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The Berlin jury gave Mohammad Rasoulof’s “There Is No Evil” the coveted Golden Bear Award, the top prize at the festival, but also, wouldn’t you know it, Sundance favorite “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” won the Grand Jury Prize (runner-up). Rasoulof could not attend the festival, he faces a one-year prison sentence and travel ban imposed by Iran’s authoritarian government. They claim that his films were “endangering national security” and promoting “propaganda against the Islamic government....

Davis’ fellow trades-man, THR’s Scott Feinberg, also neglects The Daniels from his top 5. What’s going on here? Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans) is definitely in. That’s honestly the only lock I can think of right now. Maybe Todd Field (TÁR) as well. Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) is there as #3, even though he was memorably snubbed in 2017 for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri.” With “Babylon” polarizing industry attendees, and Damien Chazelle definitely not in contention anymore, Spielberg might very well win his third Oscar for his most personal film....

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux is out there promoting his new book, “Judoka,” which has nothing to do with cinema and everything to do about his time learning Judo, but in an interview with French publication, Liberation, Fremaux points out a few interesting possible outcomes for the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. The event recently had its mid-May date moved to July and it seems as though the head honcho of the biggest and most important film festival in the world isn’t opposed to moving the event into the fall....

A new synopsis has also arrived: Petzold is the acclaimed director behind “Phoenix,” “Transit” and “Barbara.” I don’t think he’s ever done Cannes before, at least not to my knowledge. He’s very much a Berlinale name and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if “The Red Sky” world premieres at that festival next February. Contribute Hire me Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy

We don’t know much about “Tenet,” this latest trailer doesn’t really give away any new tidbits, but, from what we can gather, the plot seems to involve international spy rings, time travel, evolution, World War 3 and Russians. What we do know for certain about the film is that it is one of the most expensive productions ever. A reported budget of nearly $250 million was dished out on the film, which was shot in seven different countries....

I recently spotted a French poster of Gavras’ film with a David Fincher rave quoted smack-dab on it. I was intrigued. Where did this come from. A producer of “Athena” was gracious enough to send me a blurb that Fincher wrote for the film’s marketing team after he caught the film on Netflix: “Sprawling and propulsive. Romain’s gifts for staging and excavation of character are on remorseless display. He makes mind-numbingly complex coordination seem ordinary, spoiling his audience as we bear witness to this painful story’s unspooling....

After directing the Oscar-winning hit “The Usual Suspects,” Singer became a hot commodity in Hollywood. However, only a year after winning the statuette, in 1997, a 14-year-old extra accused the director of asking him and other minors to film a shower scene naked for “Apt Pupil.” The suit was dismissed for insufficient evidence.“Since then, rumors have been swirling in Hollywood about Singer, but not many of the supposedly rumored victims have come forward....

Of course, despite almost certainly getting nominated for Best Picture, Golden Globe-winner “Bohemian Rhapsody” did not nab a DGA nod because, well, they just can’t honor Bryan Singer, unless they want a social media meltdown to happen. Consider me shocked that Yorgos Lanthimos’ incredibly delectable work in “The Favourite,” wasn’t nominated; Other snubs include Barry Jenkins for “If Beale Street Could Talk,”and Ryan Coogler’s direction in “Black Panther.” The 17,000 DGA directors eligibile to vote for the nominees, and award-winners, tend to parallel the eventual Oscar winner – since 1948, only seven DGA winners have not gone on to win the Best Director Oscar....

This is good news for Chazelle’s film. If he had NY and L.A. critics firmly against “Babylon” then the film would be DOA comes its December release date. Alas. the likes of Eric Kohn, Bilge Ebiri, Jordan Hoffman, Tomris Laffly, and David Sims have proclaimed their support for “Babylon” online. There are still plenty of people that vehemently disliked the film, but that is to be expected for such a lengthy (3+ hours) and deranged movie....

The genre festival has finally announced its full lineup, over 130 titles from around the world will be screened. I’ve check-marked a few key films for myself: ‘Ring’ filmmaker Hideo Nakata‘s ‘Ringu’ sequel “Sadako,” Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (V/H/S) and Tyler Gillett’s (DEVIL’S DUE) “Ready or Not,” and, most excitingly for me, the Cannes-premiered “Vivarium,” starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots and “The Cop, the Gangster and the Devil” Other films which have been noted for review on my part include Malik Bader’s “Killerman,” Matthew Pope’s “Blood on Her, Phillipines’ “Mystery of the Night,” David Marmor’s “1BR,” Abner Pastoll’s “A Good Woman is Hard to Find,” Shaun Piccinino’s “American Fighter,” Emile Hirsch-starring TIFF midnight movie “Freaks,” SXSW hits “Bliss,” “Daniel Isn’t Real,” “Extra Ordinary,” and “Come to Daddy,” Sundance premieres “Paradise Hills” and “Little Monsters” Belin’s “The Miracle of the Saragasso Sea,” Also, there are restoration for Brian De Palma’s “Phantom of Paradise,” John Waters’ “Polyester,” “First Blood” and “Cheech and Chong Part Two” Contribute Hire me...

