Sundance: "The World To Come" review

by Jason Adams

As a writer it must be said (or written even!) that I love words. Perhaps on occasion, it has been said and written, more than I ought to. It's the romance of my life. You can spend hours staring in the eyes of one -- erasing it, putting it back, looking for it the absolute best of partners. It's in words where I find meaning, too much and too often -- the experience of a thing is here and gone but once you've dug it back up and defined it, encased it into the tombs of steely-sided capital letters, well then it's a thing, right and proper. Understanding one's life, the un-understandable, becomes a matter of word puzzles.

It's this same tension, between word and feeling, that fuels Mona Fastvold's same-sex romance The World To Come, and like its heroine its that tension that very nearly undoes it...

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FYC: Best Actor

by Nathaniel R

Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods and Mads Mikkelsen in Another RoundWith the top ten list finally filed (please read and comment), the annual Film Bitch Awards are in progress. With that comes lots of hair-pulling (figuratively speaking of course as I have none) because it's hard to make decisions around what is "best" in art. At least it is if you're doing it right and care. "The Man Who Loved Movies Awards Too Much" might be the title of my biography because you can't love movies too much.  So whenever I announce my favourites, I immediately feel bad about what I didn't honor because in (grateful) truth there are far more than five worthy things in any category in any given year.

But awards are and should be a time capsule. It doesn't mean you will always feel that way but it's what you valued most at that juncture. Same is true for the big Hollywood awards shows which is why so many of their choices look so weird. Time changes people and art and public opinion...

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Sundance: Robin Wright Directs “Land”

By Abe Friedtanzer 

Self-imposed exile is a common cinematic device used to frame narratives, with a variety of motivations for that lifestyle change. Venturing out solo into harsh or unknown conditions has been the premise of a range of films, including Wild and Into the Wild. Watching such a journey can be most poignant for what it reveals about its protagonist, and the beauty (or misery) they find along the way. Robin Wright makes her directorial debut with Land, a Focus Features production premiering at Sundance and slated for release on February 12th... 

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Showbiz History: Babs hits #1 and RuPaul's Drag Race debuts

5 random things that happened on this day, February 2nd, in showbiz history...

1970 The 27th Golden Globes honoring 1969 cinema were held with Anne of the Thousand Days (drama) and something called The Secret of Santa Vittoria (comedy) winning Best Picture. We've literally never heard of the latter until this very moment which is rare for us when it comes to films named "Best Picture" at any award show. Most of the actors who won (barring comedy categories of course) repeated their wins on Oscar night except Best Actress Genevieve Bujold (Anne of th Thousand Days)... 

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Nathaniel's Top Twenty (Plus) of 2020

by Nathaniel R

Swallow, one of 2020's twenty best

Dementia, toxic masculinity, mental illness, economic inequality, nationalism, and racism were impossible to miss in 2020. And for once I'm not even referring to the soulless depravity of the GOP! Those were also recurring themes in world cinema this past film year. The silver lining is this: difficult topics and trying times can make for great art. This past year's best films were hardly a cheerful lot, but the best filmmakers know how to incorporate tonal variety to keep their movies three-dimensional and lively with ideas, moods, and unforgettable scenes.

The following movies greatly enriched a very tough year. Whether you already love them or are yet to discover them I wish you the best film experiences with these...

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