Movie News

The latest news from the film industry


Cannes 2022: Lola Quivoron’s ‘Rodeo’ is an Impressive Feature Debut

Every year there are a handful of top notch films that premiere at major film festivals that are so impressive it’s hard to believe they’re the first feature film made by the filmmakers behind them. Earlier this year it was Fresh slicing it up at Sundance, directed by Mimi Cave; and last year it was The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal (she even won the DGA Award for Best First Feature). Watch these films and they seem to be made by exceptionally talented directors with years of experience directing many other films, as they know how to craft scenes and hone the narrative at the same level as the best filmmakers out there. At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Rodeo is one of the most impressive… [Read More...]

Cannes 2022: Exploring ‘The Eight Mountains’ with Luca Marinelli

“It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” –Sir Edmund Hillary. Mountains are mystical, magical, and extraordinary. Some people are born in the mountains, and they never leave, unable to step away from them. Some people are born in the mountains, and leave to find their place elsewhere, yet always longing to return. Those who are drawn to their poetic majesty never forget their grandeur and immensity no matter where they are on this planet. One of the best films from the 2022 Cannes Film Festival so far is The Eight Mountains, an Italian feature (originally Le Otto Montagne) co-directed by Belgian filmmakers Felix van Groeningen (director of The Broken Circle Breakdown, Belgica, and Beautiful Boy) and Charlotte Vandermeersch. It’s another breathtaking, slow burn story about… [Read More...]

Cannes 2022 Opens with a Tribute to the Teamwork of Filmmaking

It’s time again. The 2022 Cannes Film Festival begins this week, and I’m back in the South of France for my 12th time covering this festival. I always love being back, and even with updates and frustrations, there is nowhere else I’d rather be right now. Choosing an Opening Night film for any festival is always a daunting task. This year the Cannes opener is the French zombie comedy called Final Cut (or Coupez! in French), which just so happens to be a French remake of the beloved Japanese indie classic One Cut of the Dead. It was originally set to premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, but when that festival announced they would have to shut down their physical in-person fest due to… [Read More...]

Review: Robert Eggers’ ‘The Northman’ is an Unhinged Disappointment

There is no greater feeling when you go to see a movie for the first time without any expectations, and it blows you away or even changes your life entirely. And there is nothing worse when a movie that you have been anticipating for a long time turns out to be a huge disappointment. Crushed hopes are a bitter pill to swallow. In that regard, writer / director Robert Eggers with his gloomy and hypnotizing film The Witch, and goofy yet profound The Lighthouse, was a safe harbor for cinephiles who were always in a search for something original. Even after sleeping for only four hours and standing in a line for three more hours just to see The Lighthouse in Cannes in 2019, I knew that it was… [Read More...]

Review: David Yates’ ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’

When it comes to film franchises, it’s common to see movie lovers struggle to be honest with their thoughts about the respective sagas, especially if they don’t love them like most fans. Fortunately, Harry Potter was and remains special to me as well as to almost all of the viewers who let themselves be carried away by this massively acclaimed magical place. Fantastic Beasts emerged back in 2016 and nostalgia filled our hearts. A wave of emotions soon became overwhelming, resulting in a nearly uncontrollable hype that ended up being brought down by the first two films. However, despite having many issues, the new film Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore exceeds all expectations and becomes the first solid work of the now trilogy. ››› Continue Reading Review… [Read More...]

Review: Michael Bay’s ‘Ambulance’ is Extreme Action Extravagance

Everyone knows Michael Bay, and everyone knows what to expect from any Michael Bay movie. That’s a given nowadays. Ambulance is Bay’s 15th movie so far, and somehow even after all this time, he still hasn’t evolved as a filmmaker. Everything he does is still about big explosions, big guns, big stakes, big car chases, big actors, big cameras. The only thing not big in this movie is the drones they use to fly around random places in Los Angeles. Everything else about Ambulance is as excessive and extreme as anything can get; of course there’s explosions & gunfights galore. It’s billed as Bay’s “love letter” to Los Angeles, with the letters “L” and “A” turning different colors in the title sequence, for no other explainable reason… [Read More...]

2022 ASPEN SHORTSFEST Long on Talent

Running April 5th through the 10th, “ASPEN SHORTSFEST” is one of only four Oscar-qualifying festivals in America to feature short films exclusively. I was honored with previewing ten of the productions to be shown at the prestigious event held annually in this Colorado snow skiing mecca. Here are my reviews.   “Jensen”-A rock band’s lead singer suffers an … [Read More] The post 2022 ASPEN SHORTSFEST Long on Talent appeared first on The Movie Blog. [Read More...]

