘Twin Peaks' saison 3 de David Lynch (2 premiers épisodes) (21/05) ‘Top of the Lake' saison 2 de Jane Campion & Ariel Kleiman ‘Le Vénérable W.’ de Barbet Schroeder ‘Carré 35′ d’Eric Caravaca ‘12 jours' de Raymond Depardon ‘24 Frames' d'Abbas Kiarostami ‘Come Swim' de Kristen Stewart ‘They' d'Anahita Ghazvinizadeh ‘La Caméra de Claire' d'Hong Sangsoo ‘Promised Land' d'Eugene Jarecki ‘Napalm' de Claude Lanzmann ‘Demons in Paradise' de Jude Ratman ‘Une suite qui dérange - Le Temps de l'action' de Bonni Cohen & Jon Shenk Séances de minuit : ‘Sans pitié' de Sung-Hyun Byun (28/06) ‘The Villainess' de Byung-Gil Jung ‘A Prayer Before Dawn' de Jean-Christophe Sauvaire A&B

[italianaradio]

Golden Globes 2020: i più grandi “snobbati” della 77esima edizione

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Golden Globes 2020: i più grandi “snobbati” della 77esima edizione

Golden Globes 2020: i più grandi “snobbati” della 77esima edizione

Golden Globes 2020: i più grandi “snobbati” della 77esima edizione

Nella giornata di ieri sono state ufficialmente annunciate le nomination dei Golden Globes 2020, la cui cerimonia di premiazione si svolgerà il prossimo 5 gennaio.

Le scelte dell’Hollywood Foreign Press Association in merito alle migliori produzioni cinematografiche e televisive dell’anno che sta per chiudersi ci indicano in linea di massima quale sarà l’orientamento della stagione dei premi (Oscar inclusi) in materia di candidature, salvo gli immancabili colpi di scena dell’ultimo minuto.

Come da tradizione, l’annuncio delle nomination – che si tratti dei Globi d’Oro o di qualsiasi altro premio – comporta sempre una certa dose di disappunto, soprattutto in vista di quei film, quei registi o quegli attori che secondo la maggioranza non hanno ricevuto la giusta considerazione.

Di seguito abbiamo raccolto i più grandi titoli e le più grandi personalità (tra registi e attori) “snobbati” dalla 77esima edizione dei Golden Globes:

Piccole Donne

    Il nuovo adattamento dell’iconico romanzo di Louisa May Alcott farà il suo esordio nelle sale cinematografiche a breve ed è già uno dei film più attesi della stagione 2019/2020. La regista Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) ha diretto un cast a dir poco stellare, che include – tra gli altri – Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern e Meryl Streep. Ciononostante, il film è riuscito a conquistare soltanto due candidature: Migliore Attrice Protagonista in un film Drammatico (Saoirse Ronan) e Miglior Colonna Sonora Originale (Alexandre Desplat).

Lo scarso apprezzamento che l’Hollywood Foreign Press Association ha dimostrato nei confronti della pellicola potrebbe condizionare il resto della stagione dei premi e rendere la corsa di Piccole Donne agli Oscar meno appetibile di quello che la Sony Pictures avrebbe desiderato.

Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems

Per quanto concerne gli attori, il più grande snobbato di questa edizione è sicuramente Adam Sandler, che ha ricevuto grandi lodi da parte della critica per la sua interpretazione nella commedia drammatica Uncut Gems. Diretto da Josh Safdie e Benny Safdie, il film vede Sandler nei panni di Howard Ratner, un gioielliere vittima del gioco d’azzardo, raccontandone gli alti e bassi della dipendenza, inclusi i metodi sperimentati dall’uomo per cercare di restare a galla.

