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The newly-minted South Korean New Wave actually takes some inspiration from American cinema, however, it is also unafraid to subvert and reinvent tired old Western formula. It is the most important cinematic movement to emerge in the international scene since the Romanian New Wave started blossoming almost twenty years ago. Trevor Treharne, the editor of KoreanScreen.Com, an English-language reviews and features site dedicated to Korean cinema, asked me back in February to participate in a massive poll of international film critics....

Regardless, after six months of absence, they reformed, some of the writers came back, others left for good, and they managed to even squeeze in their annual tradition of producing the most eclectic top 10 around. This year’s Cahiers list of the best films of 2020 is topped by Frederick Wiseman’s 4-hour documentary “City Hall,” two films from notorious South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo managed to crack the top 10, ditto the Safdie’s 2019 masterpiece “Uncut Gems” (which was released in France this year)....

The Josh Trank-directed movie was released on May 12th via viewer-on-demand platforms and soared to No.1 on iTunes within its first three days of release. This success story will only encourage studios more to balk at theatrical releases and just go straight to VOD platform. Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “Trolls World Tour” has made an astonishing $100M on PVOD, causing the ire of both AMC and Regal, and their next big streaming title will be Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island,” set for a June 12th release date and already garnering glowing buzz from the very few who have seen it already....

It was almost inevitable that the “Dune” sequel would happen, especially with its global total of $223 million far surpassing the $165 million budget. Legendary Pictures has officially greenlit Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune: Part Two.” “This is only the beginning…,” the company wrote on Twitter, announcing the film. “Thank you to those who have experienced @dunemovie so far, and those who are going in the days and weeks ahead. We’re excited to continue the journey!...

“Elvis” is not the train wreck many will have you believe. Baz Luhrmann’s biopic is a flashy, and does make you feel pummelled by the end of its 159 minute runtime, but it’s not unworthy. Luhrmann loves to push the senses with his ADD-infused editing techniques, if you’ve seen “Moulin Rouge” then you know what I’m talking about. He’s basically resorted to directing movies that play like music videos. That’s what “Elvis” is....

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With that being said, a screening for Academy members occurred this past weekend and the film played like gangbusters with the voters in attendance. Matt Neglia reported: Fact of the matter is that I don’t think the film will be winning any Oscars, but you can bet it’ll be nominated in a bunch of categories. I don’t have any confidence in it winning Best Picture, it’s not Academy fodder, pure and simple....

From what I’ve gathered, based on the two people I’ve spoken to, ‘Gucci’ very much aims for a serious tone, there is no fun in the film, it doesn’t go for campiness whatsoever, the camp we see in the trailer is purely unintentional. Figures, since this is a fairly serious true story about greed, vengeance and murder. A critic told me Jared Leto stole the show from the rest of the cast (“he seems to be the only actor who is self-aware of the camp”) and that Gaga is quite good, but the film is a mess filled with EXCESS....

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If “Baby Driver,” Edgar Wright’s kinetic, bullet-riddled live-action jukebox stunt, saw the director riffing on the cinema of Walter Hill and Michael Mann in his own inimitable key, then “Last Night in Soho” has the British director tipping his proverbial cap to Dario Argento and the Giallo genre. Thomasin McKenzie plays an aspiring fashion designer who, through her dreams, mysteriously enters swinging 60’s London where she encounters aspiring singer Sandy (Anya Taylor-joy), but all is not as it appears....

Greenwood has been composing his iconic brand of violin-tinged scores for nearly two decades. He’s collaborated with PTA on four films, scoring 2007’s “There Will Be Blood”, 2012’s “The Master”, 2014’s “Inherent Vice”, and 2018’s “Phantom Thread” — the latter for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Greenwood has been very busy of late, composing the scores for two of the festival season’s most praised films: Jane Campion’s “Power of the Dog,” and Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer....

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Chloe Zhao‘s “Nomadland,” which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, is a moody third film from the Chinese-American filmmaker, after her triumphant 2018 indie, “The Rider.” Much like her previous efforts, this is Zhao’s 21st-century depiction of Americana angst, mixing non-fiction and fiction filmmaking in Malickian fashion. A painterly film, Joshua James Richard‘s magic-hour cinematography is absolutely stunning, “Nomadland” stars Frances McDormand as Fern, a widowed nomad with no interest in settling down, who constantly evolves from community to community in her rundown RV....

With that being said, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” just surpassed “Avengers: Infinity War” as, domestically, the fifth highest-grossing film of all-time. If it makes makes over $22 million this weekend, it’ll squeeze its way past “Black Panther” at the #4 spot. This is unprecedented stuff. Star Wars — Episode VII: The Force Awakens $963 million2) Avengers: Endgame $858 million3) Avatar $760 million4) Black Panther $700 million 5) Spider-Man: No Way Home $678 million Contribute Hire me Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy

Spidey took in another $20 million domestically on Wednesday, which makes its total receipts close to $536 million. It passed “Rogue One” ($532M) and “The Dark Knight” ($533M) and it is now the 12th highest grossing film of all-time in the U.S. Regardless, for this film to be released during very anxious times for many in the country and to be as successful as it actually had been means that moviegoing still has a pulse and is still a relevant part of our culture....

I can count in less than two hands the amount of times I’ve been shocked or repulsed at the movies and/or covered my eyes in genuine disgust: “The Human Centipede 2,” “Irreversible,” “A Serbian Film,” “Pink Flamingos,” and Hostel Part II” come to mind. The 140 minute sequel “Terrifier 2” is making a killing with horror fans. The slasher sequel cracked the domestic top 10 at the weekend box-office, it has already earned more than four times its 500k budget, according to Yahoo....

The person, speaking under anonymity, added that, although a tentative summer date has already been chosen as a second option, the March date is still being kept … for now. It’s no surprise then to read Variety’s short interview with Warner CEO Jason Kilar who also admits that they are monitoring the Omicron situation very closely. From what I gathered, a major Omicron storm is about to hit the US in mid-January, which is when the peak of cases is set to happen....

Oscar Isaac, as always, nails the role of William Tell, a Vegas gambler and former serviceman who sets out to reform Cirk (Tye Sheridan), a young man he’s just met seeking revenge on a mutual enemy of their past. Much like most of Bresson’s lead characters, Tell is a simple man with a wounded psyche seeking redemption. He just wants to play cards, but eventually gets in over his head with his own set of moral dilemmas....

However, what the film really seems to be about is the parallels between our modern political moment and how any outsiders are cast aside by the political establishment. You have to wait until the very end to get an image of a digitally de-aged De Niro but that’s not even the most striking thing about this trailer. DP Rodrigo Prieto’s lenses, the top-notch acting, Scorsese’s direction … I’ll be in New York on September 29th when “The Irishman” has its world premiere at the New York Film Festival....

“The Whale” finished shooting last July. The last film Aronofsky directed was the polarizing “Mother!” back in 2017. His rumored return to small-scale filmmaking, with “The Whale,” would mean, hopefully, something along the lines of “Black Swan,” “Requiem For A Dream,” The Wrestler,” and his 1998 debut film “Pi.” “The Whale” stars Brendan Fraser as a 600-hundred-pound recluse hiding away from the world and slowly eating himself to death. Talk about an insane concept....