Tag: top-stories
2014 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 2: No Sweet Hereafter Found in Egoyan’s “The Captive” & Ceylan Shines with Gender Role Malaise in “Winter Sleep”
Cannes - Friday May 16th
The first title out of the gate at this morning's 8:30 a.m. showing was the first of three Canadian films...
Cannes 2014 Day 2 Recap: Leigh’s British Landscape via “Mr.Turner”, UCR in “Party Girl” Mode, Quinzaine Dances to “Girlhood”, CW in Love with “FLA”
(Cannes - May 15th) The press were treated to their first 8:30 a.m. Grand Lumiere screening and were taken back to the late seventeen...
2014 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 1: Leigh Paints Strong Canvas with “Mr. Turner” & Sissako’s Mixes Humor & Sorrow in “Timbuktu”
According to our Cannes Critics' Panel, it may not top Topsy Turvy, but Mike Leigh's 2 plus hour portrait starring Timothy Stall paints a strong...
Chainsaws & Drumsticks: Interview with the Quinzaine’s Edouard Waintrop
What first caught my attention when Edouard Waintrop announced the make-up of the 46th edition of the Directors' Fortnight (also known as La Quinzaine)...
Cannes 2014 Day 1 Recap: Pink, Yellow and Definitely Blue — Grace of Monaco + Jury Duty
At the Cannes Film Festival we rest on the first day, not the seventh day. Traditionally the first Wednesday of the fest sees an...
Grace of Monaco | 2014 Cannes Review
Coup de Grace: Embellishment Can’t Save Dahan’s Fairy Tale
Try as it might, Grace of Monaco can’t seem to wring any significant interest out of...
Live from Cannes 2014: Meet Our Cannes Critics’ Panel
Jeez. Time sure does fly by. It's hard to fathom that we're now in year number four with our world film critic on the...
Cannes 2014 Derby: David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars Tops Blake’s Palme d’Or Predictions
So let’s get one thing straight: the stylistic tendencies of the jury president’s own work doesn’t make much of an impact in the grand...
Cannes 2014 Derby: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep Tops Eric’s Palme d’Or Predictions
Jane Campion. Sofia Coppola. Jia Zhangke. Nicolas Winding Refn. If ever there was a competing year that favored a more "personalized" avant-garde cinema, this...
Cannes 2014 Derby: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep Tops Nicholas’ Palme d’Or Predictions
He’s won the Grand Jury Prize for Distant (2002) and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011), plus the FIPRESCI for Climates (2006) and...
Criterion Collection: Ace in the Hole | Blu-ray Review
A resounding flop upon its release, which saw it recut and rereleased as The Big Carnival without any greater success, Criterion remasters Billy Wilder’s...
Ship of Theseus | Review
Ghost Ship: Gandhi’s Debut an Enjoyably Philosophical Triptych
Finally seeing a release after its 2012 premiere, Anand Gandhi’s directorial debut, Ship of Theseus is an...
The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga | 2014 Hot Docs Review
Of Forest and Folklore: Oreck Lenses Extraordinary Essay on Eastern European Relationship with Land and Myth
Recently, Jessica Oreck has been settling into a more...
Restoration of Alain Resnais’s Time Travel Masterpiece Arrives at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Whether grappling with the horrific realities and scars left over from World War II or the capricious mental states of a lovelorn Parisian bourgeoisie,...
For No Good Reason | Review
Paul Has Precision But Less Purpose Than Steadman
Anyone familiar with Hunter S. Thompson surely knows the work of his gonzo visual counterpart, Ralph Steadman....
DamNation | Review
River Runners: Knight & Rummel Ruminate On Damming Evidence
Just as directors Ben Knight and Travis Rummel’s Red Gold firmly yet astutely opposed the mining...
Palo Alto | Review
My So Called Strife: A Coppola Debuts With a Flurry of Restless Teens
Hollywood nepotism and the tableau of the teenage wasteland make for oddly...
God’s Pocket | Review
Pocket Full of Sunshine: Slattery’s Debut Weak in the Knees
The devil’s not in all the details he should be of God’s Pocket, the directorial...
Fed Up | Review
David vs. Goliath: Soechtig Takes on the Food Industry with Child Obesity Exposé that Begs to Differ on the Pizza as Vegetable Issue
It’s no...
App | Review
App of My Eye: Second Screen Technology Gets Double Dutch in Gimmicky Thriller
A film that will indubitably be remembered as a quaint first-wave exercise...
The Last Season | 2014 Hot Docs Review
Fungus Among Us: Dosa Makes Friends With The Matsutake
Though the name Sara Dosa may be new to some, the fledgling director already has some...
Interview: Stephanie Soechtig, Laurie David & Heather Reisman (Fed Up)
Stephanie Soechtig's latest film had its premiere earlier this year in Park City where, amidst a host of other issue driven documentaries in the...
Stage Fright | Review
The Hamming of the Opera: Sable’s Debut Musical/Horror Hybrid Light Fun
What promises on paper to be a delirious mess or instant camp classic ends...
Criterion Collection: Riot on Cell Block 11 | DVD Review
The inspiration behind the making of Riot in Cell Block 11 is as equally fascinating as the end product. Producer Walter Wanger (who famously...
Criterion Collection: Il Sorpasso | Blu-ray Review
In the spirit of spring, Dino Rici’s tragicomedy Il Sorpasso from 1962 has been given a vibrant rebirth courtesy of Criterion. Rarely seen and...
