Udo Kier's Best Actor-worthy performance in "Swan Song"

by Eurocheese

It’s almost fitting that Todd Stephens’ Swan Song will have to fight for its title with a higher prestige film of the same name (Benjamin Cleary’s film starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris and Glenn Close) this season. The film’s main character, Mr. Pat (Udo Kier), has been pushed out of his former life as his town's most respected hairdresser, and now earns respect in his nursing home only by demanding it. The film starts in a fairly grim reality, but he finds solace in his hidden More 120 Slim cigars and teasing the hair of his fellow patients from time to time. He is somewhat resigned to this existence. 

All of this changes when he is offered a large sum of money to fix the hair of a former client for her funeral (Dynasty's Linda Evans making her first film appearance in 24 years). Initially he defiantly rejects the offer, siting the fact that she fired him years ago...

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Three Reasons to "Bacurau"

by Jason Adams

Bacurau, the fierce new Brazilian film from the folks behind Aquarius in 2016 (and the accompanying Sônia-Braga-ssaince), is finally hitting U.S. theaters this week. It tells the story of a small rural community in the middle-of-nowhere Brazil that politicians are attempting to wipe off the map, literally, by hiring a bunch of heavily armed militia-types (including pointedly several Americans) to come down and burn the place to the dirt.

The movie has been out in its home country, where it was a huge hit, for several months already, and on its way here to the States it's already played several fests to mucho raves -- I reviewed it right here at NYFF in the fall, calling it "an ass-blistering revenge fable." And you should indeed cover your ass. It's an intense ride, throwing populism and politics and capitalism and little silver spaceships into its grindhouse meat-grinder, spitting a pulpy, invigorating scream out its other side.

Here, five months after last watching it, are three thoughts that still stand out about Bacurau to me...

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NYFF: Aquarius team wows again with "Bacurau"

by Jason Adams

You think you know somebody. You think you've got it all figured out. You think you sit down to a movie at the New York Film Festival you're gonna see something respectable -- something serious and challenging. But hyper-violent revenge westerns? Those are for Toronto. 

Well Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles' film Bacurau already played Toronto, and now it is playing NYFF, and it somehow splits the difference -- it's somehow an ass-blistering revenge fable with exploding heads, while also being a deadly serious story of an indigenous community terrorized by big business interests. It is, quite simply, the sort of movie we'll look back on from the future -- assuming there is a future -- and say, "Yup, that got it just right..."

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Cannes: Rocketman, Les Miserables, Bacarau, and Red Carpet Men.

Richard, Taron, and Elton at the premiere.

Women get all 98% of the attention on the red carpet but we'll get to the gowns a bit later. For whatever reason, order of programming or specific films, or what not, in the first weekend of the festival the male-centric stuff is what's popping from the French film Les Miserables (not an adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel or Broadway musical) to the polarizing Brazilian film Bacurau (from the director of Aquarius - yay!) to the Elton John bio Rocketman.

Rocketman had the glitziest premiere - give or take Jim Jarmusch's opening night screening for Dead Don't Die, so today we're gazing at the men in their finery from the first few days of the festival and at the reviews for a few of the early films screened, too. It's all after the jump...

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Streaming: "Brawl in Cell Block 99"

by Ben Miller

Everything does not have to be filet mignon.  Sometimes, you just want a hamburger.  There is nothing wrong with a burger, and it can be really well made.  There’s a difference between the two and burgers will not be any good if you expect them to be filet mignon.

The new film from director S. Craig Zahler, Brawl in Cell Block 99, is a great burger.  And like any great burger, there are so many chances for it to go very wrong, very quickly...

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