The Dead Don’t Die, by Jim Jamusch (USA)Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, by Quentin Tarantino (USA)A Hidden Life, by Terrence Malick (USA/GERMANY)Frankie, by Ira Sachs (USA/FRANCE)Portrait of a Lady on Fire, by Celine Sciamma (FRANCE)Oh Mercy, Arnaud Desplechin (FRANCE)Proxima, Alice Winocour (FRANCE)Matthias & Maxime, by Xavier Dolan (CANADA)Traitor, by Marco Bellocchio (ITALY)Ahmed, by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (BELGIUM)Pain & Glory, by Pedro Almodovar (SPAIN)Sorry We Missed You, by Ken Loach (UNITED KINGDOM)Little Joe, by Jessica Hausner (AUSTRIA/GERMANY/UNITED KINGDOM)Beanpole, by Kantemir Balagov (RUSSIA)Nighthawk, by Kleber Mendonça Filho (BRAZIL)It Must Be Heaven, by Elia Suleiman (PALESTINE)Parasite, by Bong Joon-Ho (SOUTH KOREA)Maguindanao by Brillante Mendoza (PHILIPPINES)Manor House by Cristi Puiu (ROMANIA) Contribute Hire me...

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Regardless, It all seems to be water under the bridge as Schrader has found a way to cast Isaac in another movie. The play stars as William Tell in Schrader’s upcoming “The Card Counter.” We now have our “first look” at the film, courtesy of Isaac’s character, a compulsive gambler, and former soldier (via Deadline). The official synopsis for the “The Card Counter”: A longtime contact and friend for Schrader’s sent me a message in Early March raving about the new project....

The photos released (see below) evoke that classic Anderson feel, with clear as day “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” vibes. Not only do the photos allow us to see some of the all-star cast (some classic Anderson players) in action, including Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Adrian Brody, Timothée Chalamet, and Lea Seydoux, but it does also appear to highlight the possibility that the story will take place across multiple time periods....

Directed by Eastwood himself, the film, starring Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm and Olivia Wilde, is based on the true story of Richard Jewell, a security guard during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games who discovered a bomb and tried to evacuate the grounds before it would detonate. However, as the police started investigating the drama they realized that Jewell could be a suspect and, in fact, responsible for entire the bomb hoax....

The combination of Clooney and Netflix’s huge financial muscle should have resulted in this being one of the grander and more ambitiously succesful projects of the year, alas, don’t count on it. “Midnight Sky” is almost certainly another death nail in the directorial career of Clooney, who’s seen the last 3 movies he’s directed (Suburbicon, Leatherheads, Monuments Men) failed both critically and commercially. This is all rather disappointing, considering the actor’s first three films a a director were absolutely wonderful (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Good Night and Good Luck, The Ides of March)....

Gold Derby’s latest pooled Oscar predictions, from its leading 40-odd “experts,” has “The Whale,” for the first time, falling out of the top 10. “The Woman King” has replaced it at the #10 spot. Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” (#8) will have its review embargo lifted on Friday and that means it’ll probably fall a spot or two due to the impending, and inevitable, mixed reviews it will be receiving. Today’s reviews for “Avatar: The Way of Water” surprised many who expected far more glowing plaudits being dished out towards James Cameron’s epic....

Wait until you catch Del Toro’s dark version of this children’s tale. The craftsmanship is top-notch and visually inventive. Some of the sequences are absolutely mesmerizing in the way they portray these darkly black themes. I could have gone without some of the musical stuff, but a review will be coming .. Netflix has an FYC ad up and running for Del Toro’s Pinocchio. They don’t even mention the Animated Feature category....

It’s no secret that movie theaters are struggling. While many of us prefer the magic of the silver screen, the majority disagree. Cinema attendance has been decimated by streaming, while many have been deterred by the ever-increasing prices of movie tickets and concessions, which have largely outstripped inflation by a wide margin. As a result, some of the most beloved movie theaters in America could soon close their doors forever, while many already have....

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