Il film arriverà nelle sale americane soltanto a Natale, ma per Adam Sandler si è parlato fin dall’inizio di una possibile candidatura agli Oscar. Nonostante la vittoria di un National Board of Review e di una candidatura ai Critics’ Choice, l’HFPA lo ha deliberatamente escluso dalla cinquina del Miglior Attore. Solo il tempo ci dirà se toccherà all’Academy onorare il suo lavoro con una sorprendente ma a quanto pare più che meritata nomination…

Robert De Niro, The Irishman

Si è ampiamente discusso dell’ultima epopea cinematografica di Martin Scorsese. Ancor prima del suo arrivo su Netflix, il film aveva già fatto parlare di sé per la lunga e travagliata lavorazione e per l’utilizzo della tecnica del de-aging. A The Irishman è già stato conferito il titolo di capolavoro, anche se la lunga durata avrà certamente messo a dura prova lo spettatore più pigro.

Il film è riuscito a conquistare una serie di candidature importanti, ma con grande sorpresa il protagonista Robert De Niro è stato escluso dalla cinquina del Miglior Attore in un film Drammatico: alla sua interpretazione del sicario Frank Sheeran, l’HFPA ha preferito le interpretazioni di Christian Bale, Antonio Banderas, Adam Driver, Joaquin Phoenix e Jonathan Pryce.

When They See Us

Per quanto riguarda il mondo della televisione, una delle più grandi sorprese è stato vedere come When They See Us, la miniserie creata e diretta da Ava DuVernay e basata sul noto caso della jogger di Central Park del 1989, sia rimasta letteralmente a mani vuote, senza riuscire a conquistare neanche una nomination. La miniserie aveva fatto incetta di candidature all’ultima edizione degli Emmy Awards (ben 11), portando a casa il premio per il Miglior Attore Protagonista in una miniserie o film per la televisione, conferito al talentuosissimo Jharrel Jerome.

Tuttavia Netflix, che ha prodotto e distribuito la miniserie, non potrà di certo ritenersi insoddisfatta, dal momento che grazie ad altri suoi suoi show – tra cui The Crown, Unbelievable e The Politician – è riuscita a mettere a segno un totale di 17 candidature.

Bombshell

Un altro film che non è ancora arrivato al cinema, ma che sta già raccogliendo numerosi consensi, soprattutto per la presenza nel cast di tre attrici straordinarie: Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie e Nicole Kidman. Eppure, nonostante l’incredibile e attuale storia vera alla base del film (le accuse di molestie sessuali ai danni di Rogert Ailes, ex direttore di Fox News interpretato nel film da John Lithgow), il dramma biografico di Jay Roach sembra non essere riuscito a conquistare totalmente i membri dell’HFPA.

Soltanto due le candidature ricevute dal film, entrambe per le attrici: la Theron nominata come Migliore Attrice in un film Drammatico e la Robbie candidata come Migliore Attrice Non Protagonista. Vedremo se una maggiore attenzione verrà riservata a Bombshell nei mesi a venire: riuscirà il film a fare meglio in vista dei prossimi Oscar?

Noah Baumbach, Storia di un matrimonio

L’ultima fatica di Noah Baumbach, Storia di un matrimonio, è riuscita a conquistare ben sei candidature, quasi tutte nelle categorie principali; ma a quanto pare Baumbach deve essere apprezzato più per le sue doti di sceneggiatore che di regista. Il film ha infatti ricevuto una candidatura per la Miglior Sceneggiatura Originale, ma Noah Baumbach non è riuscito a rientrare nella cinquina per il Miglior Regista.

È innegabile che il lavoro svolto da Baumbach con Adam Driver e Scarlett Johansson – un lavoro che ha conferito ancora più intensità alle loro struggenti interpretazioni – non abbia nulla da invidiare a quello degli altri illustri colleghi nominati, ossia Bong Joon-ho, Sam Mendes, Todd Phillips, Martin Scorsese e Quentin Tarantino.

Lupita Nyongo’o, Noi

Il debutto sul grande schermo di Jordan Peele, Scappa – Get Out, ha permesso al regista e sceneggiatore statunitense di conquistare addirittura un premio Oscar. Ecco perché c’era moltissima attesa per la sua seconda creatura cinematografica, Noi, una storia affascinante dalle atmosfere dark, in cui all’intero cast è stato chiesto di interpretare due ruoli: il personaggio della storia ed il suo relativo doppelganger. 

