MALICK’S NEW FILM BOOED BY AUDIENCE, PRAISED BY CRITICS

Film critics and cineastes in general adore Terence Malick. General audiences, not so much. That was clear last year when his The Tree of Life was awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a best picture Oscar but earned only $13 million at the box office. (To be fair, […]

RUSSIAN DIRECTOR WINS TOP PRIZE AT VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

Russian director Alexsander Sokurov’s Faust, described by one critic as “a high-art dark comedy” but by Sokurov himself as “too serious,” took the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion award for best film, while the best actor award went to Michael Fassbender for his performance in Steve McQueen’s NC-17-rated Shame and the best actress award went […]

WUTHERING HEIGHTS WITH BLACK HEATHCLIFF PREMIERES IN VENICE

A new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights has premiered at the Venice Film Festival, with two black actors playing the role of Heathcliff, the role originally made famous by Laurence Olivier in the 1939 version of the novel. Solomon Glave plays him as a boy and James Howson, as a young man. Writer-director Andrea […]

CLOONEY’S IDES OF MARCH OPENS VENICE FESTIVAL

George Clooney continues to garner much praise for his efforts as a film director. His The Ides of March (he also co-wrote and co-stars in it), presented as the opening film at the Venice Film Festival Wednesday night, was praised by the Hollywood Reporter’s Deborah Young for its “tense pacing and a superb cast, led […]

TAIWAN TO VENICE: WE’RE NOT PART OF CHINA

Officials in Taiwan are up in arms over the decision of the Venice Film Festival to designate the originating country of Wei Te-Sheng’s epic feature Seediq Bale as “China and Taiwan.” Taiwan was the final refuge of the Chinese Nationalist government after being routed by the Communists (“People’s Republic”) in 1949. Although the mainland government […]

CLOONEY FILM TO OPEN VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

George Clooney’s political thriller The Ides of March has been selected to open the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 31, organizers said today (Thursday). Clooney directed the film and stars in it with Ryan Gosling. Some 22 films will be presented in competition, including Roman Polanski’s Carnage, starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and […]

IRAN SENTENCES TOP FILMMAKER TO PRISON

In a surprisingly iron-fisted action, Iran has sentenced one of its most honored filmmakers to six years in prison and banned him from making films for the next 20 years. Jafar Panahi was convicted of colluding with opponents of Iran’s leadership and making propaganda undermining the government. He was also barred from traveling abroad or […]

SOFIA COPPOLA’S SOMEWHERE WINS TOP PRIZE AT VENICE FILM FEST

Somewhere, Sofia Coppola’s take on Hollywood celebrity, won the top Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival today (Saturday). The film stars Stephen Dorff as a Hollywood star, whose aimless, dissolute life is lifted when his 12-year-old daughter, played by Elle Fanning, comes to visit. The film received decidedly mixed reviews after its screening […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: BLACK SWAN

Several critics have given Darren Aranofsky’s Black Swan the same sort of ecstatic praise that they bestowed on his The Wrestler two years ago. The film opened the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday (to a standing ovation), where The Wrestler won the coveted Golden Lion award when it premiered there in 2008. “Every film festival […]

IRANIAN FILMMAKER BARRED FROM LEAVING COUNTRY

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was jailed for “anti-regime” activities prior to this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where he was to have served as one of the jurors, has been forbidden to leave Iran to attend the Venice Film Festival. His absence was conspicuous as his film The Accordion, opened the short film section on […]

Next Page »