AwardsWatch

Telluride Dispatch #2: Parties Galore, ‘Bugonia’ and ‘Jay Kelly’

Mark Johnson August 31, 2025

Yesterday was an easygoing two-film day, bookended by parties. I kicked things off at the Focus Features event, where Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal dropped... Read More

‘Landmarks’ Review: Lucrecia Martel’s First Foray into Nonfiction is an Indignant Look at Injustice in Argentina [B] Venice

Adam Solomons August 31, 2025

The acclaimed filmmaker goes close to home with the story of an indigenous landowner killed by developers – and their subsequent, often kafkaesque trial At... Read More

‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’ Review: Jude Law’s Whiny Putin is Rare Highlight of Olivier Assayas’s Messy, Bloated Russia Drama [C+] Venice

Adam Solomons August 31, 2025

The French director adapts an award-winning French novel about a fictional adviser to Vladimir Putin – to underwhelming results Most of what’s good in The... Read More

Telluride Dispatch #1: ‘La Grazia,’ ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ ‘Ballad of a Small Player’

Mark Johnson August 30, 2025

The 52nd Telluride Film Festival began yesterday, August 29, and my ninth journey to this cinematic mecca started with a drive that felt like plunging... Read More

‘The Secret Agent’ Review: Kleber Mendonça Filho Returns with a Timely Tale of Brazilian Corruption and Persecution [A-] Telluride

J Don Birnam August 30, 2025

One year after over-performing at the Oscars with the sleeper hit I’m Still Here, Brazil is poised to potentially do it again with another film... Read More

‘No Other Choice’ Review: Park Chan-wook’s Jet Black Comedy Reminds Us Why He’s One of the Best in the Game [B+] Venice

Adam Solomons August 29, 2025

The first sign of violence in No Other Choice comes when our protagonist, paper factory manager You Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) explains the difference between losing... Read More

‘After the Hunt’ Review: Despite a Stellar Julia Roberts, Luca Guadagnino’s Latest is a #MeToo Misfire [C-] Venice

Roberto Ruggio August 29, 2025

A lot has changed since 2017, when the first accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced. One after one, the women who were sexually harassed... Read More

‘Hijra’ Review: Shahad Ameen Crafts a Moving Story of Self-Empowerment and Discovery [A-] Venice

Mina Takla August 29, 2025

In her second outing as a feature-length filmmaker, Saudi Arabian director Shahad Ameen goes bolder and deeper with Hijra, a quietly devastating film that is... Read More

‘Bugonia’ Review: Jesse Plemons Gives a Masterful Performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Plea for Eco-Empathy [A-] Venice

Mina Takla August 28, 2025

Yorgos Lanthimos is back at the Lido with one of his most fascinating, multi-layered and daring films. In Bugonia, the subversive filmmaker manages to tackle... Read More

‘Ghost Elephants’ Review: Werner Herzog Adds Characteristic Existential Poignancy to Entertaining Nature Doc [B] Venice

Adam Solomons August 28, 2025

Werner Herzog’s irreverent stoicism, which seems to get an ounce cheekier every year, does some heavy lifting in a documentary which might otherwise border on... Read More

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