Cannes Lineup 2023: Official Competition & Un Certain Regard

by Nathaniel R

Mia Wasikowska stars in Competition Film "Club Zero"

The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival is just one month and three days away. The world's most famous film festival runs May 16th-27th this year. Here are the competition films. More to come of course but first the big ticket films that will hog the mainstream attention ...or "mainstream" by way of a tony art festival that is... from the competition slot. And the other films that could prove high profile from the other most talked-about section (usually) "Un Certain Regard"....

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Antiviral @ 10: The Beginning of Brandon Cronenberg

by Cláudio Alves

It's been a decade since Brandon Cronenberg came into the scene, with Antiviral as his feature debut. That film was preceded by a couple of shorts, succeeded by various music videos, Possessor, and this year's Infinity Pool. Common themes reverberate through his oeuvre, linking him to his father's cinema. Like David, Brandon Cronenberg works within dimensions of horror, often considering transcendence through the body and the body transcended, altered, made a dream cum nightmare. Yet, despite similar interests, shared names, linked blood, father and son feel like unique auteurs, their connections superficial. One would expect the nepo baby to forever live in his patriarch's shadow, but maybe not…

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Doc Corner: You Must See 'Sam Now'

By Glenn Charlie Dunks

Reed Harkness’s Sam Now is really something special. A debut that taps into an achingly sad story within his own family, covering decades of pain and the smiles used to cover it up. I could not take my eyes off of it, reverberating as it does with a potent mix of tragedy and the relief that comes with finally getting it off your shoulders. In finally telling this story so many years in the making, Harkness has given us a documentary that taps into completely unexpected wells of emotion—a Boyhood (of sorts) where life’s dramatic turns offer us a portrait of male anguish that would be hard to watch if it weren’t so vibrantly made and open-hearted in its delivery.

Synopses describe Sam Now as a “mystery”, but that does it a disservice. There is a mystery, of course. But it’s solved pretty quickly. And what follows is a quiet reckoning that is more compelling than any true crime narrative could ever hope to achieve.

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"Emily" and the mastery of Michael O'Connor

by Cláudio Alves

Frances O'Connor's directorial debut is available on PVOD starting today. Emily is a modern twist on the biography of Emily Brontë, regarding the Wuthering Heights author through a fictionalized prism. There are many reasons to watch the film, from Emma Mackey's performance in the titular role to Abel Korzeniowski's bewitching score. For costume aficionados, however, it's all about the Michael O'Connor-designed fits. As ever, the Oscar-winner blesses the project with a commitment to period veracity, capturing the detail and idiosyncrasy of the past even when it looks silly, fussy, or unattractive to contemporary eyes. He even pays the same attention to main actors and background players, upper-class characters and the poorer circles of society. The result is dramatic immersion, a sort of realism supported by on-screen materiality that's rare even in the most lavish of period pieces...

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TV Musicals: Schmigadoon (Apple TV+) & Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+)

By Christopher James

TV is embracing the musical. Just this week, two new musical series premiered on different streaming services - season two of Schmigadoon (now tackling 60s/70s darker musicals) on Apple TV+ and Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies on Paramount+. Both series use previous musical IP as a launching pad for new stories, one a parody and one an “origin story.” While the level of success varies between the shows (hell, sometimes it varies episode-to-episode), it is wonderful to see new musicals with original songs streaming on our TVs in the same week...

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