Happy Halloween with Hercule Poirot

by Cláudio Alves

I don't know about you, but after the double whammy of Belfast and Death on the Nile, I was ready to give up on Kenneth Branagh as a director. Yet, like Michael Corleone famously said: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

Turns out that what Branagh and, more specifically, his Agatha Christie adaptations needed was a healthy shot of nonsense plus the spooky seasonings of horror. A Haunting in Venice, now streaming on Hulu, succeeds by untethering itself from literary fidelity, twisting Christie's Hallowe'en Party out of shape in pursuit of maximum entertainment. Though a sense of melancholy pervades, self-serious prestige is abandoned, or mayhap sacrificed at a witches' altar. And from its deadened carcass, Hercule Poirot emerges as the center of a ghostly storm, the skeptic anchor keeping this Hammer Horror resurgence from floating away on the Lido tide…

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EFA Nominations: 'Close', 'Holy Spider', and 'Triangle of Sadness' rule

by Nathaniel R

The 35th Annual European Film Awards have announced their nominations (drawn from the previous longlist announced in the summer). Two International Feature Film Oscar contenders Close (Belgium) and Holy Spider (Denmark) lead the nominations alongside Ruben Östlund's English-language satire Triangle of Sadness.  Each received four nominations. Full nominations list and commentary follows (NOW UPDATED WITH WINNERS MARKED BY STARS)...

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What's next for this season's Oscar-celebrated directors?

Tis the post-season to wonder about next season... and the seasons after that. While Will Packer, ABC, and the Academy continue to try to dull our love for Oscars, they could never dull our love for the movies themselves. So let's look at what this year's most celebrated filmmakers are up to next. We'll take them in alpha order...

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
PTA, who turns 52 this June, has 11 nominations to his name but no Oscar yet since he just lost his Licorice Pizza directing and writing bids. Generally he takes quite a long time between films though he tends to stay busy inbetwen directing music videos (the latest is Haim's "Lost Track"), fatherhood  since he and Maya Rudolph have four children between the ages of 10 and 17 (one assumes that keeps them busy) and, we hope, tinkering on script ideas. So who knows!?

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Interview: Sir Kenneth Branagh on "Belfast"

by Nathaniel R

Kenneth Branagh on the festival circuit early in the season (Middleburg Film Festival to be exact). Photo by Shannon Finney

I had the opportunity to sit down with Sir Kenneth Branagh at the Middleburg Film Festival way back in October and saved that conversation, not quite intentionally, until now. Consider it a last minute gift to you all as near the end of Oscar season. Belfast is up for seven Oscars, three of which are for Branagh himself (Original Screenplay, Director, Picture) but when we spoke he was at the beginning of this awards journey. The famous actor/director was a delight in person, unconcerned with the clock, and very conversational, interested in talking about the movies in general and not just his own!  Outside of this official interview we discussed the movies we'd seen at the festival and he even asked for my take on a film that was getting harsh press at the time. He is an avid moviegoer in real life, which is a good personality trait you must agree.  Naturally we had to talk about the big moviegoing scene in Belfast.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity]

NATHANIEL: One of the intriguing things you've said is that you wouldn't have done Belfast without the blessing of your siblings. But what if they'd said no? Would you have really tossed your script? 

KENNETH BRANAGH: It would have gone in the bottom drawer, yes. Over the years there's a few in there like that...

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Oscar Volley: Can anyone beat Jane Campion? Or, rather, who is in second place?

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's Mark Brinkerhoff and Timothy Lyons to discuss Best Director

MARK BRINKERHOFF: There's only a few days left of Oscar voting. So, in the spirit of balloting, let’s settle something when in comes to one of this year’s presumably more predictable categories: Best Director. And the 2021 nominees are...

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