Chi Film Fest: "Summer of 85"

Coverage from the 56th annual Chicago Film Festival

by Nick Taylor

One fun thing about not really watching trailers anymore is that a movie can surprise me pretty easily. For example, I knew from teasers that François Ozon’s Summer of 85 was pitching itself as the French answer to Call Me By Your Name. The story sees two incredibly handsome teenagers named Alex (Felix Lefebvre) and David (Benjamin Voison) have a life-altering romance during a life-changing special summer. But I completely missed the trailer that revealed a whole second narrative where a zombie-like Alex is being tried for an unspecified crime that sounds a lot like murdering David. 

So, there’s the part of Summer of 85 that’s very much Ozon doing a Call Me By Your Name-style romance and the part that's the melancholic aftermath...

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AFI Fest: Switzerland's Oscar Submission "My Little Sister"

by Christopher James

The first image depicts a frail woman in a hospital hooked up to an IV. The camera moves in and seems to fixate on the needle in her arm. For the uninitiated, this introduction feels almost parody-esque of an Oscar foreign language film. Are we in for a two hour depression porn where beautiful Europeans slowly die from cancer?

Luckily, My Little Sister, Switzerland’s Oscar submission, is more than meets the eye in that opening moment. Yes, it’s a cancer drama. However, it’s a more unorthodox exploration of a complicated sibling dynamic...

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Sally Kirkland's legendary Oscar campaign

by Cláudio Alves

The next Supporting Actress Smackdown will focus on the contenders of 1987. Before that celebration of great acting at the margins, we'll be exploring the cinematic year, its glorious pictures, and memorable Oscar races. Speaking of which, one can't discuss 1987 in the context of awards, without mentioning and paying respect to one of the ballsiest campaigns ever made by an actress. Through her sheer will, impressive determination, and tireless ambition, Sally Kirkland managed to conquer a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Anna, a little-seen American indie about an aging performer.

First things first, before we delve into Kirkland's pursuit of little golden men, we should appreciate the work for which she was recognized. The movie is discussed nowadays to snicker at the thirsty campaign, but it's a masterclass of acting...

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Yes No Maybe So: "The Prom"

Where's the zazz baby?

The zazz is right there in The Prom trailer, Nicole. Why do you ask?

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More International Oscar News: Several "Finalist" Lists Announced

by Nathaniel R

The Man Standing Next ...has the difficult task of following in Parasite's footsteps!

The submission charts for Oscar's Best International Feature Film race have been updated to reflect more new entries like Croatia's Extracurricular, Palestine's Gaza Mon Amour, Panama's war drama Causa Justa , Romania's documentary Collective, and South Korea's The Man Standing Next.

But the big news at the moment is six finalist lists so keep your eye out for any of these pictures to rise up...

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