Nathaniel in Venice: "Atlantide" and "The Lost Daughter"

Nathaniel reporting from Venice. Day 2

"Atlantide" is a stunner. And better yet, Venice specific!

My second day of the fest was a day of high highs and low lows. The high (other than the movies) was that it was a full social day. That doesn't always happen at festivals but it is like a shot of energy for extroverts like myself. The fun began meeting two Spanish journalists on the ferry to the Lido who introduced themselves since they read The Film Experience. We had a great conversation about the new Almodóvar and they totally sold me on the idea of the San Sebastian Film Festival -- new goal! Then between films a quick drink with longtime friend Boyd van Hoeij (who you've heard on the podcast a couple of times) and then a late night very Italian dinner with our own Elisa Giudici. She's been our Italian correspondent at TFE for a year now (kicking it off with last year's Venice summary) but this was our first time actually meeting in person. She's such a delight in person, as personable and fun as her writing. I'm really quite chuffed to be sharing this Venice experience with her.

The low was very low realizing that this full day of screenings wasn't going to be the norm...

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Emmy Category Review: Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

The lineup in this category was fairly expected, and it’s a superb list. Four of these actresses are here for the last – and in three cases, first – time for these roles, while the other two are past Emmy winners returning to the field of nominees. This race is worth watching because the past two years have resulted in thrilling upsets, first with Jodie Comer for season two of Killing Eve and then with Zendaya for Euphoria. Two nominees from likely Best Drama Series winner The Crown makes things more competitive, paving the way for another potential vote split after Olivia Colman went head-to-head with Jennifer Aniston last year and neither won. Could Mj Rodriguez beat Emma Corrin, or will someone else triumph? 

I’ll try to avoid major plot details in my analysis – but if you’d like more spoiler-filled descriptions, click on the episode titles. Let’s consider each nominee… 

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Happy Labor Day

This is what the holiday is really about, right?

Venice Diary #03 - D-Day: Diana, Dune and a huge hole in the ground

by Elisa Giudici

Today Venice lived its climax, with screenings of two of the most awaited movies of the entire year: Pablo Larraín's Spencer and Denis Villeneuve's Dune. The latter in particular is perceived by everyone as an event, even by Venice standards (where a lot of the protagonists of the last Oscar races have been premiered). The fight for tickets to the screenings was merciless. Every show  sold out in a matter of seconds and the artistic director of the Festival, Alberto Barbera, tried to answer the general audience and press's complaints with multiple tweets. Moreover, it is the first movie in the five years I've been attending in which every ticket holder is required to seal his phone in a bag for piracy prevention. Warner Bros faces more than a calculated risk here: Dune's box office can be the dividing line between the cinema experience as we used to know and something new and yet uncertain...

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Elisa's Venice Diary #2: Lost Daughter and lost souls: Sorrentino, Schrader and Gyllenhaal

by Elisa Giudici

Day two, three movies: a luxury, considering how difficult it is to get tickets this year. Usually, the Venice way is to queue outside the screening hoping to be able to get inside. If you have a red or blue pass you are reasonably sure to see everything you want, even when you arrive only 5 minutes before the beginning of the show. If you are a green or yellow pass holder, you need to show up early and hope red or blue pass holders are busy somewhere else. Due to Covid-19 safety rules and social distancing, only one-third of available seats can be occupied. It means you have to be really quick to book a seat online, 74 hours before the show. The hot movies sold out in mere seconds so I am incredibly lucky to be able to review three major movies from the main competition today.

The Card Counter (Paul Schrader)
Knowing how austere and morally inflexible Paul Schrader is about cinema (and life) I think The Card Counter is his most  accessible recent movie by pure accident. I really enjoyed it and I think the general public will like this thriller about poker, gambling, and the casino world...

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