Cannes: Nanni Moretti's "A Brighter Tomorrow"

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes...

It is not easy being coherent with your work when you have as strong moral compass as Nanni Moretti. The Italian director and Palm d’Or winner (The Son's Room, 2001) has built a career around his political beliefs and precise reading of reality. In Moretti’s world, everything is black or white, with some Communist Red. Compromising is surrendering to the enemy.

His new picture Il sol dell’avvenire  (English title: A Brighter Tomorrow) is a tale of how difficult it is to be alive in a world in which everything you love and believe in is either dying or betraying you. It is a movie within a movie with a half dozen other movies tied up in it (for me, a certain Tarantino picture came to mind but more on that later). After the disappointing Tre Piani, Moretti returns to what he does best: playing a fictional version of himself on screen, and letting the mask slip when necessary to reveal his pain...

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Streaming: Dark Comedy "Beef" Serves Grade-A Entertainment

By Christopher James

The littlest things can make a person snap. Minor inconveniences can pile up into a mountain of indignation, such as something being missing at the store or a garbage bag breaking when taking the trash out.

The two sides of Netflix’s pitch black comedy Beef have built quite an impressive mountain of rage, a volcano about to erupt at any second. Every business plan that Danny (Steven Yeun) comes up with has been destined for failure. He’s trying to provide for his parents but every get rich quick scheme fails and sets him further into a hole. While Danny thinks success will bring happiness, Amy (Ali Wong) proves that wealth and power doesn’t guarantee it...

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Review: Adam Sandler's SAG-nominated ‘Hustle’

By Abe Friedtanzer

Twenty long years ago, popular comedian Adam Sandler was in serious awards conversation for the first time for his dramatic collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson in Punch-Drunk Love. Three years ago, a handful of prominent citations and an Independent Spirit Award for Uncut Gems looked like it might finally help him breakthrough to a first Oscar nomination (it did not). Now, Sandler is somewhat unexpectedly making an awards play (sports reference?) again thanks to a surprise SAG nomination for his basketball drama Hustle, which is streaming on Netflix.

Sandler stars as Stanley Sugerman, a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who becomes tired of missing his daughter’s birthdays each year while he’s traveling throughout Europe or somewhere else in search of the next great talent...

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Awards Season Catchup: "Blonde" on Netflix

By Abe Friedtanzer

It’s hard to wait to watch a film months after its release and not be at least somewhat affected by what the public thinks about it. To say that the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde has not received favorable mentions is an understatement. Still everyone has opinions so it seemed possible that there might be something worthwhile about it, like Ana de Armas’ Golden Globe-nominated performance or the Oscar-shortlisted makeup and hairstyling. Seeing the NC-17 rating and the daunting 2-hour-and-47-minute runtime at the start of the film sets up certain expectations, and, somehow, this film still manages to surprise, and not in a good way.

Blonde opens in black-and-white on a young Norma Jeane Mortensen (Lily Fisher) and her mother Gladys (Julianne Nicholson), who shows Norma a photo of a celebrity she claims is her father. Gladys quickly descends into a manic state, driving her young daughter straight towards a fire while everyone else is running the other way...

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"Bardo" is a Gorgeously Shot Mixed Bag

by Eurocheese

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s latest film, Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, is a film overflowing with powerful images, half-told stories and vignettes that delve into very personal material. The film is not always coherent, and not everything works, but it is a mixed bag that offers enough rewards to make it worth a recommendation. The viewer’s mileage will vary, and as one might expect based on the early review, it will definitely not be for everyone. 

Bardo sets its tone right off the bat with multiple disorienting sequences out of context, letting the audience know that accessibility will not be a top priority. One consistent throughline  though, is its visual splendor. Netflix has been delivering some of the most beautiful imagery onscreens this year (Glass Onion and Pinocchio jump to mind), and this film bathes us in oceanic blues and city lights. It also highlights the beauty of Mexico while simultaneously focusing on its shortcomings, an internal struggle for the protagonist, whose national identity is among his many crises. If you’re going to have an emotional breakdown, why not do it while you’re surrounded by lush landscapes?

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