John Waters Designs NYFF Poster

by Nathaniel R

With TIFF disinviting 2/3rds of their regular press attendees (including yours truly 🤬 ) and a much smaller roster of film, and with Telluride cancelled altogether, NYFF is staking its claim to be the coolest North American film festival.

We've already seen their solidly interesting lineup and NYFF doubled down on their coolest film festival intention today by releasing their official poster designed by that icon of trash cinema, John Waters. 

See the full brilliant poster and John Waters quote about it after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Alan Parker (1944-2020)

by Nathaniel R

Alan Parker and Madonna on the set of "Evita"

We were remiss Friday in sharing the news that we've lost another fine talent. The director Alan Parker who brought us gangster comedies, oddball indies, multiple musicals, and prestige literary adaptations has died at 76 years of age of an undisclosed lengthy illness. His 14 films netted a combined 27 Oscar nominations and 6 wins, and he himself received two Best Director nominations (1978's Midnight Express and 1988's Mississippi Burning).

Parker burst onto the scene as a scrappy young British director with 1976's playful gangster musical spoof Bugsy Malone and its all kid cast (Scott Baio and Jodie Foster headlined)...

Click to read more ...

Directing Actors to Oscar Nominations ~ Updated Stats!

by Ben Miller

Power couple Noah and Greta moving up the "Directed Actors to Oscar Nominations" charts

The Oscars are so stat heavy, it’s difficult to keep up with the information. Especially since each season there's yet more of it. One of the stats that gets perpetually lost in the noise is the complex area  of 'acting nominations by director'. If you’ve read my previous piece last year, I am somewhat of an expert in this field, and this year’s set of nominees and winners provides some interesting stats.

First Timers

With nominations for Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Laura Dern, Noah Baumbach does what Guillermo Del Toro did with Shape of Water and Martin McDonagh did with Three Billboards, going from zero to three acting nominations from his filmography in one year.  A few directors have gone from zero to four, including but not limited to...

Click to read more ...

Why Pedro Almodovar will be nominated at the Oscars

by Murtada Elfadl

Pedro Almodovar will be nominated for best director at the Oscars. Currently Bong Joon Ho, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino lead the pack. Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, Sam Mendes, Todd Phillips and Taika Waititi are fighting for the 4th spot. The 5th is booked for Almodovar. He might not appear on any director shortlist before January 13th, but his name will be called on the day when it most matters. There are 3 reasons why he’ll be nominated...

Click to read more ...

Looking back at 2019 Filmmaker Interviews

by Murtada Elfadl

2019 gave me the chance to speak to a few filmmakers about their films, their process, what they think their art contributes to the world. These filmmakers came from all over the world, and the breadth of their experiences and the topics they tackled is astounding. As the year comes to an end and we look back at the moments that stood out, here are some of the most fascinating insights I heard.

Recently The Farewell was not allowed to compete in the main film categories at the Golden Globes, and accepted only as a “foreign” film when its story is quintessentially American. After all the United States is a country of immigrants. Some people’s insistance on calling The Farewell foreign when it's so American just indicates that they don't think anyone whose 1st language isn't English is American enough despite their contributions to this country. When I talked to Lulu Wang during the summer, I asked her if she thinks her film being not entirely in English might limit its appeal...

Click to read more ...