Hirokazu Koreeda is directing an all star cast!

by Nathaniel R

Koreeda, Deneuve, and Hawke working on a movie called "Truth"

Somehow this had escaped our attention so apologize to those for whom it is old news. Thanks to Juliette Binoche for getting us caught us up to speed on her instagram, sharing photos from the set of the next film from Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda. Koreeda was already in our brain because his current brilliant film Shoplifters, which opens in the US around Thanksgiving time. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and we hope it's nominated for the Oscar for Foreign Language Film.

His next picture is called Truth. It's his first non-Japanese language picture with an all star French cast plus Ethan Hawke...

Click to read more ...

Podcast: The Hate U Give, Burning, Border, Suspiria

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl talk four new films now in theatrical release in select cities

Index (67 minutes)
00:01 The Hate U Give is heavy handed but moving. Amandla Stenberg and Russell Hornsby are very good in it
27:19 Spoiler warning about our discussions of Burning and Border (though in truth we don't get that spoilery. We still speak vaguely but if you wanna go in completely cold, skip!)
28:12 Burning starring Steven Yeun and directed by genius Lee Chang-dong
39:30 Discussion of Oscar's foreign film hopefuls and how they routinely ignores Asian movies
47:00 Sweden's bizarre submission Border and its multiple genres
53:15 Luca Guadagnino's remake of Dario Argento's Suspiria
64:00 Running times and wrap-up.

References / Further Reading
• Nathaniel's review of Burning & Border
• Dan's Review of The Hate U Give
• Chris's review of Wildlife 
• Carey Mulligan drag Instagram cuteness 
• Best Foreign Language Film Predictions

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

The Hate U Give and more...

Oscar's Foreign Race Pt 5 - Beauty Break, International Male

Chino Darín, son of Argentina's most prominent movie star Richardo Darín, stars in two of the Foreign Film Contenders this yearby Nathaniel R

We've been digging into the 87 films that are up for the Academy Award in Foreign Language Film. So far we've watched the trailers, talked abotu the female directors, and introduced the first time filmmakers. 

Today something more fun but of vital importance: hot men. Please enjoy this beauty break featuring snacks from all over the world. We scoured the entries for the eye candy (it was painstaking research!) and here's what we found. If we missed someone from your country, we apologize because we haven't seen all the film so someone just gorgeous could have easily slipped through the cracks.

SO. Which of these dozen men do you already love and which do you want to love just by looking at them? They're presented in random order after the jump...

Click to read more ...

NYFF: Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War

Jason Adams reporting from the New York Film Festival

Like Phantom Thread last year Pawel Pawlikowski's magnificently romantic and visually bewitching new film Cold War deals in the secret languages and strange understandings between true lovers - that no matter how hard it is on your soul and constitution that person sitting across the table is the one made for you and vice versa, and you might be the end of each other but you'll be each other's beginnings too...

Click to read more ...

Oscar's Foreign Race Pt 4 - Debuting Filmmakers

Previously: All 87 foreign language film contenders, all the trailers we could find (we're missing just two) along with screening information, and the 20 female directors submitted.  Okay, part four now...

DEBUT DIRECTORS

First time's the charm. 26 of the 87 films Oscar-submitted by their home country are for directors making their debut. That's an extraordinary honor if you stop to think about it! Would you like to meet them? That's rhetorical as I'll hope you'll click ahead to do so...

Asim Abbasi is a Pakistani director making his feature debut with Cake. He previously made short films.  You can follow him on Twitter. 

More newbies after the jump...

Click to read more ...