In defense of "A House of Dynamite"

by Lynn Lee

A House of Dynamite is…dynamite!  Why do I feel like the only one who still thinks this, and is still excited about a movie that’s fallen completely off the awards buzz radar? 

I saw a screening of Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear doomsday procedural – really, that’s what it is – at this year’s Middleburg Film Festival, right around the time it was getting its bare-minimum Netflix theatrical release.  As the credits rolled, I had two simultaneous reactions:

Wow, that was some damn good filmmaking.

Wow, we are so utterly fucked...

Click to read more ...

TIFF 50: "Frankenstein" has great gowns, beautiful gowns

by Cláudio Alves

Last year, Emilia Pérez finished in second place for TIFF's People's Choice Award, and, while not as bad, this year's runner-up left me similarly displeased. You can deduce that the masses disagree, having received Guillermo del Toro's Mary Shelley adaptation with open hearts and adoration aplenty. I think I was also predisposed to love the Mexican master's spin on Frankenstein, having defended his follies for the last decade, even when critics I respect soured on the man's cinema. Moreover, I even re-read the novel – comparing the 1818 and 1831 versions as I went along – to prepare for what was sure to be a grand Gothic spectacle to sweep me off my feet.

As it turns out, del Toro's Frankenstein was one of my major disappointments at TIFF 50, maybe the biggest. Thank heavens for those beautiful costumes and that beautiful Creature, for I'm not sure I'd have made it through this 150-minute slog without them…

Click to read more ...

TIFF 50: A Linklater Double Feature

by Cláudio Alves

Nowadays, if you're not named Hong Sang-soo, it's rare for a director to release multiple features in the same year. Rarer still for these projects to land on the main competition of two of the big three European film festivals, even winning an award when all is said and done. Well, that was the case this year for Richard Linklater, who bowed Blue Moon at Berlin and then took Nouvelle Vague to Cannes. Now, as happens with various of those fests' juiciest prospects, they are also playing at TIFF, where I had the luck to experience them back to back, finishing the day with a good old-fashioned double feature. Unfortunately, it's an unbalanced pair formed by one of the most disposable follies in the director's career and a gem seemingly composed to be seen as a minor work, that nevertheless sings the song of a major achievement…

Click to read more ...

TIFF 50: Benoit Blanc looks for grace in "Wake Up Dead Man"

by Cláudio Alves

If Wake Up Dead Man is the weakest Knives Out mystery yet, the blame lies at the feet of its outsized thematic ambition. In that regard, the new flick outdoes its predecessors and then some, touching on the same satirical points and terminally online observations of our socio-political present while stretching hands up, toward the heavens, in search of an ineffable grace. Rian Johnson thus tackles religion and belief and absolution with a Gothic twist and perverse glee, a complex proposal further complicated by the way he keeps playing with the whodunnit model in his usual deconstructionist manner. The director boldly adds Poe and Carr to the pantheon of authors he'll crib from in a metatextual game that reaches out an invitation to its audience. Share the pleasure of my mischief, it whispers in your ear…

Click to read more ...

Ten reasons to celebrate Pride Month with "Latin Blood"

by Cláudio Alves

LATIN BLOOD: THE BALLAD OF NEY MATOGROSSO | © Netflix

Last Thursday, Americans celebrated Juneteenth, but south of the Equator, Latin America's largest nation was in a cinephile mood. It was Brazilian Cinema Day, marking 127 years since Affonso Segreto shot what is considered the earliest cinematic depiction of Brazil in film history. A century and change after cameras first glimpsed the Guanabara Bay, the country's having a moment on the world stage. In the space of a few months, we saw such titles as I'm Still Here, The Blue Trail, and The Secret Agent win big at the Oscars, Berlinale, and Cannes. However, within Brazilian borders, other success stories have flourished, largely overlooked by international onlookers. Consider Vitória with Fernanda Montenegro delivering a staggering star turn at 95, and today's subject, the word-of-mouth box office phenomenon that is Homem com H.

Known as Latin Blood: The Ballad of Ney Matogrosso in English-language markets, the music biopic arrived on Netflix June 17th. And, since that streaming giant is doing nothing to promote it, let me enumerate ten reasons why you need to add Esmir Filho's latest to your Pride Month watchlist…

Click to read more ...