Great Movies
Festivals & Awards
Venice Film Festival 2022: The Biennale College and Classics
Glenn Kenny reports from the Venice Film Festival on this year's Biennale College and Classics section.
Glenn Kenny reports from the Venice Film Festival on this year's Biennale College and Classics section.
Women are not only rocking Hollywood; they are transforming it by working to open opportunities for other women and honoring the productions that meet gender equity goals.
Robert Rodriguez, Colin Trevorrow, and Joseph Kosinski talked to Collider's Steven Weintraub about creative struggles they won and a few they lost, the technology that still blows them away, and the impact of the pandemic shutdown in the middle of their current projects.
As of this writing, Todd Phillips’ “Joker” has earned nearly $1 billion globally, making it one of the most successful comic book movies ever released. But the discourse surrounding it will outlive this moment. No comic book-derived film since “Black Panther” has sparked more commentary, although the discussion surrounding this one has been more oppositional than anything else, and clouded by bad faith on every side.
A review of the third season of Daredevil, which starts streaming on Netflix on October 19.
A tribute to the late Powers Boothe.
A piece on how CW's "The Flash" takes a subversive edge to modern portrayals of superhero masculinity.
A review of Showtime's Happyish with Steve Coogan, Kathryn Hahn, and Bradley Whitford.
A review of three new Fall 2014 shows: FOX's "Gotham," ABC's "Forever" and CBS's "Scorpion".
A history of movies not directly based on comic books but definitely inspired by them.
Marie writes: Belgium club member Koen Van Loocke has submitted the following and it's so awesome, I have no words. But first, background..The Cinematic Orchestra is led by composer/programmer/multi-instrumentalist Jason Swinscoe, who formed his first group "Crabladder" in 1990 while a Fine Arts student at Cardiff College. The group's fusion of jazz and hardcore punk elements with experimental rhythms, inspired Swinscoe to further explore the musical possibilites and by the time the group disbanded in the mid-'90s, he was playing DJ at various clubs and pirate radio stations in and around London.
"Twists of fate, love and humour, perseverance and, finally, a philosophical outlook- his story has it all." - Sarah Hampson.(click photo to enlarge) From the Globe and Mail article "You couldn't write this script" published July 19, 2010.From the Grand Poobah: "A young lady with excellent taste". (click to enlarge) "Ever since I was a child messing around with a terrible paint set from K-mart, I have been obsessed with controlling pigment suspended in water. Now I paint with divine, hand-made watercolors from Holland along with brushes ranging from high-end to dirt cheap, but the obsession remains..." - from Kelly Eddington's artist statement. To read more and see her truly wonderful watercolors, visit Kelly Eddington's Website and Gallery.
Ah, watercolors.... so easy to master; only takes decades....
Q. Los Angeles, home to the film industry, employs some of the least competent projectionists I've encountered anywhere in the world, and I'm getting tired of getting up mid-movie to complain that the picture is out of focus (the problem even surfaces in press and festival screenings!).
I've been hearing from some disgruntled comic-book and superhero fans that they think critics have a prejudice against the genre. Or genres. I think there's a distinction to be made between comic-book, graphic novel and superhero movies (though, obviously, certain pictures overlap categories). So, I thought I'd do a little (and I mean a little) research to see if I could discern a trend. I did, and it was a pretty clear one.
So I sampled a few titles at RottenTomatoes and MetaCritic. Not that these sites should be considered the ultimate authorities on such matters, but they do give some indication of a movie's critical reception. Here's what I found:
Q. In your review of "Ice Princess," you wrote, "The surprise is that Michelle Trachtenberg seems able to skate, too. That didn't look like a double on the ice, although Variety, the show-biz bible, reports, 'Four different skaters sub for Trachtenberg in the more difficult performances.'"
Q. You didn't like "The Usual Suspects" because of the ending. I liked the ending, the dark atmosphere director Bryan Singer created, the acting (especially by Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey and Chazz Palminteri), and the movie as a whole. The last time I had this much fun at the movies was at "Pulp Fiction." Maybe you should ask random people from the audience, because you could be the only one who didn't like the trick ending. (Mike D'Alessandro, Acton, Mass.)
Q. Re the suggestion by Newt Gingrich that his critics study "Boys Town" to understand how orphanages work. I was surprised that he didn't also cite the 1959 Mamie Van Doren/Paul Anka/Mel Torme classic, "Girls Town." (Jeff Levin, Rochester, N.Y.)
Suite 1705 of the Ambassador East Hotel includes a glass-enclosed luncheon porch overlooking the city. There are windows on three sides. On the fourth, there are steps that lead back into the living room. From there you go out into the hall down the elevator and back to reality.
