Review: "Snow White" exceeds expectations, but that's not saying much

by Cláudio Alves

When was the last time the live-action remake of one of Disney's animated properties presented something worth watching? One supposes Cruella had those Jenny Beavan-designed Oscar-winning costumes to recommend it for, and Winnie the Pooh was alright in its melancholic tone. By my account, the last wholly successful of these enterprises was Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella, released a whole decade ago this year. Part of it stemmed from a willingness to deviate from the original, an understanding of the tale's inherent qualities beyond its value as nostalgia fodder, and the lavish production values courtesy of Dante Ferretti and Sandy Powell. 

The latter is back to Disney's mercenary recycling scheme with Snow White, a project that harkens back to Cinderella without reaching the same modest heights. Sandy Powell innocent, though. Well, mostly…

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Review: “Last Summer” will make you squirm

by Cláudio Alves

In 2019, May el-Toukhy's Queen of Hearts was a study about power imbalances and masterful manipulation. As a wealthy lawyer who starts an affair with her teenage stepson, Trine Dyrholm embodied a sickening conundrum - someone who defends the abused in the public eye but is an abuser in private. Chilly and sharp, the actress delivered a terrifying performance, opaque in ways we'd expect her to be transparent, a mystery whose actions precipitate a devastating end. Indeed, the Danish film could be described as a tragedy, and it made for a particularly unsettling entry in the season's Best International Film race.

Five years later, Catherine Breillat's French remake arrives in American theaters, offering a most perverse twist on the same premise. Rather than tragedy, Last Summer presents the affair as something closer to farce…

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Nicole Kidman Tribute: The Stepford Wives (2004)

by Christopher James

You never forget your first. My first Kidman - The Stepford Wives.

Is the movie good? I will always have a soft spot for it, but it does not fully work. There are glimpses of a great movie, thanks in large part to genuine laugh-out-loud joke lines in Paul Rudnick’s script. Not many people would recommend this as a first Kidman viewing, but it perfectly illustrates one of the qualities that I think makes her one of our greatest actresses - fearless commitment to one’s character. I take that back. The introduction of Joanna Eberhart is a perfect introduction to Nicole Kidman...

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A Julianne Moore Top Ten

by Cláudio Alves

Mary & George, Starz's new miniseries, premieres today, with a new episode every Friday for the next few weeks. Christopher James recently reviewed the historical drama, detailing its intersection of smut and scheming, all centered around its titular characters during King James I's reign. Hot new thing Nicholas Galitzine plays George Villiers under the camera's lustful gaze, but it's Julianne Moore's Mary who commands the screen as his mother. To honor one of The Film Experience's favorite goddesses on this occasion, I decided to do one of my actress-y top tens, focusing on the Oscar-winner's best performances across a career rich in excellence…

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Luca Guadagnino has dropped another project

by Cláudio Alves

Back when Luca Guadagnino first announced his plans to remake Suspiria, many were skeptical – me included. Why would we need a new take on the material when Argento's 1977 classic is such a candy-colored masterpiece? It turns out that Guadagnino was idiosyncratic enough to get away with it, proposing such a distinct vision that comparing it to the other movie feels beside the point. Hence, when the director told the world he'd helm a Scarface remake from a Coen Bros. script, the consensus was more hopeful than before. Well, that picture is officially off of Guadagnino's schedule, joining the ranks of many a dropped project…

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