AwardsWatch

Venice Review: With ‘The Lost Daughter,’ Maggie Gyllenhaal exposes mother-daughter relations in their vile, discomforting essence [Grade: B]

Savina Petkova September 3, 2021

Leda, a middle-aged comp-lit professor, arrives at a lavish Greek island accompanied solely by her books. Played by an overwrought Olivia Colman, she frets and... Read More

Venice review: Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ is a gripping and visually arresting opener to an exciting universe [Grade: A]

Adam Solomons September 3, 2021

The two most important lines in Dune come at the very beginning and the very end. First, when Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) tells princeling son... Read More

Venice review: Kristen Stewart delivers a career-best performance in a fitting and fantastic look at an accidental revolutionary in ‘Spencer’ [Grade: A]

Adam Solomons September 3, 2021

A spiky icon and a gentle iconoclast, Diana Spencer occupies a place in the public consciousness of Britain and the rest of the world which... Read More

‘Shang-Chi’ is a step forward for Asian representation in studio films; here’s why it’s important right now

Ben Rolph September 3, 2021

Inauthenticity has always been a problem in big-budget films produced in Hollywood’s studio system. It’s a well-known fact that most Hollywood films are made by... Read More

Venice Review: ‘The Hand of God’ is Paolo Sorrentino’s sublime masterpiece [Grade: A]

Roberto Ruggio September 2, 2021

“Thank you to my sources of inspiration: Federico Fellini, Talking Heads, Martin Scorsese and Diego Armando Maradona.” When Paolo Sorrentino went on stage to accept... Read More

Venice Review: With ‘The Power of the Dog,’ Jane Campion and her cast do justice to a literary masterpiece

Roberto Ruggio September 2, 2021

“Deliver my soul from the sword. My love from the power of the dog” (Psalms, 22:20, David’s address to God to free him from his... Read More

Venice Review: ‘Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas)’ is a powerful portrayal of mothers in Almodóvar’s most political film

Roberto Ruggio September 2, 2021

No matter how hard we try to escape it, we’re all children of history. It defines the life of a country and, by consequence, that... Read More

‘Cyrano’ to open 44th Mill Valley Film Festival on October 7

Erik Anderson September 2, 2021

The Mill Valley Film Festival announced today the California Premiere of Cyrano to open the 2021 festival, Thursday, October 7. The film is having its world premiere... Read More

Venice review: The road to redemption is a long and rocky one in Paul Schrader’s ‘The Card Counter’ [Grade: A]

Savina Petkova September 2, 2021

“If not for the money, why play?” – “It passes the time,” says professional gambler William Tell (Oscar Isaac) when prompted to justify his string... Read More