Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE 2013: “Lovelace”

Posted January 24, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  There are any number of ways the story of Linda Lovelace and Deep Throat could be told to make a potentially fascinating movie, from the sociological to the political, the personal to the satiric.  The laziest–one might even say the most cowardly–would be to simply repeat the events as they were originally presented to the public […]

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Current Release

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Rust and Bone”

Posted December 7, 2012 by Mitch Salem

‎ Jacques Audiard doesn’t do sentimental. His last film, A Prophet, had the clear-eyed view of crime and the dramatic heft of a French version of “The Wire,” and his new and very different drama RUST & BONE benefits as well from his refusal to take the road of easy emotion. Lord knows, the bare […]

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Film Festival

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: “The Last of Robin Hood”

Posted September 12, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD is an odd miss, a sliver of movie history that seems to have all the right elements but never quite jells.  The title refers to Errol Flynn, legendary swashbuckling star of The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, The Dawn Patrol and many other classic Hollywood adventures, and it’s hard to […]

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Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “Ford vs. Ferrari” & “The Laundromat”

Posted September 10, 2019 by Mitch Salem

  FORD VS. FERRARI (20th Century Fox/Disney – November 15):  If the Academy decides to award James Mangold’s Ford vs. Ferrari, which is certainly a possibility, it will be able to have some metaphorical cake and eat it too.  FvsF is both a first-rate example of Hollywood corporate entertainment and a story that questions what […]

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Film Festival

Toronto Film Festival 2024 Reviews: “The Brutalist” & “The Last Showgirl”

Posted September 10, 2024 by Mitch Salem

  THE BRUTALIST (A24 – TBD):  The most remarkable thing about Brady Corbet’s epic may be that it’s so enjoyable to watch.  The notion of a 197-minute saga (not including intermission) about Holocaust survivors and the crushing effects of capitalism practically screams “ordeal,” especially with the knowledge that Corbet’s last film was the cringingly pretentious Vox […]

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Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY SUNDANCE REVIEW: “I Origins”

Posted January 26, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  The writer-director Mike Cahill has staked out a unique piece of narrative territory for himself.  In both Another Earth and his new I ORIGINS, which debuted at Sundance last week (and won the festival prize for best science-based work), he explores the point where factual science meets not just science fiction, but something more metaphysical, an area […]

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Film Festival

ShowbuzzDaily’s Sundance 2022 Reviews: “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul,” “Cha Cha Real Smooth” & “Alice”

Posted January 22, 2022 by Mitch Salem

  HONK FOR JESUS.  SAVE YOUR SOUL (no distrib):  Scandal-ridden mega-churches aren’t exactly fresh territory for screens big (The Tears of Tammy Faye) or small (The Righteous Gemstones), with tones that range from wildly comic to solemn.  Adamma Edo’s feature debut doesn’t have much to add to the subject, but it does have Sterling K. […]

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Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE 2013: “Emanuel & The Truth About Fishes”

Posted January 23, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  EMANUEL AND THE TRUTH ABOUT FISHES is deeply, satisfyingly strange.  In a way, it’s a validation not just of Sundance, but the whole film festival system that is now our main way of finding out about distinctive new talent.  It also tells a story based in large part on a single plot development that, while […]

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