TIFF '24: "By the Stream" could be a good introduction to the cinema of Hong Sang-soo

by Cláudio Alves

There's an odd comfort in seeking the new Hong Sang-soo film at any given festival. Thanks to the speed at which the Korean auteur runs through production, you'll usually find one. He regularly premieres multiple features every year. Earlier in 2024, he won the Silver Bear at Berlin with A Traveler's Needs. A few months later, he was at Locarno, ready to present his overall 32nd feature-length project, By the Stream, which took the Best Performance award for Kim Min-hee's work. This second project also made it to TIFF, delighting loyal fans with a new Hong that's much like all the other Hongs that came before. That's not a dig, merely a recognition of the director's remarkable consistency…

Click to read more ...

TIFF '24: "Else" and "U Are the Universe" find Love in the Apocalypse

by Cláudio Alves

For a body horror nightmare, ELSE can be surprisingly beautiful.

It says something about the state of the world, or, at the very least, the collective mood, that the apocalypse is a prevalent concept among contemporary artists. At TIFF this year, several films tackled this fatalistic topic head-on, exploring cosmic dereliction through a litany of genres and registers, from high-budget passion projects to indie experiments. Last time, I broached the topic of Joshua Oppenheimer's divisive narrative feature debut, The End. Now, it's time for two other examples. There's Thibault Emin's feature-length adaptation of a pandemic short, Else. Secondly, an unexpected sci-fi proposition from Ukraine of all places, Pavlo Ostrikov's U Are the Universe. Both are love stories of sorts…

Click to read more ...

Venice Diary: Ghosts in Mostra

This year, Elisa is once again covering the Venice Film Festival for The Film Experience, writing a daily diary of her cinematic experiences from the Lido. The two opening films that inaugurated the 81st edition—one from the main competition and the other from the Orizzonti section—create a surprising and unexpected dialogue.

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (2024). Credit: Warner Bros Entertainment Inc)

by Elisa Giudici

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE by Tim Burton
Gossip has revealed that much has changed recently in Tim Burton's personal life. He has a new woman by his side, both personally and professionally and a young muse who perfectly embodies his signature gothic aesthetic. Surprisingly, this shift has had a positive impact on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel that, 36 years after the original, finds a legitimate reason to exist. It’s moderately entertaining, offers some successful sequences, and proves itself more than worthy of opening the 81st Venice Film Festival...

Click to read more ...

San Sebastián Announces Their Competition Slate!

by Nick Taylor

THE END (2024) Joshua Oppenheimer

More film festival announcements yesterday, this time from the 72nd San Sebastián International Film Festival. They’ve unveiled their Main Competition slate, with more titles set to come, and it’s a damn exciting list of names. The festival runs from September 20th-28th, which probably means a lot of folks will sprint from Toronto to Spain...

Click to read more ...

Yes No Maybe So: "Joker: Folie à Deux"

by Nick Taylor

Remember the fucking hubbub around Joker when it premiered at Venice back in 2019? Stephanie Zachareck fearing MRA riots? Lucrecia Martel giving it the Golden Lion? Leading the Oscar nominations with a whopping eleven citations, with Mark Friedberg’s incredible sets somehow left out in the cold? Winning Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir? Wild times!

Although Joker: Folie à Deux was first announced roughly two years ago, it feels as though the spectre of it has been haunting us for so much longer. At long last, the sequel is on its way, in just over two months. The first full-length trailer dropped less than 24 hours ago, and we here at The Film Experience are ready to dig in to whatever the hell is going on...

Click to read more ...