TIFF '23: "Concrete Utopia" is an earth-shaking blockbuster parable

by Cláudio Alves

Genre cinema has long been the home of social critique through allegory. Think back to Godzilla's reflection on Japan's atomic trauma or Night of the Living Dead's invention of the zombie movie as the place to study civilization's collapse. South Korea's new Oscar submission, Concrete Utopia, follows the tradition. Though, here, you'll find no Romero undead or radioactive kaiju to distract and reflect human folly at the viewer. Instead, Tae-hwa Eom's latest tackles the precepts of the disaster flick with a dash of post-apocalyptic dystopia, showing Humanity's self-made ruin in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that renders Seoul a wasteland…

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Asian Film Awards: "Wife of a Spy" and "Voice of Silence" are winners

by Nathaniel R

The Asian Film Awards, which used to be held early in the year are now a fall event, organized jointly with the Hong Kong, Busan, and Tokyo Film Festivals. The prizes were divvied up across multiple countries so there's a little something for everyone though the big winner was Japan's Wife of a Spy (a winner at Venice in 2020) which took Best Film, Best Actress, and Best Costume Design and recently had a brief US theatrical release from Kino Lorber. South Korea's Voice of Silence also made a fine showing taking Best New Director and Best Actor for popular 35 year-old star Yoo Ah-In (Burning and #Alive). Most of the films honored are 2020 films so dont expect much of a direct correlation between what countries submit to the Oscars this year as most of these were eligible for submission last season. The full list of nominees and winners is after the jump... 

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Cannes Red Carpet Finale: Tilda, Adèle, Regina, Sharon, Gemma...

by Nathaniel R

As the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival recedes into the past, can we all agree that even after all these years, Tilda Swinton remains the most exciting red carpet icon? Consider that she chased that blue eye ribbon, with a frankenstein-pieced metallic look and an exquisitely tailored blue suit, then a red dog collar, and to close out the festival went with this cavalcade of androgynous billowing white pieces.

And because her face deserves exquisite fashion, too, she paired them with a different improbably shaped hairdo each time for good measure. She always keeps us guessing. The only thing you can safely predict about Tilda at each event is that she'll be memorable. 

More final Cannes '21 looks after the jump...

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International Oscar Race Pt 2: Movie Stars, genres, and stats

by Nathaniel R

We aim to maintain our title of 'the site that gives you the most when it comes to Oscar's Best International Feature Film race.' Nevertheless, even if we aren't that anymore with all the corporate sites and the indies now covering the race, at least we were influential in popularizing the coverage! That's a legacy we're proud of.

Speaking of popular. How many of the films have stars that movie-savvy folks will recognize? Let's look at the international stars with fanbases outside their home countries (and other areas of trivia interest) after the jump...

Submissions with internationally-familiar stars

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The Men of Venice '18 Can Get It.

TIFF begins tomorrow (Chris and Nathaniel will both be reporting to give you double the coverage!) but the 75th annual Venice Film Festival is still swinging. It concludes on Saturday September 8th so that's when we'll know who took the coveted Golden Lion (you may recall that a little film called Shape of Water won last year, though their winner is usually far less mainstream).

Alfonso Cuarón, Lee Byung-hun, Nicholas Hoult, Bradley Cooper

But here are the most handsome men in lux menswear we've spotted on the red carpet coverage. Joe Alwyn, Ryan Gosling, Matt Smith, Mads Mikkelsen, Matthias Schoenaerts and many more are after the jump...

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