‘Company’ Review: Casey Affleck’s Ponderous Philosophical Triptych
I’m going to be proactive, and hyper-cautious, and issue a major spoiler warning right at the top of this review of Casey Affleck’s third directorial effort, Company. It’s impossible to talk about the movie without giving away a crucial element of the picture, which was kept quite hidden from press here in Venice. If you’d […]
‘From Inside Out’ Review: Wim Wenders’ 3D Doc on Peter Zumthor
There are of course many viewers out there who’re passionately devoted to James Cameron’s Avatar thrill rides alongside the big blue people of Pandora. But for arthouse viewers, few directors make the case for 3D cinema, and all that investment exhibitors and customers sunk in 3D projectors and TVs, as well as Wim Wenders. He’s […]
Alex Gibney Elon Musk Documentary Unsettles Venice at World Premiere
The world’s richest man wasn’t in the building — nor would the troll king ever want to be, seemingly — but Alex Gibney‘s nearly four-hour documentary portrait, Musk, nonetheless brought the house down Tuesday at its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The Oscar-winning director’s lengthy interrogation of Elon Musk and the growing power […]
‘Tenzing’ Review: Tom Hiddleston in Apple’s Everest Drama
The most moving relationship in Tenzing, Jennifer Peedom’s new narrative feature about the mountaineer, is not the one between Tenzing Norgay (Genden Phuntsok) and Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston), who in 1953 would become the first humans to summit what the British call Mount Everest. It isn’t the hard-won mutual respect between Tenzing and his fellow […]
‘Musk’ Review: Alex Gibney Doc Digs Deep on World’s Richest Man
Not long after news first emerged three years ago that Alex Gibney had begun work on an in-depth study of Elon Musk, the uber-tech bro went on the defensive on his social media platform, Twitter. Sorry, I mean X. “It’s a hit piece,” he cried, before switching to the totally mature “Gibney is a douche.” […]
Laura Poitras, Rachel Lauren Mueller on ICE Documentary They’re Here
Life under ICE is like a horror movie. That’s the message of Oscar-winning documentarian Laura Poitras, whose new short documentary They’re Here chronicles how Immigration Customs Enforcement troops invaded and occupied Minneapolis last year, and the anonymous residents who resisted. Poitras co-directed They’re Here with Minneapolis-based journalist and documentarian Rachel Lauren Mueller. Using dashcam footage, […]
Andrew Garfield Says Billionaires Should Be ‘Scared’ by The Uprising
Andrew Garfield‘s character may be rebelling against a king in The Uprising, but he says billionaires are the ones who should also be “scared shitless” by the film. During a recent Q&A, alongside director Paul Greengrass, Garfield explained why he hopes the film serves as a warning to the world’s richest. The Uprising, based on […]
Venice Premiere for Italian Horror ‘The Spiral’
The Venice Film Festival has a new guilty pleasure. The hometown crowd went wild Monday night for the world premiere of The Spiral, a campy, fun Italian horror thriller from director Paolo Strippoli (The Holy Boy, A Classic Horror Story). Jasmine Trinca (Saint Laurent, The Caiman) stars as Anna, a controlling mother who makes a […]
‘Hombre Al Agua’ Review: Gael García Bernal’s Chaotic Comedy
The winning combination of whimsy, gravitas and good looks that Gael García Bernal has brought to both the big (Amores Perros, Y tu mamá tambíen) and small (Mozart in the Jungle) screens fails to translate to his second stab as director, Hombre Al Agua, an offbeat dramedy that’s too chaotic and muddled to hit its […]
Katie Lee Biegel Interview: Windows on the World Doc After The Kitchen
When Katie Lee Biegel first encountered the nonfiction book about Windows on the World that would inspire the CNN documentary short Top of the World, she was still co-hosting Food Network‘s The Kitchen, which came to an end last year after its 40-season run. Chef Marc Murphy, who had worked at the restaurant atop the […]