“Sr.”, a documentary about the late filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., follows him in the final years of his life and is a loving tribute. Chances are likely that you’re more familiar with Robert Downey Jr. than his father. Maybe you’re familiar with the filmmaker’s half-brother, Jim Downey, from his work on SNL. In any event, Robert Downey Sr. was making his mark on the American counterculture through his comedy movies in the 1960s and 1970s.…
"“Sr.”: An Irreverent Portrait of Robert Downey Sr."Tag: New York Film Festival
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Noah Baumbach takes a break from original works in adapting White Noise for the screen. For the first time in his filmmaker career, Baumbach wasn’t sure what he would film after the release of Marriage Story. As we all know, most of the world went into lockdown shortly after the Academy Awards ceremony in early 2020. During this time, Baumbach decided to revisit Don DeLillo’s novel and it spoke to him in…
"White Noise: This Satire Is Relevant As Ever"
Till is not an easy film to watch but this country still has a horrible problem with racism some 65 years after Emmett Till’s murder. The best way to go into this film is to know that you’re going to leave the theater feeling upset. You’re going to leave the theater with feelings of anger and the question of why is it ever okay to kill anyone, let alone an all-white jury just let the…
"Till is Devastating But Essential Viewing"
French Exit, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges, follows a broke socialite and her son in the new film from Azazel Jacobs. Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer) had plans “to die before the money ran out.” Alas, this was not to be. Insolvent and widowed at the start of the film, the Manhattan socialite decides to move to Paris. The mere premise has all the makes of a comedy but instead, it’s a drama. Frances could…
"New York FF 2020: French Exit"
Orson Welles and Dennis Hopper have a wide-ranging conversation on the set of The Other Side of the Wind in Hopper/Welles. Years after his passing, Orson Welles still manages to surprise us. A few years ago, we were treated to what very well could be his final released film. This year, cinephiles are treated to the premiere of a documented conversation between the Citizen Kane filmmaker and the Easy Rider filmmaker in 1970. It’s certainly…
"New York FF 2020: Hopper/Welles"
Chloé Zhao is a rising star behind the camera and the filmmaker continues to amaze us with her third feature film, Nomadland. In a perfect world, we would be privileged to watch two films directed by Zhao this year. The other one being a film from Marvel Studios called Eternals. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? In any event, Zhao delivers a very different film than The Rider. However, this one feels bleaker in nature. No…
"New York FF 2020: Nomadland"
MLK/FBI becomes the first feature-length documentary to really examine the FBI’s surveillance and harassment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Freedom of Information Act can be a wonderful tool when used. In this instance, we’re allowed to see declassified files that show how longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover targeted the likes of Dr. King. These files were declassified in 2017-2018 so it’s a quick production on that part. That Hoover targeted King certainly…
"New York FF 2020: MLK/FBI"
The late Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s 100th birthday is celebrated with a new documentary, Searching for Ingmar Bergman. In honor of what would be the Oscar nominee’s centennial birthday, director Margarethe von Trotta speaks with family members, Bergman’s actors, and Swedish filmmakers on the rise. In doing so, we get a better idea of who Bergman was as a person and why he made the films he did. What von Trotta seeks to examine are those…
"NYFF 2018: Searching for Ingmar Bergman"