Tra questi, il più importante è sicuramente Adelaide/Red, interpretato dal premio Oscar Lupita Nyong’o. Una performance bizzarra e al tempo stesso sbalorditiva, che a quanto pare non sembra aver conquistato il cuore dei membri dell’HFPA: l’attrice, infatti, non è stata candidata per la sua interpretazione. Al suo posto, nella categoria “Drama”, le favorite sono risultate Cynthia Erivo, Scarlett Johansson, Saoirse Ronan, Charlize Theron e Renée Zellweger. Un brutto colpo per tutti gli appassionati del genere horror…

Matt Damon, Le Mans ’66 – La Grande Sfida

Le Mans ’66 – La Grande Sfida è un altro di quei film che in molti pensavano sarebbe diventato uno dei protagonisti della stagione dei premi. Così non è stato, dal momento che l’ultima fatica di James Mangold non è riuscita a conquistare nessuna importante nomination, fatta eccezione per il co-protagonista Christian Bale, incluso nella cinquina del Miglior Attore in un film Drammatico.

E proprio a proposito di questa categoria, non si può fare a meno di notare come Matt Damon – altro co-protagonista del film – sia stato altamente snobbato. Naturalmente, i Golden Globes non sono un indicatore preciso e infallibile di quelle che saranno le nomination degli Oscar: speriamo, quindi, che Damon possa avere ancora una possibilità!

Avengers: Endgame

Nonostante abbia infranto qualsiasi record e sia diventato il film con il maggior incasso nella storia del cinema, Avengers: Endgame è stato completamente snobbato dalle candidature dei Golden Globes, non riuscendo a conquistare alcuna nomination, nonostante la Disney abbia spinto il film a suon di campagne promozionali in occasione della stagione dei premi. Ma lo sappiamo: i cinecomic hanno da sempre un rapporto piuttosto complicato con i premi e le candidature, nonostante i recenti successi di Deadpool, Logan e Black Panther (che a modo loro sono riusciti a scrivere la storia del genere) e le quattro nomination conquistate quest’anno da Joker di Todd Phillips.

Avengers: Endgame non ha raccolto i medesimi consensi, nonostante il successo planetario, gli effetti speciali sbalorditivi e una storia profondamente incentrata sui personaggi. Probabilmente, viste le numerose candidature ottenute da The Irisham e le recenti dichiarazioni di Martin Scorsese sui film Marvel, il dibattito sui cinecomics e sul loro essere o meno cinema continuerà ancora a causa delle decisioni dell’HFPA…

Euphoria

Tornando a parlare di piccolo schermo e di serie tv, insieme a When They See Us non si può non annoverare Euphoria tra i grandi snobbati di quest’anno. Nonostante sia stata elogiata dalla critica, che ne ha particolarmente apprezzato l’autenticità nel raccontare la cruda realtà giovanile, la serie creata da Sam Levinson per HBO con protagonista Zendaya non ha ricevuto neanche una candidatura.

Un vero e proprio smacco nei confronti di uno show che si è fatto notare per la finezza della scrittura e per la bellezza delle immagini. Un prodotto che avrebbe meritato maggiore considerazione in questa stagione dei premi, dal momento che sempre più raramente si utilizzano forme così eleganti per raccontare di sofferenze ed abissi così profondi.

Cinefilos.it – Da chi il cinema lo ama.

Golden Globes 2020: i più grandi “snobbati” della 77esima edizione

Nella giornata di ieri sono state ufficialmente annunciate le nomination dei Golden Globes 2020, la cui cerimonia di premiazione si svolgerà il prossimo 5 gennaio. Le scelte dell’Hollywood Foreign Press Association in merito alle migliori produzioni cinematografiche e televisive dell’anno che sta per chiudersi ci indicano in linea di massima quale sarà l’orientamento della stagione […]

Cinefilos.it – Da chi il cinema lo ama.

