Venice Diary #04 - "The Whale" is a major contender

by Elisa Giudici

As festival goers, we are always waiting for that moment in which we can clearly perceive a film moving into a territory of absolute excellence, far above the norm. It's a sensation that is rare and powerful, and the only response is to shout superlative and add to the hype. I'm happy to report that the new Darren Aronofsky feature, The Whale, is one of those gigantic achievements...

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Venice at Home – Day 4: Politics & Portraiture

by Cláudio Alves

With the fourth day of festivities, conversations about who's a contender for the Golden Lion start to blossom here and there. While the critical response hasn't been unanimous, Laura Poitras' All the Beauty and the Bloodshed could be a future prizewinner. Speaking of Venetian trophies, the last time Andrea Pallaoro competed, Charlotte Rampling won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. His new film, Monica, has elicited muted responses, but hope is everlasting for its impressive cast led by Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson. Finally, Argentina, 1985 reunites director Santiago Mitre with actor Ricardo Darín for a prestigious historical drama that will get its streaming premiere on Amazon Prime Video this October.

For this project's purpose, let's remember when Poitras met Snowden, when Pallaoro led Rampling to Venice gold, and Mitre's first time directing Darín… 

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Tweetweek: the Susan Hayward and Timothée Chalamet of it all

martin scorsese was once asked by a ten year old "how do i become a film director?" he waited and replied "make your movie. grab a cell phone, everyone has one these days". that kid was orson welles.

— catarina. (@cacmrg) September 1, 2022

🤣 Curated tweets for you after the jump featuring Susan Hayward, Timothée Chalamet, animal actors, and solo moviegoing... 

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Venice Diary #03 - Unstoppable Women from Isabelle Huppert to Nan Goldin

by Elisa Giudici

BONES AND ALL

The women in the four movies screened today are truly formidable. They're capable of eating their enemies alive -- one quite literally as in Guadagnino’s latest Bones and all. Two more are fighting conventional portraits of females as weak. The last is living an extraordinary life and using her power as an artist to expose rich capitalist shenanigans. What a quartet...

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Sweden's three Oscar submission finalists

by Nathaniel R

BOY FROM HEAVEN

In something of a surprise Sweden's shortlist for their Oscar submissions does not include the adolescent grief drama Comedy Queen or the Tehran-set serial killer film Holy Spider, which won awards at Berlinale and Cannes, respectively. Instead they'll be choosing between the following three movies...

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