Venice 2022: The "Tár" Tease and the Competition Lineup

by Nathaniel R

Cate Blanchett in TÁR

Most sites just give you a list of film titles but we always aim to provide you with more information which is one of the (several) reasons we're slower with the news! Over 50% of the competition titles at Venice this year come from just three countries: France, Italy, and the US and a lot of titles are connected to Netflix. Outside of those countries we get one film from Asia, one from the Middle East, two from South America, and two from UK/Ireland. If you include the Out of Competition titles there's more variety with Canada, Denmark, Ukraine, The Phillipines, and Estonia entering the chat.

After the jump a little bit about each of the 22 films competing for the Golden Lion, and a few of the Out of Competition films including the new Lars Von Trier. Plus that bewitching teaser to Tár, Todd Field's first film in 16 years...

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Quick Reviews: Sea Beasts, Asgardian Clowns, and Silver Teeth

To try and catch up, another round of quickie reviews, one of which (Thor Love and Thunder) is quite belated primarily by way of 'if you don't have anything nice to say...' But the other two movies are good so let's get started...

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Box Office: 'Nope' Flies while 'Marcel' Takes His Sweet Time

by Nathaniel R

Once again Jordan Peele proves he's one of the rare celebrities who is bankable behind the camera. His third film as a director brings him a third #1 finish, as Nope nabs the biggest original film opening weekend since... Peele's own previous hit Us (2019) opened to $71 million. Any win for original filmmaking feels so good, doesn't it? More after the jump...

Weekend Box Office (Estimates) July 22nd-24th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	PLATFORM RELEASES
NOPE	FIRE OF LOVE
1 ★🔺 NOPE $44.3 *NEW*	1  🔺 MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON $874k (cum. $2.9)
2 THOR: LOVE & THUNDER $22.5 (cum. $276.6)	2 ★🔺 FIRE OF LOVE [DOC] $133k (cum. $283k)

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Streaming: Why doesn't "Persuasion" work?

by Nathaniel R

Dakota Johnson and Cosmo Jarvis star in "Persuasion"

Jane Austen's final completed novel Persuasion has been adapted to screen several times, but unlike her most famous novels, theatrical motion picture fame as eluded it. The latest non-theatrical screen adaptation, via Netflix this time, has met with such harsh reviews that we almost didn't watch it. Nevertheless the extremely alluring faces of Dakota Johnson, Henry Golding, and Cosmo Jarvis beckoned as did the reliable wit of Jane Austen herself. We gave in and pressed play. Unfortunately it's difficult to argue with the consensus this time around...

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"Till" Trailer and Director's Notes

by Nathaniel R

United Artists has released the trailer for Till, which begins its platform release on October 7th, 2022. The new feature film documents the long determined journey of Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler) as she sought justice for the lynching of her 14 year-old son Emmett Till which occurred on a 1955 trip to visit his cousins in Mississippi. Through her determination her son's murder raised major awareness of social injustice and racism and became a major catalyst in the then nascent Civil Rights Movement. Emmett Till's death has inspired or been referenced in multiple books, poems, plays, movies, and television episodes. Documentaries and shorts about Emmett Till and his family have also been made but, as far as we can tell, Till is the first narrative feature film adaptation. Might it be heading to Oscar nominations?

We had the pleasure of attending a conversation with the director Chinonye Chukwu about the film last week. Highlights from that conversation and the Till trailer are after the jump...

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