Tag: italy
Locarno 2023 Review: THE BEAUTIFUL SUMMER (LA BELLA ESTATE) Captures Sexual Awakening and Self-Discovery in Pre-War Italy
Yile Yara Vianello and Deva Cassel star in a coming-of-age story, directed by Laura Luchetti.
Cannes 2023 Review: KIDNAPPED, Vatican Scandal Grippingly Dramatized
Director Marco Bellocchio tells a historical drama about a boy forcibly taken from his Jewish family and raised as a Catholic.
FREAKS VS. THE REICH Review: A Magnificent Dark Fantasy
Gabriele Mainetti ('They Call Me Jeeg') directed the historical fantasy, starring Franz Rogowski, Pietro Castellitto, and Claudio Santamaria.
THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS Review: Of Men and Friendship
Felix van Gronigen and Charlotte Vandermeersch directed; Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi star in an an affecting epic tale of male friendship that is quite rare to see in films these days.
Panic Fest 2023 Review: TENEBRA, Exciting Entry in the "Don't Go in That House" Subgenre
Elisa del Genio and Stefan Natic star in a horror film from Italy, directed by Anto, that keeps viewers on their toes and delivers an effective emotional punch.
Review: EO, Immersive, Biting Allegory
Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, this is not a fairy tale. Unlike some cute Disney family movie starring a talking donkey, it will break your heart.
Friday One Sheet: LAMBORGHINI
I am not much of a car guy, but even I spotted that on the poster for Lamborghini, there is a Ferrari. An inside joke. The legendary designer and entrepreneur (and wine maker) Ferruccio Lamborghini owned a lot of Ferrari's...
Review: THE TALE OF KING CRAB, Delicious Cinematic Derring-Do
Gabriele Silli's recurring craggy face and his smooth, clear voice guides us through the most unlikely places in an odd sort of Western adventure, directed by Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis.
Friday One Sheet: CALCINCULO
Here is a lovely, hand-drawn festival poster that captures that exact moment on a swing where you simply let go and enjoy the gravity of the situation. The key art is for an Italian-Switzerland co-production, Calcinculo, where I have the feeling...
Review: FRANCE Finds Faith in a Celeb News Personality
Léa Seydoux stars in director Bruno Dumont's new film, opening in theaters and virtual cinemas.
Locarno 2021 Review: ZEROS AND ONES, Abel Ferrara Destroys Vatican, Spy Thrillers in Perplexing Pandemic Film
Ethan Hawke stars in Abel Ferrara's puzzling punk spy thriller.
Review: SIBERIA, Willem Dafoe on an Abel Ferrara Roller Coaster
Willem Dafoe, Dounia Sichov and Simon McBurney star in a European horror fantasy, directed by Abel Ferrara.
Criterion in September: THROW DOWN, Melvin Van Peebles, LOVE & BASKETBALL
When it comes to Johnnie To, I am spoiled, yet also ignorant, which is why the Criterion Collection's announcement that the Hong Kong filmmaker's Throw Down (2004) will be heading for release on the label in September 2021 delighted me...
Friday One Sheet: BLESSED VIRGIN [BENEDETTA]
The new French poster for Paul Vehoeven's latest Cannes bowing film, Benedetta (aka Blessed Virgin), is all about tactility: The stitching on the hem of the habit, the ivory cloth, the texture of the skin around the eyes and face....
Review: NOTTURNO Examines the Legacy of Colonialism in the Middle East
Gianfranco Rosi, the documentarian behind such astonishing work as Sacro GRA and Fire at Sea, returns with a biting and enormously affecting documentary on people living on the periphery of modern Middle-East conflicts. Culling from footage shot in Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon...
New York 2020 Review: NOTTURNO, Legacy of Colonialism in the Middle East
Directed by Gianfranco Rosi ('Sacro GRA,' 'Fire at Sea'), the documentary is biting and enormously affecting.
Febiofest Prague 2020 Review: THE LAMB, Italian Family Drama in Contaminated Sardinia
Director Mario Piredda's feature debut stars Nora Stassi, Luciano Curreli, and Piero Marcialis and is as capricious and unchained as a teenage spirit, but with a political message.
Friday One Sheet: I PREDATORI
I am not so mature as to pass by an opportunity to feature a poster where a beautiful woman offers a pair of 'one finger salutes' to the viewer. If there was a movie poster about how everyone (and especially...
SHORTCUT Trailer: A Bus, A Mysterious Creature, 5 Kids
All you need to make a horror thriller is a bus, five kids, and a mysterious creature, according to a new trailer for Shortcut. The title resonates for horror fans, since we all know that taking a shortcut is a...
Blu-ray Review: Cult Epics Gets Brassy With P.O. BOX TINTO BRASS / ISTINTOBRASS
A new, limited dual edition of Tinto Brass titles examines the erotica auteur's methods and legacy.