Stefano Terracina

[mrmichaelchadler]

TIFF 2018: Claire Denis Brings High Life to Toronto, Accepts Ebert Tribute

On Monday, September 10th, Claire Denis accepted the 5th Annual Ebert Tribute Award at a lunch organized by Chaz Ebert, and the team behind the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), including Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling. She joins the impressive lineage of the award, which has been given to Martin Scorsese, Ava DuVernay, Agnes Varda, and Wim Wenders in the last four years. At an event attended by collaborators like Robert Pattinson and Mia Goth, admirers like filmmakers Atom Egoyan, Taika Waititi, Mira Nair, Clement Virgo, and Brigitte Berman and friends like Olivier Assayas, as well as journalists and people in the industry, Claire Denis was the guest of honor. That her newest film, “High Life,” premiered the night before and instantly became the most divisive of TIFF18 seemed perfectly appropriate. The tribute took place at Akira Back in the Bisha Hotel, the latest, sleek, Michellin starred restaurant in Toronto, with it's famed chef, Akira Back, looking after every gourmet detail.

Piers Handling, the Festival Director who is stepping down after 36 years with the festival, clearly had an emotional connection with Denis, whom he compared to Jean-Luc Godard in his introduction at the tribute lunch. Like Godard, she is uncompromising, unconcerned about holding the hand of the audience member, asking something of the viewer instead of just allowing them to be a passive observer. This is certainly the case with “High Life,” a film that ended up as the #1 of this year’s TIFF for a number of high-profile critics while also containing a number of walk-outs. It feels like that’s how Denis would want it—a movie that challenges viewers means that some viewers won’t be up for the challenge, doesn’t it?

“High Life” is certainly a challenge, starring Robert Pattinson as a space traveler aboard a giant ship headed to the distant reaches of space. We meet Pattinson’s character on a nearly-empty vessel—it’s just him and a baby. How he got here is filled in with flashbacks that include roles played by Juliette Binoche, Mia Goth, and Andre Benjamin, but don’t expect any sort of traditional narrative. This is a film that owes a great deal more to Tarkovsky than Nolan, and further proof that Pattinson is one of the most daring actors of his generation, eschewing leading man roles to work with filmmakers like James Gray, the Safdies, and Claire Denis. “High Life” was bought by A24 shortly after its premiere.

Of course, the Ebert Tribute is never about only one film, and Claire Denis’ entire career was feted at the luncheon, with Chaz Ebert calling her an original, and thanking her for her willingness to boldly address female sexual desire in her films. Sony Pictures Classics co-president, Michael Barker, spoke about seeing “Chocolat” for the first time at Cannes thirty years ago, a colleague telling him “this is why we do what we do.” Calling Roger Ebert, “the conscious of the movie business,” Barker deftly laid out the symbiosis required between artist, producer, and critic. Filmmakers like Claire Denis are rare, and it takes people who appreciate their gifts to give them the right platform. As Barker said, “Our place in the business is to protect her and that humanity.”

Denis, being as humble as ever, spent the beginning of her very brief speech thanking Assayas for his friendship and support (and who wouldn’t love to see the two of them sit down for a filmed interview someday?) She thanked Piers, Cameron, Chaz, also the fact that she was honored to accept the award in his name. In all the speeches and conversations in that room, and the excellent tribute video which is embedded below, the word that kept resurfacing was “uncompromising.” Even at age 72, Denis refuses to make simple, unchallenging films. It’s clear now that she never will.

All photos credited to Shane Parent.

from All Content https://ift.tt/2CXMklT

[noblockbusters]

TOP CINEMA 2017 : 25 FILMS

1/OKJA ( Bong joo-ho)

Le piteux débat sur la non sortie en salle concernant cette production Netflix, le recul du jury cannois (qui préfère filer la mise en scène à Sofia Coppola, LOL) montre bien combien les professionnels sont dépassés par les nouveaux modes de consommation et l’hégémonie des films pour ados qui cannibalisent la créativité et la qualité des blockbusters. Que Netflix croient aux cinéastes et à leur capacité d’émerveillement  et plutôt une bonne nouvelle vu la frilosité des banques-studios. Pour Okja, on compense donc notre frustration du grand écran par un grand spectacle maitrisé et éblouissant, par un des plus grands cinéastes contemporains. Un Spielberg qui aurait une conscience politique.

