Final Cut (Coupez!) – Cannes 2022

Final Cut might remake a hit Japanese film but it is another love letter to filmmaking for Oscar-winning filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius. When you look at his filmography over the years, The Artist continues to stand out. We know the filmmaker more so for his spy parodies over the years. But especially, the Oscar-winning film. What we have here is a remake of One Cut of the Dead. If you haven’t seen that film, there will…

"Final Cut (Coupez!) – Cannes 2022"

Babi Yar. Context – Cannes 2021

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Babi Yar tragedy and Babi Yar. Context uses archival footage to remind people what happened. The following order was directed to the Jews living in Kyiv and its surrounding areas on September 26, 1941: All Yids of the city of Kiev and its vicinity must appear on Monday, September 29, by 8 o’clock in the morning at the corner of Mel’nikova and Dokterivskaya streets (near the Viis’kove…

"Babi Yar. Context – Cannes 2021"

Olga – International Critics’ Week 2021

Olga is about a teenage gymnast training for the European championship in hope of making the Olympics but her heart is elsewhere. The key to making a sports movie is balancing the sports side of things with the drama or comedy. In this film’s instance, it’s balancing with drama and at times, action. Elie Grappe–with co-writer Raphaëlle Desplechin–has a good grasp of the story he wants to tell from Olga’s (Anastasia Budiashkina) point-of-view. It’s one…

"Olga – International Critics’ Week 2021"

A Radiant Girl – International Critics’ Week 2021

A Radiant Girl (Une jeune fille qui va bien) takes place in occupied France during 1942 but the film takes a unique approach to the Shoah. There are so many stories about the Shoah. When it comes to young women, Anne Frank’s story is a big one. But for Jews living in France, The Journal of Hélène Berr is also of prominence. This book is also listed in the credits and regrettably, this week is…

"A Radiant Girl – International Critics’ Week 2021"

Zach Woods talks David, Improv, and More

Zach Woods spoke with Solzy at the Movies last week about his new short film, David, which was the only US short film selected for Cannes. David marks Zach Woods’s directorial debut and stars Will Ferrell, William Jackson Harper, and Fred Hechinger. The film recently screened during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. It was just announced to screen during the upcoming Chicago International Film Festival. Your directorial debut, David, started screening during Toronto after…

"Zach Woods talks David, Improv, and More"

Girl: Cisgender Male wins award for Transgender Role at Cannes

Girl, since acquired by Netflix, has taken home not one but two awards at Cannes.  It’s frustrating to see this film take home any award.  The practice of Transface–casting cisgender people in transgender roles–is a practice that seriously needs to come to an end.  It’s no different than the casting of white people and making them up to appear as people of color.  If you wouldn’t cast someone in Blackface, don’t bother casting in Transface! …

"Girl: Cisgender Male wins award for Transgender Role at Cannes"

Produced By Conference: Netflix’s Ted Sarandos on the Cannes Film Debate

During a panel with Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos at the Produced By Conference, presented by the Producers Guild of America, Sarandos opened up on the Cannes debate. The firestorm that happened recently during the Cannes Film Festival won’t go away but it’s led to publicity for the Netflix films that were screened: Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories. “I am not anti-theater,” Sarandos said during the panel, according to THR. “I’m very much against…

"Produced By Conference: Netflix’s Ted Sarandos on the Cannes Film Debate"

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wants Theatrical Windows to be A Thing of The Past

With Netflix starting to pursue original movies and documentaries, could theatrical windows soon be a thing of the past?  This was the big discussion that took place during the Cannes Film Festival in May given a few Netflix films being exhibited. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made some interesting comments during Cannes about how there will come a time when the theatrical window won’t even be a thing any more.  Both Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories…

"Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wants Theatrical Windows to be A Thing of The Past"