Most coming-of-age stories deal in the vagaries of adolescence — that confusing time defined by dramatic confrontations with unfamiliar feeling. But Sarah Friedland’s affecting debut Familiar Touch, remixing the genre, considers the emotional valence of older adulthood. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section, follows Ruth Goldman, an inquisitive …
No male filmmaker has more consistently understood female characters and the actresses playing them than Pedro Almodóvar, a virtue that rescues the treasured director’s first English-language feature from the reams of prose-style dialogue in its establishing scenes. Adapting Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 novel What Are You Going Through, in which a terminally ill woman asks an …
Walter Salles’ 1998 international breakthrough, Central Station, earned an Oscar nomination for the magnificent Fernanda Montenegro. Now in her 90s, the actress turns up toward the end of the director’s first feature in his native Brazil in 16 years, the shattering I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui), in a role that requires her to speak …
Director Edward Berger, who made one of the best movies of 2022 with a vivid adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front, shifts gears rewardingly to a movie set almost entirely inside the Vatican. Conclave, adapted from the popular novel by Robert Harris, demonstrates Berger’s versatility and also offers one of the best roles …
Although Naomi Watts wrangles a huge Great Dane, The Friend is far from your average doggie movie. There are no slapstick scenes of the dog running away with her, and no mawkishness even though the film is about grief. This is a fresh, unsentimental yet touching story about Iris (Watts), a writer and teacher, adjusting …
Blake Lively‘s brother-in-law Bart Johnson is coming to her defense amid a wave of controversy she’s faced surrounding her film It Ends With Us. The High School Musical actor, who’s married to Blake’s older sister Robyn Lively, responded to a comment on his recent Instagram post, where he shared a birthday tribute to Blake. “Shame she’s so set …
At a time when world events are instantaneously reported on social media and news sites, arriving on your phone as they unfold, it’s an enlightening, altogether gripping experience to watch September 5, which depicts how a dedicated crew at ABC Sports managed to broadcast the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attacks live. It was no small …
Chris Pine has joined the cast of The Kidnapping of Arabella, the upcoming feature from Italian director Carolina Cavalli (Amanda). The Star Trek and Wonder Woman actor will headline the film, alongside Italian actress Benedetta Porcaroli (Netflix’s Baby). Production starts this week in northern Italy, shooting between Veneto and Emilia Romagna. The Kidnapping of Arabella …
Movie producer-turned-director Mohit Ramchandani has unveiled plans for a $1 million ticket giveaway to promote his upcoming Roadside Attractions’ release City of Dreams. With sneak previews starting Aug. 28, Ramchandani is giving away tickets to individuals and groups for free thanks to a donation from John Devaney, founder of United Capital and Manor House Films. …
Starz has landed the U.S. and Canada rights to a British revenge thriller starring Fallout’s Ella Purnell. The premium cable outlet will air Sweetpea later this year. The drama is based on a 2017 novel by C.J. Skuse and stars Purnell as a quiet young woman who develops a taste for murder. Purnell is also …