2/ UN JOUR DANS LA VIE DE BILLY LYNN (Ang Lee)

Le cinéaste taïwanais continue son travail américain en plongeant un groupe de soldats fraîchement sortis d’Irak, pour les confronter à la promotion, au public et à l’héroïsme toc dont raffole le peuple. Qu’est-ce qui est le plus violent ? Une expérience viscérale et choc, que l’on n’aura pas pu voir dans son format initial, faute de technique…et tellement mal distribué en France. Une honte de plus…

 3/ A GHOST STORY (David Lowery)

Avec un drap, 2 acteurs et un format carré, Lowery étire le temps et propose un petit bijou de finesse et de poésie, comme son mentor Malick ne sait plus en faire. Une bouffée d’oxygène au milieu d’un cinéma américain bavard, confus et répétitif.

 4/ LA LA LAND (Damien Chazelle)

A 30 balais, Chazelle a déjà la classe et la maitrise de ses idoles. Qu’il agace autant qu’il fascine est une bonne chose. Réussir une telle prouesse technique et visuelle, en intéressant le public (français) aux comédies musicales (ringardes), chapeau bas. Surtout que LA LA LAND est avant tout un film sur Los Angeles, l’industrie du cinéma, le couple et les bons choix à faire. Comme Chazelle.

 5/ BLADE RUNNER 2049 (Denis Villeneuve)

Les puristes ont crié au loup, quelle surprise, mais d’autres ont vu là la continuité du travail de Villeneuve plus que la suite attendue du film de 1982. Un film à la beauté brute, poétique, qui marche plus dans les pas de Tarkovski que de Scott et qui ouvre l’espace urbain du premier à d’autres territoires secs et désolés. Quelques scènes foirées cependant, une musique ratée et un Harrison Ford qui fait de la peine, après son retour dans Star Wars, déjà laborieux…

 6/ HARMONIUM/ SAYONARA ( Koji  Fukada)

Deux films sortis cette année, pour ce cinéaste à ranger entre Kore-Eda et  Kyoshi Kurosawa. Une plongée dans les affres de la vengeance, une réflexion sur la mort et l’intelligence artificielle. Deux moments de grâce à la japonaise…

 7/ THE LOST CITY OF Z (James Gray)

Cinéma classique en voix d’extinction, celui de James Gray résiste pour l’instant face aux ogres des studios. Ce film d’aventure au ralenti prend son temps, et se déploie comme une peinture, Gray dessinant des tableaux d’une beauté infinie.

 8/ LA BELLE ET LA MEUTE ( Kaouther Ben Ania)

A l’heure du harcèlement et de la libération de la parole féminine, un film beau et courageux venu de Tunisie. Des scènes tout en plans séquences et la dénonciation salvatrice d’une société patriarcale et archaïque. 

9/ QUE DIOS NOS PERDONE (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)

Un polar sec et tendu dans l’Espagne de 2011, en pleine crise économique, qui confirme la facilité de ses réalisateurs pour le film de genre , contrairement aux nôtres. Une belle claque.

 10/ LA LUNE DE JUPITER ( Kornel Mundruczo)

Après un White God bluffant, le réal hongrois balance un brûlot vif et intelligent sur les migrants, sous couvert de film de super-héros et de croyances. Tout en effets mécaniques et plans incroyables, le film impressionne de bout en bout.

 11/ DETROIT (Kathryn Bigelow)

On sait depuis Point Break que Bigelow n’a rien à envier aux réalisateurs hommes de son pays. Avec Detroit, elle regarde droit dans les yeux cette Amérique blanche qui a toujours du mal à accepter son passé et son présent raciste. A l’heure des délires trumpesques, le film frappe fort et ne laisse personne indemne.

 12/ LA PLANETE DES SINGES : Suprématie (Matt Reeves)

Oui, on peut faire des trilogies et des blockbusters intelligents et profonds ! Et le 3e volet ici est sûrement le plus intéressant des 3. Peu d’action, prouesse technique et visuelle, un film de studio qui met l’espèce humaine face à ses exactions et sa propre fin : respect.

