Yannis Drakoulidi/Amazon MGM Studios
T.W.: sexual assault
Luca Guadagnino’s latest, premiering at the Venice International Film Festival, is “After the Hunt.” It often recalls Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn,” as each film takes place at an elite institution, where power and privilege prompt people to cross the line in their jostling for position. Instead of following a ruthless attempt at ladder climbing, “After the Hunt” scrutinizes the dynamic between faculty and students; adjunct professors yield tremendous influence in classrooms, yet their own positions on campus are tenuous without tenure.
Continue reading “A Subject Lesson” »
Netflix
Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,” has inspired nearly 20 films, among them a few sequels and even a parody from Mel Brooks. Interestingly, the vast majority of them are modernized reimaginings. Up to this point, the most serious attempt at a straight adaption has been Kenneth Branagh’s 1994 “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” a misguided disappointment on all accounts thanks to the director’s runaway ego.
Continue reading “Death Wish” »
La Biennale di Venezia
If the premise of Park Chan-wook’s Venice International Film Festival entry, “No Other Choice,” sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it is based on Donald E. Westlake’s “The Ax,” which was previously adapted as “Le couperet” two decades ago by Costa-Gavras, to whom the new film is dedicated. I vaguely recall pitching Film Comment to review the Costa-Gavras iteration, but the magazine’s then-editor deemed him no longer relevant. “Le couperet,” which has yet to receive distribution of any kind in the States, is finally getting its long overdue flowers in 2025 thanks to Mr. Park.
Continue reading “Cutthroat Competition” »
Netflix
Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” premiering at the Venice International Film Festival, must be inspired, at least in part, by Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2.” If so, it’s appropriate that it stars the Marcello Mastroianni of our time, George Clooney, in the titular role. Though the protagonist here isn’t a filmmaker but a movie star.
Continue reading “Misleading Man” »
Focus Features
Yorgos Lanthimos is at his most accessible when directing someone else’s script. Such is the case with his Venice International Film Festival entry, the Jang Joon-hwan-written, Will Tracy-adapted “Bugonia.” Fortunately, there is just enough peculiarity, violence and blood that it’s unmistakable as being of his oeuvre.
Continue reading “Alien Nation” »
Andrea Pirrello
Paolo Sorrentino’s latest and this year’s Venice International Film Festival opener, “La grazia,” is the antithesis of “Il divo” and “Loro,” his previous features centering on political leaders, despite it also starring his go-to leading man, Toni Servillo, who played Giulio Andreotti and Silvio Berlusconi, respectively, in the previous films.
Continue reading “Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears a Crown” »
Music Box Films
With its premiere at Sundance Film Festival in 2023, Angus MacLachlan’s “A Little Prayer” immediately landed distribution with Sony Pictures Classics. It made sense, considering the company’s previous success with “Junebug,” which Mr. MacLachlan also scripted. It’s now finally seeing the light of day two and a half years later courtesy of Music Box Films. The press releases are careful to avoid the term “shelved,” but the fact of the matter is Sony Classics did keep the title on its website and extranet for the longest time – which also makes sense if you saw it at Sundance in 2023.
Continue reading “When Them Cotton Balls Get Rotten” »
Focus Features
I don’t know what’s with writing and domestic partners Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s weird obsession with lesbians, especially ones that look like Margaret Qualley. Following “Drive-Away Dolls,” they return with “Honey Don’t!,” yet another very blah entry in their supposed sapphic noir trilogy.
Continue reading “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” »
A24
This is Spike Lee’s second stab at remaking an Asian masterpiece. The first, 2013’s “Oldboy,” based on Park Chan-wook’s 2003 Cannes Grand Prix winner, was faithful down to replicating the iconic single-shot corridor fight scene. But it wasn’t well received at all. The result wasn’t as dark or as sickly funny as the original. Perhaps Josh Brolin should have chowed down on a live octopus for good measure.
Continue reading “Success Not Guaranteed” »
Bobby Bukowski
“Gonzo Girl” is thinly-veiled autobiography, based on a “novel” by a young writer who briefly found herself working for someone so clearly based on gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson the names didn’t really need to be changed. What is gonzo journalism, which Thompson invented and irritating generations of following journalists have imitated? Well, it’s 1. making yourself part of the story; 2. focusing on the seedier side of whatever you’re there to report upon; 3. actively participant in said seedier side, probably by doing buckets of drugs; 4. thereby rejecting your talent as a writer-journalist to focus on your talent for exploring life’s seedier side. This is not what anyone would have predicted Patricia Arquette would choose as the subject for her directorial debut, though she does competent, lively work. Yet despite the high-powered cast and a steady tour of the festival circuit culminating in this year’s Tribeca, it hasn’t been picked up for wider distribution. That’s because while there’s nothing really wrong with “Gonzo Girl,” unfortunately there’s nothing really right with it, either.
Continue reading “Hell’s Angel” »