Best International Film: Switzerland's "Thunder" and Austria's "Vera"

by Cláudio Alves

After a litany of TIFF titles, Sweden's Opponent, and a pair of Latin American gems, let's take our Best International Film odyssey to Central Europe. There, we find a most curious couple from neighboring nations – a Swiss period piece about sexual repression and an Austrian docu-drama hybrid on an Italian celebrity. Both countries succeeded with the Academy in the past, having won twice each. Switzerland had its heyday in the last decades of the 20th century, taking the trophy for 1984's Dangerous Moves and 1990's Journey of Hope. For Austria, the triumph's more recent, with 2007's The Counterfeiters and 2012's Amour.

Thunder and Vera aren't likely victors like those past titles, but they're worth your time, nevertheless…

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Review: Meg Ryan’s ‘What Happens Later’ is a Comedic Misfire

by Abe Friedtanzer

Thirty years ago, Meg Ryan and David Duchovny were at the height of their popularity. Ryan starred opposite Tom Hanks in one of the definitive romantic comedies, Sleepless in Seattle, and Duchovny was headlining, along with Gillian Anderson, what would become one of the most popular series of the 1990s, The X-Files. While Duchovny has starred in other series like Californication and Aquarius, and a few films since, you have to go back to 2015 for Ryan’s last screen credit, her directorial debut Ithaca. The two are back together in Ryan’s second try at directing, What Happens Later, a film that falls flat early on and doesn’t get much better after that…

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Middleburg 2023: Mainstream Oscar Bait is back, baby!

by Lynn Lee

Previously in part one of the Middleburg recap we discussed Cannes triumphs The Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall (now in theaters!), and Sofia Coppola's Priscilla. Now the jam-packed Oscar promise second half of the festival.

Day Three
If you’ve been wondering whether American Fiction – the audience favorite at Toronto – really has Oscar potential, I’m here to tell you yes, it absolutely does.  Cord Jefferson’s debut feature took home the audience award at Middleburg, too, and both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It’s a rollicking satire of the literary establishment and the politics of racial representation, based on a novel that was written over 20 years ago but is, if anything, even more current today.  Jeffrey Wright stars as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a bougie buttoned-up middle-aged black writer who, appalled at the success of novels and entertainment he sees as pandering to white stereotypes of black life, writes his own gangsta/ghetto porn novel as a bitter drunken joke... only to see it meet with an effusive response far beyond his wildest imagination... 

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Review: "Killers of the Flower Moon" is a Monument of Sorrow

by Cláudio Alves

Killers of the Flower Moon starts in death, but not of flesh or person. The Frontier is no more, the West has been won, and the Track of Tears travailed when the Osage tribe gathers to mourn a way of life. Their traditions, their beliefs, their language are moving into the twilight, so they bury a sacred pipe and give themselves a symbol to weep over and express unsurmountable grief. As if listening to the lament, the earth responds. Black oil bursts from the ground, a geyser of wealth for the People from the Middle Waters brought to this Oklahoma barrenness after settlers pushed them asunder and away from the Great Plains. A pittance place once thought worthless reveals itself a treasure, and, overnight, the Osage Nation becomes the richest per capita population in the world.

So starts Martin Scorsese's latest opus, a title that, even within the context of his hallowed filmography, feels like a monumental achievement…

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Best International Film: Argentina's "The Delinquents" and Mexico's "Tótem"

by Cláudio Alves

In its long history, the Academy has awarded the Best International Film Oscar to a Latin-American country four times. The first two were from Argentina, 1985's The Official Story and 2009's The Secret in Their Eyes, followed by Chile with 2017's A Fantastic Woman, and Mexico with 2019's Roma. Looking at those dates, it's fair to say AMPAS has become more open to Latin cinema in the 21st century, even though Europe remains the category's continental champion. Hope remains eternal that voters will broaden their horizons. 

I've already reviewed Chile's submission, The Settlers, when at TIFF. So, it's time to consider the films of the other two Latin victors of yesteryear. There's Argentina's newly released The Delinquents, and Mexico's Berlinale prize-winner Tótem…

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