Posts Tagged ‘film festival’
 

 

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL Day 1 Capsule Reviews: “The Magnificent 7″” & “Free Fire”

  THE MAGNIFICENT 7 (Village Roadshow/MGM/Columbia/Sony – Sept 23):  Cinema survived in 1960 when Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece The Seven Samurai was transformed into an American western, and it will survive th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ TORONTO: “No One Lives”

  As movie bloodbaths go, NO ONE LIVES is almost–but not quite–clever enough to be worth seeing. We start with a backwoods family of petty outlaws, headed by father Hoag (Lee Tergesen) and including his wife, b...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY LA FILM FEST REVIEW: “It’s A Disaster”

  IT’S A DISASTER:  Worth A Ticket – And They Feel Just (More Or Less) Fine   IT’S A DISASTER is the movie Seeking A Friend For the End of the World aspired, but failed, to be:  a laugh-out-loud, t...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE BIJOU REVIEW: “50/50”

> 50/50:  Worth A Ticket –  A Genuinely Feel-Good Cancer Comedy With The Big C renewed for its third season on Showtime, the concept of a comedy getting laughs from the experiences of a cancer patient is no long...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist”

> The Artist is a beautiful film hot-house flower, designed to flourish in the rarefied atmosphere of festivals and gatherings of cineastes. It’s a curio that will be cherished by some, and probably ignored by most of the...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ TORONTO: “Passion”

It’s unfortunately not saying very much to note that PASSION is the best eeffort Brian DePalma has managed to turn in lately.  DePalma’s Redacted was one of the worst films by a major American director in recent...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

ShowbuzzDaily Sundance Review: “Juliet, Naked”

  JULIET, NAKED (no distrib):  Every Sundance has a title or two that isn’t particularly “indie,” other than by the fact that its stars aren’t hugely bankable.  These aren’t the films that s...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY LA FILM FEST REVIEW: “Ruby Sparks”

  RUBY SPARKS:  Worth A Ticket – A Narrative Feat   Woody Allen is one of the most influential figures in modern independent film, but his ghost is usually evident in the many romantic comedy-dramas we get each...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ TORONTO: “At Any Price”

With the notable exception of Friday Night Lights, Hollywood has rarely even attempted a serious depiction of life in the American heartland in recent years.  More often, the center of the country is a setting for stories of ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: Whit Stillman’s “Damsels In Distress”

> 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 Las...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE BIJOU @ TIFF; Collected Reviews

>Click below for all SHOWBUZZDAILY‘s collected Toronto Film Festival reviews, in alphabetical order: 360 50/50 ALBERT NOBBS THE ARTIST BUTTER DAMSELS IN DISTRESS THE DEEP BLUE SEA THE DESCENDANTS DRIVE HICK THE IDES OF MA...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ TORONTO: “In the House”

Francois Ozon’s IN THE HOUSE is a delicious examination of the pleasures and dangers of addictive narrative.  Storytelling (and corresponding tricks of cinematic structure) has been an interest of Ozon’s throughout...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: “Rampart”

> Oren Moverman’s first film as a director, The Messenger, was a beautifully contained, emotionally detailed story about soldiers assigned to deliver tragic news to the families of the deceased.  In his new film RAMP...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: “Salmon Fishing In the Yemen”

> The first substantial buy of the Toronto Film Festival (Shame had sold first, but for art film prices) turned out to be Salmon Fishing In the Yemen, a modestly engaging romantic comedy from Lasse Hallstrom.  Hallstrom ha...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Forgiven,” “Dashcam” & “Montana Story”

  THE FORGIVEN (Focus/Universal – TBD):  In 1963, Pauline Kael famously wrote a piece entitled “The Sick-Soul-Of-Europe Parties,” and almost 60 years later, if you add the US to the guest list, John Mich...
by Mitch Salem