"Farewell Amor"

... one last Sundance review from Murtada Elfadl 

Early on in Farewell Amor, Angolan immigrant Walter (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) sits down to eat with his wife Esther (Zainab Jah) and teenage daughter Sylvia (Jayme Lawson), they talk about all the years they spent apart. Walter moved to New York to escape the Civil War and was hoping to bring over Esther and Sylvia, yet they were stuck in Tanzania for seventeen years. That's a long time to be apart; Are they still a family or just three strangers trying to avoid the awkwardness of small talk?

It’s a moment of fraught emotions and stilted silence. Yet as Mwine, Jah and Lawson play it, it is also a moment of guarded release. The wait is over, there’s awkwardness, doubt and trepidation but also hope...

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If you want to honor Judy...

by Cláudio Alves

Within the realm of Oscar races, there are few campaign strategies more annoying than the "honor the movie, honor the man" variety.  It's reserved for biopics, putting forward the idea that to shower a certain production in gold laurels is a way to retroactively reward a dead celebrity. This same logic was somewhat utilized to catapult Renée Zellweger towards her second Oscar win. Let's make one thing clear, Renée's win for Judy is a prize for her bold performance but in no way does this victory actually honor the Oscarless Judy Garland. You don't get to pretend you gave Judy an award Academy -- you lost that chance long ago!

Still, we appreciate that Renée mentioned Garland in her speech and that her movie might inspire people to watch more of the late star's great roles. After all, there's no better way to honor her memory than to explore her wonderful filmography...

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Why the chanting for "Parasite" was my favourite Oscar moment

by Ginny O'Keefe

I was rooting hard for Parasite all throughout Oscar night. When Jane Fonda proudly said Parasite I let out a  “F**K YEAH!” that woke up my cat. The cast and crew all make it to the stage to give their speeches. I didn’t expect Bong Joon Ho to give another speech because he already seemed so adorably overwhelmed from giving three others. Producer Kwak Sin Ae spoke instead. She had her translator (who has become a staple of this awards season) speak to the audience. 

We never imagined this would happen, we are so happy. I feel like a very opportune moment in history is happening right now. I express my deepest gratitude and respect for all the members of the Academy for making this decision.” 

Then it happens. The lights dim down and the audience groaned in protest at the speech being cut short...

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Is the "One-Inch Barrier" Falling?

by Eric Blume

Since Parasite's historic Best Picture win this past Sunday, the heat surrounding it has not let up. Though the movie is already available on DVD and Blu-Ray, it will expand to 2000 screens this weekend in US theaters and a Criterion Collection release has also been announced (along with Memories of Murder, Bong's original breakthrough title). Given the hoopla, the industry trade magazines are falling over themselves to write stories about the change that may come for international titles.  The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting article proclaiming that we'll be seeing many more foreign film titles in the American marketplace in the next few years.

This article gives big credit to Netflix for "global programming" that is helping people get over the "one-inch barrier" (i.e., subtitles) that has plagued marketing of foreign product over the decades.  It's an interesting take...

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The Year of the Wild Goose

by Jason Adams

The latest crime-thriller from director Yi'nan Diao of Black Coal Thin Ice fame is hitting the streets of New York running on March 6th when The Wild Goose Lake opens at Film Forum -- for the rest of you, here in the US anyway, it's supposed to have a national roll-out from there. The film's already played a slew of international fests (Team Experience voted it one of the best Unreleased Films of 2019 with our annual awards) -- it premiered at Cannes last spring and by fall it was playing the New York Film Festival, which is where I saw it and reviewed it, calling it...

(Hey that's me!) The story's a Noir standard, kind of Fritz Lang's M meets The Warriors...

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