Cannes: After Lucia (Despues de Lucia)

I still can’t quite catch my breath. It is the ultimate nightmare of a parent – even of a 2 year old – to think they will be victims, victimizers, or perhaps worse, silent witnesses to the abuse of others when standing up for honor is only dangerous as a social abstraction.

“The Hunt” Hits The Bullseye At Cannes

Thomas Vinterberg made what is still my favorite of the Dogma 95 movies, The Celebration. The film combined 50s style kitchen sink drama with a modern tone of brutal, brutal honesty. The Hunt is not quite as shocking a film experience. In an odd way, the two films are connected at child abuse. In the…

Cannes iPhone Review: Rust & Bone

Yeah… you’ve seen this logline before. In fact, the awards season looks to be clogged with some of this. But you have never seen it done through Jacques Audiard’s pitiless, demanding, unrelenting eyes. The pair at the center of this journey are an impulsive muscle-head with no money with a 5-year-old he’s taken from his…

SIFF 2012 Review: Eden

Much as I admired director Megan Griffiths’ last feature, The Off Hours, when I heard her next project was a film based on a real story about a young girl abducted into the sex trade, who survives by cooperating and allying herself with her captors, I wasn’t convinced that was the best project for the…

SIFF 2012 Dispatch: Opening Gala, Tibetan Protesters … and Oh Yes, Some Films

The Seattle International Film Festival kicked off last week, with a schedule that looks to be maybe the best overall I’ve seen for this fest — which is saying quite a lot. One of the recurrent themes of this year’s fest is the Washington state film initiative, which the film community here united en masse…

SIFF 2012: SIFF Visitors Guide to Coffee, Eats and Happy Hours

If you’re coming Seattle for a few days for the Seattle International Film Festival, whether as a filmmaker, or press, or just to enjoy the outstanding programming our fest offers, you need to know where to get the best food, the best coffee, and the best happy hours, right? Seattle’s got a wide variety of…

SNL Recap – Helen Mirren and Foo Fighters

If you’ve ever seen an interview with Helen Mirren, then you’d know that in addition to being a world-class actress, she also has a wicked sense of humor.  She has the twin traits of being both regal enough to play Queen Elizabeth II (The Queen) and versatile enough to play the proprietor of a Nevada…

Come Back, Warren Beatty!

So I just finished reading Peter Biskind’s biography about Warren Beatty, “Star,” and I found it as enjoyable as all of Biskind’s other books about Hollywood.  He has a knack for finding people that are willing to speak their minds about subjects that are usually taboo and off-limits according to the modern-day PR machine.  Even…

SNL Recap – Elton John

I mean, we all know that Elton John is a world-class singer/pianist and he’s crafted some of the greatest songs of all-time, but I’m curious to see if he’ll be able to entertain us when he’s not singing on SNL.  My guess is that there will probably be a lot of skits revolving around John…

“PRADA Presents A THERAPY” by Roman Polanski 3’31″

Clipping ON THE ROAD: Kirsten Dances; Kristen Drives

Lurhmann’s Eckleburg

[Click twice.] And his “Zeigfeld.”