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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,
Read MoreTop 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
Read MoreTop 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
Read MoreTop 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
Read MoreTop 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
Read MoreCannes 2013 Derby: Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grande Bellezza Tops Eric’s Palme d’Or Predictions
Before I even begin considering the offerings in the field of eighteen Main Competition items, it’s the composition of the jury members (team of nine lead by Steven Spielberg) where my dissection begins. While
Read MoreAugustine | 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
Read MoreOnly The Young / Tchoupitoulas | DVD Review
When it was announced that Only The Young and Tchoupitoulas would be released together in a single package, I was a little taken back by the seemingly strange pairing. A coming-of-age story of teenage
Read MoreCannes 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
Read MoreCannes 2013 Derby: James Gray’s The Immigrant Tops Blake’s Palme d’Or Predictions
Obviously, we won’t know till we see the films. But last year I predicted Amour‘s victory based on the likely preferences of the jury, so that makes me some kind of prophet in my
Read MoreExpedition to the End of the World | Hot Docs 2013 Review
Dencik Sails For Science and Existentialism At first glance, Danish director Daniel Dencik’s Expedition to the End of the World seems a blatant ripoff of Werner Herzog’s graceful examination of modern Antarctica in Encounters
Read MoreAftershock | 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,
Read MoreBobcat Goldthwait, Buddy Giovinazzo & Joe Dante Among Fantasia Fest’s 2013 Frontieres Co-Prod Market
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival – it takes place this year between July 18 and August 6 and has always been about more than just the films. They offer plenty of panel discussions and
Read MoreBlood Brother | Hot Docs 2013 Review
India, AIDS & Amity: Hoover Follows Friend’s Heart It’s really no wonder that often when westerners find themselves drifting, looking for more from life, they drop everything and journey off into the unknown, and
Read MoreCriterion Collection: Richard III | Blu-ray Review
More than 500 years later, historians and archaeologists have unearthed, and then validated the skeleton remains of the two-year term King of England, and in the same token, the Criterion folks issue the crisp,
Read MoreErrors 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
Read MoreErased | 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
Read MoreScatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s | Review
Glossy Emptiness; Fashion’s Greatest Church The measure of success used in the fashion industry is unlike any used in other commercial art. Rather than massive popularity and accessibility, exclusivity is the name of the
Read MoreMobius | 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
Read MoreElena | Hot Docs 2013 Review
Float On: Costa Laments Sister In Intimate Portrait Petra Costa has been trying to process the suicide of her older sister for over two decades now. The young docu director’s first feature, Elena, is
Read MoreIn 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
Read MoreKiss 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
Read MoreLove 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
Read MoreBending Steel | Hot Docs 2013 Review
Carroll’s Debut A Wonder-ful Metamorphosis It turns out that being an old time strongman has less to do with bulging muscles, leopard skin leotards and handle bar mustaches than it does with carrying on
Read More12 O’Clock Boys | Hot Docs 2013 Review
Battles In Baltimore: Nathan Rides With The Boys First time director Lotfy Nathan has spent the last few years documenting war in the streets of Baltimore, though not against drugs or the classic gang-bangers
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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."