Everything Will Be | 2014 Hot Docs Review
Kwan Finds Tradition and Trasfiguration in Chinatown
No major city is without a Chinatown, each with its own cast of colorful characters, their shops stocked...
Belle | Review
But Your Picture On My Wall: Asante’s Sophomore Feature Revisits Compelling Historical Episode
A decade after her 2004 directorial debut, A Way of Life, director...
The Other Woman | Review
Birds of a Feather: Cassavetes’ Brings Generic Chops to Predictable Comedy
Long before the inevitable denouement of the vainglorious adulterer catalyzing the female frenzied revenge...
Joy of Man’s Desiring | 2014 Hot Docs Review
All Work and No Play Makes Côté Toy With Factory Observation
After a sultry opening monologue from a mystery woman that resonates with a statement...
For a Woman | 2014 COLCOA Review
Mother Load: Kurys Revisits Plight of Parents in Post WWII France
For those familiar with the work of director Diane Kurys, the material that inspired...
We Love You, You Bastard (Salaud, on t’aime) | 2014 COLCOA Review
A Man and His Women: Lelouch’s Latest a Lumbering, Bloated Ensemble
Nearing his 80’s and with over fifty credits to his name, Oscar and Palme...
Last Passenger | Review
Runaway Train: Nooshin’s Banal Debut Goes Wrong Way on a One Way Track
What promises to be a nimble, low budget whodunit aboard a high...
Young and Beautiful | Review
Airy & banal, Ozon's Latest is as Indistinct as its Title
Moving right along the trajectory we’re all well familiar with by now, François Ozon...
Who is Dayani Cristal? | Review
Body Talk: Bernal & Silver’s Doc an Empathetic Experiment
A three pronged approach to uncovering the identity of an illegal immigrant’s corpse in the Arizona...
Walking with the Enemy | Review
Walk to Remember: Schmidt’s Debut Sincere and Gawky
Director Mark Schmidt attempts to recount an obscure chronicle of WWII heroism to generally awkward effect, though,...
Criterion Collection: Master of the House | Blu-ray Review
While he’ll always be best known for his 1928 silent masterpiece, The Passion of Joan Arc (or for his atmospheric 1932 horror film, Vampyr),...
The Five Obstructions | DVD Review
Now over a decade since its 2003 release, Kino Lorber is releasing the Lars Von Trier and Jorgen Leth experiment/documentary The Five Obstructions in...
Bruno Dumont, Du Welz, Chazelle, Sciamma & Wiseman Among 2014 Directors’ Fortnight Selections
Bruno Dumont finds a special place on the croisette to premiere his latest work (his television mini-series Li’l Quinquin) and Frederick Wiseman makes another...
2014 Critics’ Week: Djinn Carrénard, David Robert Mitchell, Nadav Lapid & Mélanie Laurent Populate 53rd Edition
It's almost astonishing that we've managed to guess two (we also had Nadav Lapid pegged for the Main Comp) of the eleven titles unveiled by...
The German Doctor | Review
A Nazi At My Table: Puenzo’s Latest an Eerie Reimagining
Argentinian director Lucia Puenzo once again adapts one of her own novels for her latest...
The Machine | Review
Imitation of Life: James’ Sci-Fi Thriller Plumbs Dark Recesses of A.I.
While its ingenious ideas are sometimes marred by obvious budgetary limitations, director Caradog W....
Tasting Menu | Review
Finger Food: Gaul’s Latest Effort Staunchly Unappetizing
Spanish filmmaker Roger Gaul (known for his 2002 debut, the co-directed Smoking Room) returns with this Irish co-produced...
Small Time | Review
Refurbished: Surnow’s Debut a Casserole of Cliché
Seasoned television writer and producer Joel Surnow makes his directorial debut with Small Time, based on an autobiographical...
Proxy | Review
Lady Liars and Psycho-sexual Thrills; Zach Parker's Proxy is a Rocky Ride
Countless blockbusters have used and abused the idea of doppelgängers and surrogates, but...
Proxy | Review #2
Pinch-hitting: Parker’s Latest as Surprising As it is Unwieldy
With a series of continuously improving indie horror thrillers under his belt, filmmaker Zack Parker launches...
13 Sins | Review
Game On: Stamm’s Latest a B-Grade But Fun Genre Flick
Director Daniel Stamm leaves behind the found footage genre for his third outing as director...
Transcendence | Review
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes: Pfister’s Debut Oversteps Limited Reach
Hopes were perhaps set a bit too high for the directorial debut of Wally Pfister,...
67th Cannes Film Festival: Ostlund, Alonso, Argento, Ferran, Hausner & Ryan Gosling Make the Cut
Best Director winner Mathieu Amalric moves down from the Main Comp, Ryan Gosling changes the title of his film, Ned Benson trims an hour...
67th Cannes Film Festival: Xavier Dolan, Egoyan & Rohrwacher Among Main Comp Surprises!
How sweat it is for Canadian film. There'll be a maple syruppy touch to the Cannes Film Festival presence to the 67th Cannes Film...
2014 Cannes Film Festival Predictions: Main Competition, Un Certain Regard & Special Screenings
With only hours ago before the official selection for the Main Competition is announced, we've narrowed our final predictions to the following titles that...
