Yes No Maybe So: "Killers of the Flower Moon"

by Cláudio Alves

Ahead of the film's Cannes premiere, Apple TV has released the teaser for Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon. The historical crime drama cum Western epic has been intensely anticipated by film lovers everywhere, making itself the hottest ticket at the Croisette, where it'll screen out of competition. With an exclusive theatrical release scheduled for October before dropping on the streaming service sometime afterward, the picture is well positioned to be one of the awards season's strongest contenders, with many predicting it in early prognostications. Though, when faced with the wonder of Scorsese's cinema, awards talk feels superfluous.

Not all filmmakers slow down in their twilight years, as is the case of this auteur. Indeed, in a recent interview, Scorsese talked about his sense of mortality, how the possibilities of the seventh art keep expanding to him, and there's not enough time to explore them all. It's too late. Following the superb Silence and The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon looks like the work of a master who still has much to show us…

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TV Musicals: Schmigadoon (Apple TV+) & Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+)

By Christopher James

TV is embracing the musical. Just this week, two new musical series premiered on different streaming services - season two of Schmigadoon (now tackling 60s/70s darker musicals) on Apple TV+ and Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies on Paramount+. Both series use previous musical IP as a launching pad for new stories, one a parody and one an “origin story.” While the level of success varies between the shows (hell, sometimes it varies episode-to-episode), it is wonderful to see new musicals with original songs streaming on our TVs in the same week...

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AFI Fest: “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me” shows the star up close

by Eurochees

This year’s AFI Fest opened with a spotlight on pop star Selena Gomez under the direction of Alek Keshishian, who famously brought us Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991). The film kicks off promoting Gomez’s music and telling the audience her backstory, walking us through a career she began at 7 years old on the show Barney & Friends. She has been consistently working since that time, turning 30 this past summer. We learn about the physical toll lupus took on her, an emotionally exhausting period which led her to a breakdown stemming from her bipolar disease. Her decision to go public with her diagnosis ties into her statement later in the film that she is driven by her focus on what to do next when facing hurdles... 

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Rome Diary #1: 'Robbing Mussolini' and digging graves

by Elisa Giudici

It’s not a Festival, it is a party! So please be my guest on a short journey to Festa del Cinema di Roma (Rome Cinema’s Party). This is my first year in Rome for this strange festival which is now in its 17th year. Rome Film Festival wants to be something different from its older sisters in Europe (Berlin, Cannes, and Venice), yet it seems unable to let go of the old dream of becoming as big and relevant as them.

A Rome Film Festival in 2022 will be a strange combination of leftovers from festival season, Hollywood latecomers hoping for Oscar traction, and a place for smaller films to shine alongside the more popular, acclaimed ones that have already premiered elsewhere. And Apple Originals likes this Festival a lot. Let’s discover some titles, shall we?

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Review: Season 1 of 'Pachinko'

by Lynn Lee

from 'Pachinko's opening credits. © Apple TV+

Can a country truly be your home if it never fully accepts you?  Can a country still be your homeland if you left behind your life there and have never gone back?  

These questions haunt the lush, sweeping AppleTV+ period drama series Pachinko, which recently concluded its first season.  So far, so universal: the yearning for roots, for a sense of belonging, should resonate with anyone who’s ever been displaced or separated from their family or place of origin.  At the same time, the show – based on the best-selling novel by Min Jin Lee – focuses on a very specific chapter of history that isn’t well known outside of Korea and Japan, yet in many ways echoes the frictions, tensions, and injustices underpinning the history of race and immigration in other countries...

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