It was in 2015 that I received my first invitation to the Venice Film Festival from Peter Cowie, the venerable scholar and critic. His new book, “God and the Devil: The Life And Work of Ingmar Bergman,” is a crowning achievement in Bergman studies, a highlight from a master who hasn’t lost a step over … Read more
The Venice Film Festival is one of the most essential film events of the year, the bridge to the fall film-going season and an event that launches future award winners, top ten entries, and beloved classics. It’s also a remarkably diverse event in terms of film profiles with movies like “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Joker: Folie … Read more
It was in 2015 that I received my first invitation to the Venice Film Festival from Peter Cowie, the venerable scholar and critic. His new book, God and the Devil: The Life And Work of Ingmar Bergman, is a crowning achievement in Bergman studies, a career highlight from a master who hasn’t lost a step … Read more
Both the Venice Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival has been host to a number of well-received films. As the 51st Telluride Film Festival winds down and the 81st Venice Film Festival kicks off, both have been – as expected – host to a number of highly anticipated films, a good chunk of which … Read more
After a screening of “Babygirl,” the Nicole Kidman showpiece about dominance and submission in the workplace that shook up the Biennale on Friday, a colleague insisted that, despite its issues, it wasn’t “a dismissible film.” And feeling my oats, I replied, “Just watch me.” But having had some time to turn it over, I’ve decided … Read more
The early films of innovative documentarian Errol Morris — “Gates of Heaven,” about pet cemeteries, “The Thin Red Line,” a staggering true-crime store — waxed profound on matters of mortality and morality while maintaining a wry sense of humor. His more recent works have been ambiguous—his 2018 “American Dharma,” a portrait of political ogre Steve … Read more
The Biennale de Venezia, cinema division—we should not forget that this festival encompasses other forms over the course of a year, including fine art—kicks off this week. It’s a storied, venerated festival in a storied, venerated setting, and it’s a real privilege that I’ve been able to attend every year (except 2020, because of COVID, … Read more
“Harvest” More than a decade ago, one of the hot regional film movements was the Greek Weird Wave, whose most famous member was Yorgos Lanthimos, who went on to worldwide success. But one of his friends and colleagues during that era was Athina Rachel Tsangari, who made a splash with her second feature, the Venice … Read more
Michael Keaton’s stripe-suited afterlife menace makes his anticipated return this fall, but Beetlejuice will be making a quick stop in Venice just a month before. Say it once. Say it twice. The organizers of the 81st Venice International Film Festival have said his name three times to summon him for the opening of this year’s … Read more
Kenneth Branagh’s latest Hercule Poirot film A Haunting in Venice is getting a digital and streaming release on Halloween The Agatha Christie-inspired franchise that began with 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express and continued with 2022’s Death on the Nile has a new entry, A Haunting in Venice (read our review HERE), which has racked up over $100 … Read more