Telluride dedicates The Werner Herzog Theater with a gorgeous presentation of 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God'

Posted by · 11:21 pm · August 29th, 2013

In 1975, filmmaker Werner Herzog had films such as “The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser,” “Even Dwarfs Started Small” and “Signs of Life” under his belt. Tom Luddy went to his fellow Telluride Film Festival co-founders Bill and Stella Pence with the idea to honor him with one of the festival’s tributes at the second annual edition. And so the stage was set for a long-lasting relationship.

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Alfonso Cuarón, Jason Reitman, the Coens and more set for 40th annual Telluride Film Festival

Posted by · 6:00 am · August 28th, 2013

The Coen brothers, T Bone Burnett and Robert Redford are among those to be feted at the 40th annual Telluride Film Festival, which will feature the world premieres of Jason Reitman’s “Labor Day” and Ralph Fiennes’ “The Invisible Woman.” Prestige titles from the 2013 festival circuit so far have been curated for the weekend as well, including Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska,” J.C. Chandor’s “All is Lost” and the Coens’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.”

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Spitballing possibilities for the 40th annual Telluride Film Festival

Posted by · 9:13 am · July 22nd, 2013

HitFix’s Kristopher Tapley puts a finger to the air and makes a few educated guesses on what we might see at the 2013 Telluride Film Festival.

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Previewing the 2012 Berlin Film Festival

Posted by · 1:05 pm · February 7th, 2012

The Berlinale, which kicks off on Thursday, doesn’t get as many big auteur names as its fellow European majors, Cannes and Venice, but that means it often springs surprises. Last year gave us ‘A Separation’ and ‘Pina’; we take a look at what this year’s lineup has in store.

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Interview: Wim Wenders on overcoming loss and meeting 3D in 'Pina'

Posted by · 6:48 pm · January 13th, 2012

Wim Wenders’s 3D dance documentary “Pina” was intended to be a creative collaboration with choreographer Pina Bausch, not a posthumous tribute to her — the director explains how the project grew over more than 20 years of planning.

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'Melancholia,' Dunst and Pitt among National Society of Film Critics winners

Posted by · 3:30 pm · January 7th, 2012

The National Society of Film Critics can usually be relied upon to go their own way on the precursor trail, and they did so in emphatic fashion today, naming Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” the year’s best, and star Kirsten Dunst their Best Actress.

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'Tree of Life' leads with 7 nods from Online Film Critics Society

Posted by · 9:59 am · December 26th, 2011

Today, the Online Film Critics Society has declared nominations (or maybe I missed them pre-Christmas, I don’t know). And I guess it’s only fitting that, given the group, it’s the slate most in-line with my own views of the film year so far.

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Berlinale jury includes Gyllenhaal and Farhadi, first Competition titles announced

Posted by · 3:48 am · December 23rd, 2011

With a heavyweight jury including Mike Leigh, Jake Gyllenhaal and ‘A Separation’ director Asghar Farhadi, February’s Berlin Film Festival will be hoping for a world-class Competition lineup. First on the list: Filipino provocateur Brillante Mendoza’s “Captured,” starring Isabelle Huppert.

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Academy advances 15 doc features, 'Senna,' 'Interrupters' stunningly snubbed

Posted by · 1:06 pm · November 18th, 2011

The Academy has announced its list of qualifying films for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, and there were, as usual, some head-turning snubs. Poor, poor Werner Herzog and Errol Morris.

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Oscarweb Round-up: Too much anal rape for Oscar?

Posted by · 5:10 am · November 15th, 2011

After avoiding it scrupulously for months, as is my custom, I was finally faced with the trailer for David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” when I paid good money to see “Immortals” last night. (More on that later.) Though the film looks as dourly impressive as I’d expect, any number of reasons why […]

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Oscarweb Round-up: End of an Oscar era?

Posted by · 7:04 am · November 11th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Steve Pond calls this week an “end of an era” for the Oscars, Bill Nighy discusses “Arthur Christmas” across the pond and Ricky Gervais offers Hollywood a “2 for 1” offer on hosting the Globes and the Oscars.

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'We Need To Talk About Kevin' takes gold at London fest

Posted by · 7:47 am · October 27th, 2011

On the penultimate night of the BFI London Film Festival, Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to Talk About Kevin” became the first British winner of the fest’s Best Film award. Other winners included “Las Acacias” and Werner Herzog’s “Into the Abyss.”

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Oscarweb Round-up: Star in more movies, Werner!

Posted by · 7:27 am · October 5th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Werner Herzog is cast (in a stroke of genius) to star as a baddie in a Tom Cruise vehicle, Oscarcast vets Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin and Adam Shankman come together on a new project and Fox Searchlight declares a date for Steve McQueen’s “Shame.”

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Pondering America's insistence on capital punishment as the debate rages in theaters

Posted by · 8:05 am · September 22nd, 2011

With the capital punishment debate particularly punctuated this year by the cases of the West Memphis Three and Troy Davis, it’s interesting to note the issue raging on film in movies like “Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life” and “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.” Christopher Hitchens considers why America is obsessed with sticking with the death penalty.

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