Review: Matt Reeves’ Noir ‘The Batman’ Wades Deep into Gotham

At the start of this new Batman movie, Bruce Wayne’s voiceover talks about how his identity as the Batman has made criminals in Gotham City more fearful. They think he’s lurking in the shadows, hiding down alleys, waiting to take them out. The very first reveal of “The Batman” in this movie has him literally walking out of the shadows, emerging from the pitch-black darkness to confront a group of hoodlums attacking a man on a subway platform. The darkness that permeates Gotham City is present in every frame of The Batman, it’s unavoidable, a lesson that Batman comes to learn. This is the ultimate gritty, grimy Gotham City noir movie – easily the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight (read my old review). It’s so… [Read More...]

Berlinale 2022: Meltem Kaptan in ‘Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush’

Now that it has been 21 years since 9/11, more and more films are being made about the aftermath of this tragedy – including the way America responded with torture and heinous decisions in an attempt to punish everyone responsible. Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush is another film that digs into the same kind of story as the one told in The Mauritanian, about one innocent individual who was (illegally) locked up for years in Guantanamo Bay by the US over exaggerated suspicions that were never proven. There have been a growing number of films about Guatananmo and how horrible this place is, between Camp X-Ray, and even Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter (which dips into this in an unusual way). Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush… [Read More...]

Sundance 2022: Ramin Bahrani’s Incredibly Good ‘2nd Chance’ Doc

Who would’ve thought that a documentary about some bozo that invented a new bulletproof vest would be this fascinating and this unsettling?! But that’s exactly why I had to watch this film and find out what it’s all about and holy sh*t, it’s totally nuts! This guy is nuts! But that is the story, that’s the entire point of making this film. Another tale of the “American Dream” gone wrong. Iranian-American filmmaker Ramin Bahrani (making his first doc after many features including Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, At Any Price, 99 Homes, The White Tiger) has cooked up his version “Tiger King” with this documentary called 2nd Chance, which just premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The engrossing documentary tells the story of Richard Davis, a doofus… [Read More...]

Sundance 2022: Oliver Hermanus’ Ravishing ‘Ikiru’ Remake ‘Living’

“I don’t know what I’ve been doing with my life all these years.” It’s time to start living! I finally watched the Akira Kurosawa classic Ikiru (from 1952) just last year, and of course it’s wonderful. I had no idea that the film was getting a remake for its 70th anniversary, and I didn’t even realize this new film is that remake until I caught others chatting about it during the festival. Living just premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and it is indeed a remake of Ikiru, with multiple references in the opening credits to Kurosawa and the film’s original writers – Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Hideo Oguni. South African director Oliver Hermanus worked with Japanese writer Kazuo Ishiguro (!!) to adapt and update… [Read More...]

Sundance 2022: Sara Dosa’s Spectacularly Poetic ‘Fire of Love’ Doc

“If you could die at any moment, what do you leave behind?” That’s the important question at the core of this documentary – because that’s what the filmmakers were wondering when they were putting it together. Fire of Love is an extraordinary new documentary feature premiering at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by doc filmmaker Sara Dosa (of The Seer and the Unseen and The Last Season previously), the film tells the story of Katia & Maurice Krafft – two world famous French volcanologists. Unfortunately they died researching a volcano in Japan back in 1991. But the rest of their story hasn’t been told before. The filmmakers got their hands on the entire Krafft archives, tons of old video footage and more, and figured out how to… [Read More...]

Looking Back: Alex’s Top 10 Favorite Films of 2021 – ‘Dune’ & ‘Limbo’

“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.” Another year, another Top 10. After watching over 460 films throughout 2021 (yes I was keeping track on Letterboxd!) it’s time to share my final selection of My Top 10 Favorite Films of 2021. I try to watch as much as I can and give myself time to catch up with any extra films at the end of the year, but I also want to make sure I don’t forget about some of my favorites from earlier in the year. 2021 was an invigorating and exciting year – with so many ups and downs. But as always, I’m lucky to have a chance to discover terrific films. this year in cinema took us on journeys to far away… [Read More...]

Review: ’14 Peaks’ Documentary About the Remarkable Nimsdai Purja

This film was screened as part of the 2021 DOC NYC Film Festival. If you ask someone to name a famous Nepali person, they might be able to recall Tenzing Norgay. He was one of two mountain climbers (the other was New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary) to be the first ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. But ever since then, Nepalis have mostly remained in the shadow, as other climbers from around the world have marched their way into the Himalayas to make their mark and set new records. This all changes with 14 Peaks and the climber known as Nimsdai. 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible is an extraordinary, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring documentary experience about Nimsdai’s remarkable achievement – climbing the 14 highest mountains in the world within… [Read More...]