All posts by Nicholas Bell »
Like Father, Like Son | Review
Blood Ties: An Elegant, Yet Familiar New Film from Koreeda Children switched at birth and discovered years after the error is the well-worn melodramatic scenario that master filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda manages to make potentially
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The Past | Cannes Review
Heavy, Heavy Hangs: Farhadi’s Latest a (mostly) Worthwhile Endeavor For his first film made outside his native country, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi unveils his latest exercise in domestic unrest with the French language The
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Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2013: Rithy Panh’s The Missing Image
The Missing Image – Rithy Panh Section: Un Certain Regard Buzz: Cambodian director Rithy Panh, perhaps best known for his 2003 documentary, S21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine or a 2008 Isabelle Huppert film,
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Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2013: Mohammad Rasoulof’s Anonymous
Anonymous – Mohammad Rasoulof Section: Un Certain Regard Buzz: Mohammad Rasoulof, one of the three Iranian filmmakers famously arrested in 2010, is set to cause more waves with this latest film, reportedly shot in
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Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2013: Lucia Puenzo’s Wakolda
Wakolda – Lucia Punezo Section: Un Certain Regard Buzz: After winning the Critics Week Grand Prize in 2007 for her directorial debut, XXY, Argentinean director Lucia Puenzo took her sophomore effort, The Fish Child
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Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2013: Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin
Blue Ruin – Jeremy Saulnier Section: Directors’ Fortnight Buzz: Jeremy Saulnier, cinematographer for Matthew Porterfield’s Putty Hill and I Used to Be Darker, unveils his sophomore directorial effort in the Directors’ Fortnight. A thriller
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Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2013: Alex Van Warmerdan’s Borgman
Borgman – Alex Van Warmerdan Section: Main Competition Buzz: Alex Van Warmerdan’s latest film is immediately of note because it’s the first Dutch film to play the Main Comp in thirty eight years. But
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Augustine | Review
A Scandalous Method: Winocour’s Debut a Rich Case Study Celebrated filmmaker Alice Winocour, renowned for several of her short films, makes a compelling debut with Augustine, based on the real life case study of
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Cannes 2013 Derby: Refn’s Only God Forgives Tops Nicholas’ Palme d’Or Predictions
Nicolas Winding Refn won Best Director at Cannes for his 2011 film Drive when Robert De Niro was jury president. While many may presume that Spielberg may shy away from Refn’s entry, I think
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Aftershock | Review
After shock, after shock: Lopez Directs Roth in Another Tourist Nightmare Recalling the glut of disaster movies that invaded the multiplexes in the 60s and 70s, everything from The Poseidon Adventure and, of course,
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Errors of the Human Body | Review
Body Talk: Sheean’s Debut Forgoes Thrills for Moody Drama Eron Sheean, best known for writing the 2011 Xavier Gens film, The Divide, arrives with his curiously titled Errors of the Human Body, a sort
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Erased | Review
Untaken Legacy: Stolzl’s English Debut a Clunky, Derivate Actioneer Originally titled The Expatriate, German director Philip Stolzl’s English language debut gets the dumbed down title of Erased, which unfortunately only makes it an easy
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Mobius | Review
False Positive: Rochant’s Latest a Trashy, Muddled Mess French director Eric Rochant, no stranger to espionage themed genre exercises upon a quick glance at his filmography (Les Patriotes), delivers a surprisingly inept turkey with
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In Another Country | DVD Review
After a cool reception followed its 2012 premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo’s In Another Country toured the festival circuit, quietly receiving a US theatrical release last
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Kiss of the Damned | Review
Nothing Human Loves Forever: Cassavetes’ Feature Debut Gloriously Vintage Xan Cassavetes joins the family directorial legacy with her feature debut, Kiss of the Damned, a deliciously vintage throwback to the erotic horror output of
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Love is All You Need | Review
Before the Wedding: Bier’s Latest a Vibrant Vehicle for Dyrholm Susanne Bier returns with an uncharacteristically light film, Love Is All You Need, after her 2011 Best Foreign Language Film win for In a
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Cannes 2013: Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive” Among Five Last Minute Additions
Confirming some last minute additions to this year’s lineup, Cannes officials announced some exciting new titles, including (which we predicted) Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, headlining Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as impassioned
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Midnight’s Children | Review
Changeling Game: Mehta’s Latest a Stodgy, Swollen Adaptation A fictional narrative that attempts to recuperate an impressive fifty year historical timeline concerning relations between India and Pakistan, Deepa Mehta’s latest film, Midnight’s Children, is
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Arthur Newman | Review
Hello, Newman: Ariola’s Meditation on Getting a Life Fails to Have One For a film whose tagline aggressively demands, “If you don’t have a life, get someone else’s,” Dante Ariola’s directorial debut, Arthur Newman,
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Review
Turn and Face the Strain: Nair’s Latest Adaptation a Return to Form Citing the project as nearly five years in the making, Mira Nair’s adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist follows on
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Sun Don’t Shine | Review (AFI Film Fest)
Madlands: Seimetz’ Relationship Drama Takes Us on a Road Trip to Love Hell Managing to balance an insanely busy schedule that boasts quality and quantity, actress/producer Amy Seimetz debuts her feature directorial debut with
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Kuma | Review
Two’s Company: Dag’s Extraordinary Debut Perversely Compelling Like Feo Aladag’s 2010 harrowing debut, When We Leave, Austrian-Kurdish director Umat Dag’s first film, Kuma, examines the strict traditions and cultural values of a Turkish immigrant
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Feed Me With Your Words | Review
Holy Strokes!: Turk’s Debut Loses Its Appetite Born out of a collaboration with the Torino Film Lab comes Martin Turk’s feature directorial debut, Feed Me With Your Words, a three tiered narrative structure told
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Mushrooming | Review
Scandal Sheet: An Odd, Disjointed Look at Estonia’s Political Climate Estonian director Toomas Hussar makes his screen debut with Mushrooming, a sort of political satire, sort of comedy, sort of faux thriller that may
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Folman’s The Congress Opens Directors’ Fortnight
Yesterday’s glaring omission from the Cannes lineup will be the opening film for the Directors’ Fortnight. Edouard Waintrop has nabbed Ari Folman’s The Congress, which we (along with many others) predicted would have been
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"Ron and I wanted to make a film that looked at what it means to be an outsider and we wanted to explore what it takes to reach out to someone whose life is very removed from your own."
