La Biennale di Venezia
This is going to sound a bit like inside baseball, but it’s not every day you see a major studio releasing anime. Within the Sony Pictures corporate structure, Crunchyroll handles such titles by default. Otherwise, they’d go to niche labels such as Destination Films or Sony Pictures Classics. Tangentially, homegrown Sony Pictures Animation productions lately have been dumped on Netflix, including surprise hit “KPop Demon Hunters.” The first (and hopefully not last) anime feature to carry the Columbia Pictures banner proper is “Scarlet” by Mamoru Hosoda, director of the Oscar-nominated “Mirai.”
It makes sense that “Scarlet” merits special treatment and a coveted awards season slot, though, considering its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival among many Oscar hopefuls. It possesses the epic bravado and artistry that exemplify prestige pictures. The voice cast features such luminaries as Koji Yakusho, and it’s a relief the studio has the good sense to not to dub it in English, at least for now. Its credits even boast Danish academics serving as historical and cultural consultants. It’s some serious stuff we’re talking about here.
Continue reading “Enter the Void” »
Alex Majoli
In the Hand of Dante (2025)
“In the Hand of Dante” emerges as the most controversial selection at Venice International Film Festival. In and of itself, it is not the least bit offensive, but thousands of Palestine supporters took to the streets on Aug. 30 in Lido, the island where all festivities are based. It’s no surprise that 1,500 industry types petitioned to ban the film’s Israeli star, Gal Gadot. Though she has ultimately skipped the world premiere, “In the Hand of Dante” is still catching heat in the press due to director-cowriter Julian Schnabel’s defense of his star.
Continue reading “Literary Gem” »
Stefania Rosini
Though premiering out of competition at Venice International Film Festival, Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire” is a contender to be the breakout among this year’s official selections. Based on the true story of perhaps the Luigi Mangione of his time, the film is very much reflective of the national mood at the moment – unlike Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest.”
Continue reading “Two Wrongs Can Make a Right” »
Netflix
A House of Dynamite (2025)
Kathryn Bigelow’s latest, Venice International Film Festival competition entry “A House of Dynamite,” is, for the most part, one of those end-of-days Armageddon movies, except it never actually culminates in special effects-laden spectacles of total obliteration. The film does not follow the Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich blockbuster tradition. Instead, it focuses solely on those behind the scenes trying to respond and stave off the impending destruction.
Continue reading “Nuclear Options” »
A24
The Smashing Machine (2025)
On the heels of their breakout, “Uncut Gems,” the Safdie brothers are headed for a breakup. Both have solo stuff coming out this awards season via A24. First up is Venice International Film Festival competition title “The Smashing Machine,” written and directed by Benny Safdie, the younger sibling who has been in the public eye a lot more thanks to his side job acting in films like “Licorice Pizza” and “Oppenheimer.”
The new film is a biopic on early mixed martial arts star Mark Kerr, who was also the subject of John Hyams’s 2002 HBO documentary, “The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.” Aside from the shared title, there’s quite a bit of overlap in terms of narrative.
Continue reading “Hit Where It Hurts” »
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” »