Berlinale 75: Bong's back with "Mickey 17"

by Elisa Giudici

Bong Joon-ho rarely misses the mark—or at least, he approaches his projects with such precision that his return to the big screen after Parasite feels both carefully crafted and self-assured. Following a film that not only reshaped his career but also changed Oscar history by opening the doors to international cinema, Mickey 17 carries the weight of great expectations. It may not reach the towering heights of Parasite, but it reaffirms Bong's status as one of the most inventive and influential Korean directors on the global stage.

Interestingly, Bong Joon-ho was already a successful Hollywood filmmaker long before Parasite became a global phenomenon. Films like Snowpiercer and Okja demonstrated his ability to blend spectacle with social commentary, and Mickey 17 feels like a return to that style—for better and for worse. This time, he tackles the sci-fi genre again, weaving a narrative that is both thought-provoking and undeniably entertaining...

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Linkers Dozen

three must reads
• Blood Knife "Everyone is beautiful and no one is horny." Excellent article about the weird symmetry of the perfection of the body and the desexualization of cinema
• Thrillist Chris Feil suggests Oscars clips for this year's acting nominees
• The Ringer "Robert Pattinson has been lying to you for years" investigating the actors self-mythologizing interviews

Sam Elliott mouths off, the cast of Oppenheimer, a restoration of Alligator, Stephen King's next book, and more after the jump...

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"I can't ever lose control with you"

Tweetweeks

I've been spending less time on Twitter since it's often a toxic landscape of people righteously calling each other garbage and complaining about literally anything. BUT. It's still such a great platform for bite size takes on various showbiz things. Here are some tweets we enjoyed these past couple of weeks for your amusement...

Between “Watchmen,” “Hacks” and “Mare of Easttown” I think HBO needs a new slogan:

It’s not TV. It’s Jean fucking Smart.

— Matt Brennan (@thefilmgoer) May 28, 2021

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Showbiz History: Grand Hotel's win, Robert Pattinson's Debut, Delroy Lindo's first Spike Lee joint

7 random things that happened on this day, November 18th, in showbiz history...

1932 The fifth annual Academy Awards are held at the Ambassador hotel honoring the films released between August 1931 and July 1932. Grand Hotel wins Best Picture. It's the only Best Picture ever to win the top prize that was only nominated for that one Oscar and won of only three top winners to win only one statue (the others were Broadway Melody at the 2nd annual Oscars and Mutiny on the Bounty at the 8th Oscars). As we've said multiple times, it's too bad there weren't supporting Oscars back then because Joan Crawford sure was more than worthy in the all star ensemble. The only film to win multiple Oscars that night was the pre-code relationship drama Bad Girl which took Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. (The next ceremony would have a long eligibility period because Oscar wanted to move to the full January to December calendar year system)...

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