Beauty Break: Franz Rogowski (Great Freedom)

by Nathaniel R

Franz Rogowski at Cannes for "The Great Freedom" this summer

This morning we learned that Sebastian Meise's Great Freedom, a German language post war drama about a homosexual in prison will be Austria's submission for the Oscars this year (chart updates). The film stars Franz Rogowski who we've loved looking at ever since we first saw him in the amazing continuous shot movie Victoria (2015) and whose career picked up steam after the international acclaim for Transit (2018). 2021 has been a busy year for the German star. The romantic fantasy Undine (2020) was released in June in the US and directly afterwards he spent the next few months at film festivals promoting three new projects: Great Freedom at Cannes in July, Luzifer at Locarno in August, and the Italian film Freaks Out at Venice in early September. 

Photos, some shot by the man himself (who has a fun Instagram account), some from his movies, and some lifted from MNPP (Jason is also a huge fan) are after the jump...

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Link Lasso

• Time Timothée Chalamet profile
• EW first look at Scream 5 - Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox both return
• Pop Culture Happy Hour insightful piece on the black lady therapist on TV with Ted Lasso, White Lotus, and In Treatment all arriving at that crowded trope party
• AV Club 5 reasons to be optimistic about season three of Ted Lasso

More after the jump including Dave Chapelle's controversial comedy show, Disney-related deaths, new projects for Jake Gyllenhaal, and MCU journeys for Kumail Nanjiani and Will Poulter...

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Udo Kier's Best Actor-worthy performance in "Swan Song"

by Eurocheese

It’s almost fitting that Todd Stephens’ Swan Song will have to fight for its title with a higher prestige film of the same name (Benjamin Cleary’s film starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris and Glenn Close) this season. The film’s main character, Mr. Pat (Udo Kier), has been pushed out of his former life as his town's most respected hairdresser, and now earns respect in his nursing home only by demanding it. The film starts in a fairly grim reality, but he finds solace in his hidden More 120 Slim cigars and teasing the hair of his fellow patients from time to time. He is somewhat resigned to this existence. 

All of this changes when he is offered a large sum of money to fix the hair of a former client for her funeral (Dynasty's Linda Evans making her first film appearance in 24 years). Initially he defiantly rejects the offer, siting the fact that she fired him years ago...

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HollyShorts Pt. 3 Final Films and the Oscar-Qualifying Winners

By Ben Miller

The virtual HollyShorts Film Festival is at an end.  Showcasing the newest and best films under 40 minutes, I was able to watch dozens of great short films across a myriad of categories.  Here are my thoughs on ten more films as well the festival winners...

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Weekend @ 10: A Modern Gay Classic

by Cláudio Alves

Ten years ago, Andrew Haigh's Weekend opened in American theaters after a long travail through international film festivals. The director's second feature put his name on the map and opened up an artistic path that would bring us such precious cinematic gems as 45 Years and Lean on Pete, as well as the televisual delights of Looking. Contextualizing the work in such ways makes it seem even smaller than it already is, a miniature of gay urbanite life and the emotional ties that blossom from a night of casual sex. Despite the limited scope of all his projects, everything Haigh has done since Weekend feels much larger, more conspicuously ambitious. And yet, a decade later, that small British indie still stands as the director's most remarkable achievement…

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