Middleburg Honorees: Ann Dowd, Dakota Johnson, and more...

by Nathaniel R

We previously reported on the six films getting major attention at Middleburg Film Festival and now we know some of the stars who will be attending given the honors & conversations scheduled: 

Agnes Varda Trailbazing Film Artist: Ann Dowd (Mass)
Actor Spotlight: Dakota Johnson (The Lost Daughter)
Director Spotlight: Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
International Spotlight: Paolo Sorrentino (The Hand of God)
Ensemble Cast Spotlight: Simon Rex and cast (Red Rocket)
Distingued Cinematographer: Ari Wegner (Power of the Dog)
Conversation: Hair and Makeup artist Donald Mowat (Dune)
Conversation: Songwriters Kathryn Bostic, Amie Doherty, Lesley Barber, and Diane Warren

Which of these talents would you most like us to interview? More after the jump including our own panel plus our favourite annual Middleburg event...

Click to read more ...

Deborah Kerr @ 100: The legend, the legacy, "The Innocents"

by Cláudio Alves

For decades she held the record of being the most Oscar-nominated actress never to have won the statuette, with six unsuccessful nominations. In a piteous gesture, the Academy granted her an honorary award in 1994. How fitting that Deborah Kerr received such tribute from the hands of Glenn Close, the current holder of the older actress' erstwhile record. Considering this trivia, it'd be easy to remember Kerr's legacy through the prism of Oscar history. That would be a mistake. I state it as someone who first encountered the British thespian through her nominated roles, constructing a mental image limited by AMPAS' taste. As it turns out, despite her numerous nods, the most outstanding Kerr performances weren't so highly celebrated by the Academy. Simply told, that Oscar-y sextet doesn't do her justice. 

To celebrate Deborah Kerr's centennial, let's remember her range beyond golden laurels, her incandescent talent, the power she brought to her films. Let's honor her by reflecting on the actress' greatest work - the nightmare that is The Innocents…

Click to read more ...

September. It's a Wrap

We've done it. Somehow we're halfway through the NYFF and we've hit the final quarter of 2021 or as we like to call it "precursor season". From now until the tail end of the year everything that's happening in Hollywood is about trying to get Oscar traction for this or that. We won't know what has truly accomplished that until Tuesday February 8th, 2022 when the Oscar nominations are announced. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. For now a quick look back at September highlights in case you missed any of them.

12 highlights
• How do you arrange your DVD collection? Christopher asks. You answered
• Best of Venice Elisa and Nathaniel on the Lido for 10 days of CINEMA
• Weekend Cláudio revisits this new gay classic for its 10th birthday
• I'm Your Man Matt looks at Germany's Oscar submission
• Over and Overs: WALL•E Ben formed a bond with his son over this Pixar classic
• The White Lotus Eric has a few thoughts on this instant classic miniseries
• How Had I Never Seen... Lust Caution Nick finally sees Ang Lee's most risque film
• Shang-Chi Nathaniel writes the only review of the Marvel blockbuster which manages to name-check The Piano
• Emmys AND Tonys Weird to have these two awards shows back-to-back this year
• The Eyes of Tammy Faye Jesus takes Jessica higher!
• Billy Wilder Christopher samples the Criterion Channel's collection
• Best of NYFF Benedetta, Tragedy of Macbeth, Titane and more...

COMING IN OCTOBER
Let's not over promise (we know we tend to do that. sorry) as it's going to be B-U-S-Y but at the very least we have the Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1937 (in just a couple of days), the release of Dune, a few more NYFF reviews, and the Middleburg Film Festival where Nathaniel (c'est moi) will be doing an Oscar panel again with friends and colleagues Clayton Davis and Jazz Tangcay. Stay tuned!

NYFF: The visual wonder of "The Tragedy of Macbeth"

By Nathaniel R

“When” is the first word of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, uttered by one of three witches. Though the word precedes a question it sounds more like a definitive statement in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth; the writer/director even grants the word its own solo title card. Later the word “Tomorrow” will also grace the screen alone. Time, we immediately understand, is at the heart of the latest big screen Shakespeare. And it’s running out. Coen’s adaptation casts two older-than-usual actors as the titular Lord (Denzel Washington) and Lady (Frances McDormand). As a result their infamous power grab plays like a violently desperate game of “last chance”…

Click to read more ...

The Mad "Titane" Snaps

by Jason Adams

An inky black oil smudge smeared across a scarred face, big bosoms sway and heave, belly splitting up the seam, the space where sex begins to sound like a car engine revving up to eleven -- Julia Ducournau's Titane doesn't mince a breath of its runtime with anything but pedal-to-the-metal everything. Titane, the director's follow-up to her also-deranged (but somehow less so!) cannibal-drama Raw, won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes, a perfect signifier for the grease-fingered teetering psychosis of our age. After playing NYFF last weekend, it opens in US theaters tomorrow, October 1st.

And this movie, it is a lot!

As Raw already proved Ducournau loves a car accident (I can't imagine that David Cronenberg's Crash wasn't formative) and Titane offers up a doozy early on...

Click to read more ...