Andrea Pirrello
MOVIE REVIEW
La grazia (2025)
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
MOVIE REVIEW
A Little Prayer (2025)
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.
Focus Features
MOVIE REVIEW
Honey Don’t! (2025)
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.
A24
MOVIE REVIEW
Highest 2 Lowest (2025)
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.
Tribeca Festival
MOVIE REVIEW
Nobu (2025)
“Nobu,” Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary on celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa, credits the autobiography “Nobu: A Memoir” as its source material, but for the most part the film looks like a corporate video for the namesake luxury hospitality empire that boasts a portfolio of some 57 restaurants and 21 hotels around the world. The use of A.I. for dialogue enhancement, as indicated by end credits, does not help blunt the corporate video charges.
The documentary’s New York premiere at the Tribeca Festival feels like a foregone conclusion, given Robert De Niro’s involvement in both organizations. Besides, he apparently has a lot more to say on the topic of Nobu, of which he is a founding partner, than he did during the “Rendez-vous With . . . Robert De Niro” at Cannes and “ ‘Casino’ 30th Anniversary Screening With Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese” at Tribeca combined.
Universal Pictures
MOVIE REVIEW
How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
Since Disney is resolved to mine and recycle all its animated I.P. into live action, DreamWorks is also joining in on the act – or at least that’s the logical conclusion that redditors on the r/DreamWorks sub are already drawing. The studio is so gung ho about the odds for the “How to Train Your Dragon” live-action remake that a sequel is already in the pipeline for 2027.
A24
MOVIE REVIEW
Materialists (2025)
Spoiler alert: Celine Song always chooses the white dude.
In “Materialists,” the follow-up to her much-lauded debut, “Past Lives,” Ms. Song once again finds her heroine – this time Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a professional Millionaire Matchmaker – amid a love triangle. At her clients’ wedding reception, she spots her next most eligible bachelor, Harry Castillo (Pedro Pascal). Thing is, he is more interested in her than being her customer.
Courtesy photo
MOVIE REVIEW
Sentimental Value (2025)
Joachim Trier’s Cannes competition title “Sentimental Value” often feels like an attempt to recapture the success of his Oscar-nominated 2021 film, “The Worst Person in the World.” Not only do we have Renate Reinsve in the lead again, he also frames her with a medium shot right in the center of the screen all the damn time. This is so pronounced that one might actually overlook some of his progression in terms of visual composition.
Festival de Cannes
MOVIE REVIEW
It Was Just an Accident (2025)
By the time its Cannes Film Festival world premiere was over, it was clear Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” had emerged as the frontrunner for Palme d’or four days before the closing ceremony. Its reception distinctly set it apart from worthy competition in an overall strong slate. It’s a triumphal return of sorts, his first drama since 2010 when Iran barred him from filmmaking and traveling for two decades. Though Mr. Panahi continued to work in secrecy and have his projects smuggled abroad, following 2006’s “Offside” until now he only made docudramas, injecting himself into the narratives.
Mandarin & Compagnie – Kallouche Cinema – Frakas Productions – France 3 Cinema
MOVIE REVIEW
Alpha (2025)
I wasn’t a fan of “Titane,” and much of my aversion could probably be attributed to its undeserved Palme d’or win. To my pleasant surprise, Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Film Festival competition follow-up, “Alpha,” is nothing like it. The film is far more artful and mature, which just goes to show that the New French Extremity filmmaker was merely lauded prematurely. Though elements of body horror seen in “Titane” and “Raw” are still very much present, the new film better qualifies as a ghost story and a coming-of-age tale set in the Twilight Zone.