ACADEMY AWARDS

Venice: 'Something in the Air' and 'Fill the Void'

Posted by Guy Lodge · 1:50 am · September 4th, 2012

Moving away from the American contingent of this year’s Venice lineup with reviews of French and Israeli competition entries.

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Off the Carpet: Telluride wraps, Toronto approaches

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:43 am · September 3rd, 2012

The season is here. “Argo” has sounded the starting gun in the mountains of Telluride while “The Master” has made a strong case on the Lido of Venice. Where will we go from here?

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Wrapping up the 39th annual Telluride Film Festival

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:23 am · September 3rd, 2012

Things are pretty much wrapping up at the 39th annual. Monday is generally a great time for catch-up, as the schedule is filled in with repeat showings. Unfortunately, I tend to leave on Monday afternoon each year, so I don’t get to use the day productively. But nine-and-a-half movies over the three-day spread is good enough for me. (I won’t knock the movie I walked out of. I’ll come back to it at some point, as it’s generated interesting split reactions.)

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A Telluride time-out with Ron Fricke's 'Baraka'

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:11 pm · September 2nd, 2012

I’ve recognized over the last few years that sometime Sunday afternoon at the Telluride fest, I find myself yearning for a break, something different, something I don’t feel compelled to write about. Of course, I’ll often find myself wanting to write about it anyway, but the lack of obligation going in is the real gift. Last year is was the presentation of a restored version of Georges Méliès’s “A Trip to the Moon.” This year it was a 70mm presentation of Ron Fricke’s “Baraka.”

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Review: All the world really is a stage in adventurous, aloof 'Anna Karenina'

Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:20 pm · September 2nd, 2012

The design is dazzling, but the passion muted, in a creative adaptation of the Tolstoy tome.

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On Adam Driver and Michael Shannon, 'Frances Ha' and 'The Iceman'

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:44 am · September 2nd, 2012

Charisma on two levels in Telluride.

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Review: 'To the Wonder' is Terrence Malick's typically enchanted Tree of Love

Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:16 am · September 2nd, 2012

Heartfelt song to personal and spiritual intimacy proves predictably divisive at Venice press screening.

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Provocative and revealing 'Gatekeepers' argues futility of an eye for an eye

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:54 pm · September 1st, 2012

Fewer movies are going to be as important and provocative at this year’s Telluride Film Festival than Dror Moreh’s “The Gatekeepers.” The documentary filmmaker was granted an extraordinary amount of access to six former heads of Shin Bet, the ultra-secretive Israeli intelligence agency, and turned out a striking, candid assessment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from those with the very power to dictate what can and cannot be divulged.

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Does WB have an Oscar thoroughbred on its hands with Ben Affleck's 'Argo?'

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:57 pm · September 1st, 2012

“Argo” is another step up for Ben Affleck, who continues to grow as a filmmaker and surprise not just formally but with his adeptness at handling ensembles as well. And that’s what “Argo” is: an organic, finely tuned ensemble where no one really stands out from the pack. And that’s not a bad thing, particularly for a film that is very much about the efforts of the many.

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'Dark Knight Rises' and 'Rust & Bone' star Marion Cotillard honored in Telluride

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:08 pm · September 1st, 2012

Actress Marion Cotillard didn’t really explode onto the domestic film stage until “La Vie en Rose,” and what a coming out it was. She managed to win an Oscar that few (ahem) saw coming and transformed that newfound respect and goodwill into a thriving Hollywood career, but it was hardly an overnight success story.

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'Central Park Five' is a crushing indictment of mob mentality and miscarried justice

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:59 am · September 1st, 2012

“I hope this film makes you angry,” filmmaker Sarah Burns said by way of introduction to this morning’s screening of “The Central Park Five.” She co-directed the film with her father, Ken Burns (a Telluride staple — as is Sarah: this is her 20th fest) and husband David McMahon. And angry is a good way to put it.

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Germany selects Berlinale winner 'Barbara' for the foreign-language Oscar race

Posted by Guy Lodge · 9:37 am · September 1st, 2012

Christian Petzold’s superb Stasi-era drama is also playing Telluride this weekend.

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Review: Seductive, elliptical 'The Master' answers to no man

Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:29 am · September 1st, 2012

Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest stimulates and mystifies in equal measure.

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Laura Linney returns to Telluride with stuffy 'Hyde Park on Hudson'

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:19 pm · August 31st, 2012

Actress Laura Linney — a part-time Telluride resident — missed the festival last year for the first time in eight years. Well, she’s back this year with the film that kept her away in 2011.

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