 13/ LA REGION SAUVAGE (Amat Escalante)

Heli avait déjà été une belle claque réaliste. Ici le mexicain s’aventure sur des chemins mêlant sensualité, sexe et fantastique avec une grande liberté, mais toujours avec talent.

 14/ CORPS ET AME (Ildiko Enyedi)

De Hongrie, encore, mais par une réalisatrice qui regarde l’éveil des sentiments chez deux handicapés de l’amour. Deux bêtes blessées qui vont apprendre à s’apprivoiser. Beau et lumineux.

 15/ FAUTE D’AMOUR (Andreï  Zviaguintsev)

Un enfant disparait. Un couple se déchire dans son égoïsme et dans la Russie corrompue de Poutine. Nouveau coup de force visuel du réalisateur de Léviathan. Prix du jury à Cannes mérité.

 16/ LA COLERE D’UN HOMME PATIENT (Raul Arevalo)

Autre polar espagnol de l’année, cette histoire de vengeance sobre et efficace fait le boulot. Comme les scandinaves,  ce pays compense un manque de moyens évident par du talent, des idées et de bons acteurs. Olivier Marchal devrait en regarder plus souvent.

 17/ AVA (Léa Mysius)

Un premier film libre et audacieux sur l’éveil au sexe et sur les gens du voyage. Beau, habité et enflammé. Une bouffée d’oxygène dans un cinéma français qui tourne en rond (mention spéciale tout de même à Une Vie Violente et à 120 BPM)

 18/ THELMA (Joachim Trier)

Suivi de près depuis Oslo, 31 Aout et Back Home, le cinéaste norvégien s’aventure en terre fantastique avec ce beau film sur les peurs et sur la différence, le tout sur fond d’éveil à l’amour adolescent. Quelques-unes des plus belles scènes de l’année.

 19/ UN HOMME INTEGRE (Mohammad Rasoulof)

Déjà compliqué de faire du cinéma en Iran, mais alors un vrai polar, sur fond de dérive mafieuse et de corruption, ça relève du miracle. Le cinéaste est évidemment passible de prison.  Couillu.

20/ GOOD TIME (Ben & Joshua Safdie)

Emblèmes d’un nouveau cinema new-yorkais  indé et fauché, les frères Safdie entrainent la star Robert Pattinson (décidemment toujours bien inspiré) dans une spirale de braquage merdeuse. Beau.

 21/ LE CAIRE, CONFIDENTIEL (Tarik Saleh)

Un beau polar par un réal suédois, dans l’Egypte du printemps arabe de 2011, mais tourné à Casablanca pour d’évidentes raisons politiques...Une ambiance poisseuse à souhait, et un bel hommage aux films Noir et enfumés. 

22/ MOONLIGHT (Barry Jenkins)

3 acteurs pour une même histoire, et la prouesse de parler d’homosexualité dans un milieu black et urbain peu porté sur l’eau de rose. Non seulement ça fonctionne, mais ça remporte l’Oscar face à La La Land !!

 23/ LOVE HUNTERS (Ben Young)

Après Animal Kingdom et Les Crimes de Snowtown, un premier film australien tout aussi malaisant et tendu, sur le kidnapping de jeunes filles par un couple de dégénérés.  Tiré d’une histoire vraie, of course.

 24/ GET OUT  (Jordan Peel)

Avec Birth Of a nation, I am not your Negro , Detroit ou Suburbicon de Clooney, le problème des noirs américains et la mémoire de l’esclavagisme est revenu comme un boomerang à la gueule de l’Amérique de Trump. Malgré une fin un peu expédiée, Get Out reste une expérience flippante. Un cinéaste à suivre.

 25/ DUNKERQUE  (Christopher Nolan)

Alors qu’il pourrait rester dans sa zone de confort, Nolan prend des risques en proposant un film de guerre sans guerre, délaissant la boucherie (on n’est pas chez Mel Gibson) et les conventions pour un survival en 3 points de vue distincts. Maestria visuelle et sonore. Le public suit, ce qui est aussi une très bonne nouvelle.

[savetopnow]

2018-03-16 19 MOVIE now

MOVIE

Birth. Movies. Death.

