"Belfast" is TIFF's choice. How far can it go with Oscar?

by Nathaniel R

going to the movies in "Belfast"

It's been strange to have gone without TIFF, my once favourite festival, for two years running. As a result i have yet to see Kenneth Branagh's Belfast which did not play at Venice though its Oscar buzz is now quite loud. It recently won TIFF's People's Choice Award which has long been a strong Oscar bellwether. We'd argue that that connection is less causal than reflective of a "similar taste profile", though. The type of people who go to huge and accessible film festivals are not unlike Oscar voters in that their tastes lean mainstream but mainstream under the now niche umbrella (sigh) of "also art"...

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That's a wrap on Venice!

by Nathaniel R

Elisa and Nathaniel on one of several drink between movies breaks

That's a wrap on Venezia 78, otherwise known at the 2021 edition of the Venice Film Festival. The Golden Lion went to the excellent French abortion drama L'Evenement / Happening with Parallel Mothers, Spencer, and a trio of Netflix movies Hand of God, The Lost Daughter, and Power of the Dog  also emerging as hot future awards-prospects from the competition. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful the city is (my first time visiting), or what it's like to take a boat ride to the movies each day. Or especially to hang with Elisa in person who was such a great translator for me both linguistically and culturally (and so much fun, too!). There was definitely a learning curve as a first-timer (I missed way too many of the hot ticket titles) but overall it was a good experience.  We hope you enjoyed our coverage. Consider subscribing for the price of a cup of coffee a month if you did as festival coverage isn't cheap for us behind the scenes...

• Elisa's Diary #1 Parallel Mothers and Power of the Dog
• Elisa's Diary #2 The Card Counter, Hand of God, The Lost Daughter
• Elisa's Diary #3 Spencer, A Plein Temps, Il Buco
• Eiisa's Diary #4 Sundown, Official Competition, etc...
• Elisa Extra Dune - full review
• Elisa's Diary #5 L'Evenement, Lost Illusions, Mona Lisa...
• Elisa's Diary #6 Reflection, Captain Volkonoff Escaped, Old Henry, etc...
• Elisa's Diary #7 Halloween Kills, Freaks Out, The Last Duel, etc...
• Elisa Extra Golden Lion and other prizes

• Nathaniel in Venice #1 Parallel Mothers
• Nathaniel in Venice #2 Power of the Dog, Madeleine Collins
• Nathaniel in Venice #3 Atlantide, Les Promesses, The Lost Daughter
• Nathaniel in Venice #4 107 Mothers, Official Competition, Miracle, etc...
• Nathaniel Extra Jessica Chastain & Oscar Isaac 🖤
• Nathaniel in Venice #5 Last Night in Soho, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
• Nathaniel in Venice #6 Catholic School, A Hole in the Fence, The Box
• Nathaniel Extra Cambodia's Oscar submission
• Nathaniel in Venice #7 Mother Lode, L'Evenement, The Falls, etc...
• Nathaniel Extra Jury of One - best of what he saw

cup o' joe : $2.50USD - monthly popcorn : $5.00USD - monthly movie ticket : $10.00USD - monthly

I ♥ The Film Experience

Venice Diary #07 - "The Last Duel" and the last movies of the fest

by Elisa Giudici

Michael Myers is back in "Halloween Kills"

Final day!  I hope you are ready because in this entry I am going to cover all the movies I saw in the last two days of the Venice Film Festival. Eight movies, from European arthouse cinema to Hollywood blockbusters, with some solid performances, an instant cult, and the only major disappointment of this incredible edition of the Mostra.

I'll try to keep it short because of the lack of sleep. An inside joke between my roommate and me this year was that the Filipino movie with its 208 minutes of length lasted longer than our typical night of sleep in the last two weeks...

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Venice Diary #05 - Bad Journalists, bad-ass lapdancer and a french pearl

by Elisa Giudici

"Ridacece i soldi" (give us our money back) is a bizarre event that takes place every year at Venice Film Festival. It's a sort of award for the festivalgoers. In this picture, you can see the wooden prize awarded to the author of the funniest joke about a movie seen during the festival or a joke about a stereotypical situation that can be experienced only during Mostra. Everyone can write (or draw) an entry on a simple white piece of paper. There is a big wooden board in front of the official cafeteria. If you are early for the next screening, you can stop by and read some entries. The kind of humor most appreciated in this peculiar competition is the dry kind: you have to be biting wit to have a chance of winning.

Okay let's talk about three of the main Competition films: Lost Illusions, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, and L'Evenement...

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Complete the sentence(s) and luxuriate in the Isaac/Chastain vibe!

With fall festival season raging, we're curious what you're thinking out there. So let's have a comment party about the Oscar buzz by completing the following three sentences.

1. I know people at (Telluride or Venice) raved about ________  but I'm still doubtful about its awards chances because ___________.

2. I think ___________ is winning an Oscar but for  _________ the nomination will be the reward.

I wish I had words for this but I really do not pic.twitter.com/xJVzOJJCeh

— Christina Newland (@christinalefou) September 4, 2021

interesting choice to award the golden lion to that slow mo getty images clip of oscar isaac kissing jessica chastain's arm but i respect it

— hannah strong (@thethirdhan) September 4, 2021

 3. That already famous video of Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac on the red carpet made me _______________ . 

Ready? Go.