> Whit Stillman has one of the most distinctive voices in American film, and his 13-year absence from the screen barely shows in his new comedy DAMSELS IN DISTRESS; it feels as though, had it been made immediately after The Last Days of Disco in 1998, nothing about it would be the slightest bit different. […]
This year’s Toronto International Film Festival had a very solid line-up, so much so that although the titles below are listed in rough order of preference, even the worst of them is of some interest, very possibly worth seeing for those intrigued by the genre or filmmaker. The Festival, as has been the case […]
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (Focus/Universal) – Opens November 7 – Worth A Ticket There’s a benefit but also a burden to being clear-cut “Oscar bait.” At this point we all know the kinds of movies the Academy looks upon with favor: serious biographies, period pieces, leading actors who contort themselves in one way or […]
MOLLY’S GAME (STX): Aaron Sorkin is a celebrated (or notorious, depending on your point of view) control freak, so it’s surprising that it’s taken him this long to decide to direct his own work. His first venture as writer/director MOLLY’S GAME is completely assured, not fancy with its visuals but not timid, either. By […]
MOTHERING SUNDAY (Sony Classics – Nov 19): Eva Husson’s film, adapted by Alice Birch from a Graham Swift novel, has many of the rote trappings of prestige costume drama. We’re back in the English countryside, during the interim between World Wars. Class distinctions are very much at the center of things, as manor-born Paul […]
RUSTIN (Netflix – Nov. 17): The director and producer George C. Wolfe is a towering figure in American theater, but his films to date have been wobbly at worst (A Night in Rodanthe, You’re Not You) and sturdy at best (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks). Rustin marks his most accomplished […]
> At 7AM today (East Coast time), the Toronto International Film Festival opened its boxoffice for single ticket sales, package orders having been filled a couple of days ago. As usual, the result was chaos: if you were lucky enough to get onto the screen where selections could be made, hitting “Send” froze that page; […]
One of the things that happens at film festivals is that as you see many films in back-to-back proximity, mini-trends start to emerge, at least in the mind, and pictures that were made entirely separately, and which may well end up released months apart from each other, seem to be in direct competition. So […]