Ridley Scott vs. History

by Cláudio Alves

With Napoleon in theaters, Ridley Scott's on a rampage – or what most people call it, a press tour. The 85-year-old director is out of fucks to give, throwing shade at historians left and right, not to mention the entire population of France. If the French can't like themselves, how in the hell are they gonna like Scott's latest movie? Ruisms aside, the filmmaker's wrath has been primarily directed at those who dare come to his cinema expecting a modicum of historical accuracy. Simply put, that's not where Sir Ridley's interests lie, as he's fond of reminding his critics.

But then, why does he keep throwing himself at historical narratives? The conundrum got me thinking about his vast and vastly inconsistent filmography…

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One For Them, One For Me - Ridley Scott's 2021 - "The Last Duel" vs. "House of Gucci"

A series by Christopher James.

Do one for them; do one for you. If you can still do projects for yourself, you can keep your soul.

— Martin Scorsese: A Journey

yHow great would it have been if "The Last Duel" was between Margurite and Patrizia Reggiani?

Though Ridley Scott was not nominated for either of his movies in 2021, they still cast some shadows on Oscar night. House of Gucci star Lady Gaga rounded out the night presenting Best Picture alongside living legend Liza Minnelli, a nod to the 50th anniversary of Cabaret. His other film, The Last Duel, was the subject of a joke by host Regina Hall, saying: “Now, I’ve got the screener for a never-before-seen film, not even by the director. It’s called, The Last Duel.” 

A year ago, both movies were expected to factor heavily in the Oscar race...

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Venice Diary #07 - "The Last Duel" and the last movies of the fest

by Elisa Giudici

Michael Myers is back in "Halloween Kills"

Final day!  I hope you are ready because in this entry I am going to cover all the movies I saw in the last two days of the Venice Film Festival. Eight movies, from European arthouse cinema to Hollywood blockbusters, with some solid performances, an instant cult, and the only major disappointment of this incredible edition of the Mostra.

I'll try to keep it short because of the lack of sleep. An inside joke between my roommate and me this year was that the Filipino movie with its 208 minutes of length lasted longer than our typical night of sleep in the last two weeks...

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Is 2021 the year of Adam Driver?

by Cláudio Alves

Leos Carax's Annette hits streaming today. You can watch this year's Cannes Best Director prize-winning feature on Amazon Prime Video and bask in all its insanity. The picture has proven pretty divisive, which is no surprise. Many of the director's anti-naturalistic choices and the Sparks' off-kilter music have been at the center of praise and pans. But, along with them, the most contested element of Annette seems to be its leading man, Adam Driver, whose performance goes to extremes of operatic grandeur intersected by American realism, aggressive anti-comedy, a guttural plunge into the depths of self-hatred. It's a big performance, maybe the biggest in the actor's career, so vast in risks and pitfalls, one can't help but admire the ambition. Annette also represents the first of three major projects the actor has coming out in 2021, marking this year as one of the potential high points in Driver's ever-growing career…

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Yes No Maybe So: The Last Duel

Please welcome new contributor Patrick Ball...

Jodie Comer in "The Last Duel"

One of the more anticipated fall releases, Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel finally got a trailer. A medieval swords n’ beards tale, it boasts the first joint screenplay from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck since their Oscar winning effort on Good Will Hunting (1997), this time joined by Nicole Holofcener. Starring Matt and Ben, Adam Driver (having yet another big year with this and Annette and House of Gucci) and Killing Eve breakout Jodie Comer, let’s raise the drawbridge on another installment of Yes No Maybe So... 

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