SXSW 2018 Review: TAKE YOUR PILLS Shines A Light On An Alarming Problem

Is Denis Villeneuve Still Making a DUNE Movie? Nope! Now He’s Making TWO Of Them

FIRST MATCH Trailer Takes A Girl’s Troubles To The Mat

Wes Anderson And Bill Murray: A Cinematic Rapport

Book Review: S. Craig Zahler’s HUG CHICKENPENNY Is A Touching Gothic Parable

CineVue

Film Review: The Square

Banking on a box office hit

DVD Review: The Barefoot Contessa

Film Review: A Prominent Patient

Film Review: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

Cinema Blend

Eric McCormack's Travelers Renewed For Season 3 At Netflix

What How To Get Away With Murder's Season 4 Finale Cliffhangers Mean For Season 5

Drake Played Fortnite And Twitch Went Crazy

The Witcher's Geralt Is Joining Soul Calibur VI

What Gotham’s New Villain Team-Up Means For The Rest Of Season 4

Cinema Scope

Madame Hyde (Serge Bozon, France/Belgium)

The Green Fog (Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, US/Canada)

Cocote (Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic/Argentina/Germany)

The Uses of Disenchantment: Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water

3/4 (Ilian Metev, Bulgaria/Germany)

Comicboook.com

Marvel Fans Can't Wait To Buy 'Avengers: Infinity War' Tickets

'Deadpool 2' International Poster Released

'Avengers: Infinity War': New Look At Black Widow

'Avengers: Infinity War's Danai Gurira On Difference Between Marvel And 'The Walking Dead'

'Avengers: Infinity War' Directors Tease Early Release For Trailer

Film Comment Magazine

SXSW Interview: Lauren Greenfield

Deep Focus: Tomb Raider

Queer & Now & Then: 1932

The Film Comment Podcast: Tell Me

Festivals: Berlin 2018

Film Inquiry

THOROUGHBREDS: Nothing New, But It’s Still Snarky Fun

ALLURE: A Disturbing Story But An Impressive Debut

LOVE, SIMON: Parity Through Mediocrity

SORRY TO BOTHER YOU Trailer

AFTER THE STORM: Tokyo At Its Most Personal

Film School Rejects

Killer Cons, Flesh-Eating Aliens, and a Sexy Deal With the Devil

Miranda July to Take on the Heist Genre

How the Safdie Brothers Test the Limits of Our Empathy

Michael Bay’s ‘Pain & Gain’ is More Essential Than Ever

How Katharine Hepburn Orchestrated Her Hollywood Comeback On Her Own Terms

Reddit Movies

Official Discussion: Love, Simon [SPOILERS]

Official Discussion: Tomb Raider [SPOILERS]

Gentleman Broncos! Sam Rockwell was good in 3 billboards but great in this classic.

Baby Driver doesn't need a sequel

Remember Those Direct-To-Video SCOOBY-DOO Movies?

Roger Ebert

Tomb Raider

The Love We Found: Frank Oz and Victoria Labalme on “Muppet Guys Talking”

Back in the USSR: Armando Iannucci on "The Death of Stalin"

SXSW Film Festival 2018: “Elizabeth Harvest,” “Don’t Leave Home”

An Addictive Quality: Evan Rachel Wood and Julia Sarah Stone on “Allure”

Screen Rant

Black Widow Returns After Being Killed in Secret Empire

Splinter Cell Reboot To Be Announced Soon?

Green Goblin Would Be The Perfect Villain For Spider-Man: Homecoming 2

Aquaman: Black Manta Actor ‘Very Happy’ With Footage So Far

Last Jedi Novel Explains Movie’s Timeline Problems

Slash Film

Superhero Bits: Spider-Man Sequel Villain Hints, Red Hulk Becomes Iron Hulk & More

Daily Podcast: Listen To Our Interview With ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Directors The Russo Brothers

Shout! Factory Acquires Roger Corman’s Library of 270 B-Movies

‘Logan’ Filmmakers Reunite for ‘The Force’ Movie

Ava DuVernay Will Direct ‘The New Gods’ For DC Films