TIFF '24: "The End" of the World is a Marvelous Musical Mess

by Cláudio Alves

Ambitious mess will always be more exciting and artistically valuable than cautious mediocrity. The timid filmmaker has their place, but they'll never rise above those whose ideas reach for the sky, the heavens, the likely impossible. Or, in Joshua Oppenheimer's case, those who burrow down below, digging to the center of the Earth, mayhap to hell. For his feature debut, The End, the director of The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence goes underground, setting the scene in a not-so-distant future when the Earth has been left ravaged by climate change and other related catastrophes, virtually inhabitable, so hostile to life that those who survive must fight one another for the scant resources around…

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Everyone is boarding Ruben Östlund's madcap flight

by Cláudio Alves

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (2022) Ruben Östlund
Though the movie's but a premise in its director's imagination, The Entertainment System Is Down is shaping up to be a starry affair. Ruben Östlund's follow-up to Triangle of Sadness, his second Palme d'Or winner, has been on the news. The Swedish provocateur even did a press conference at the Croisette, joined by Keanu Reeves and Kirsten Dunst, both set to take part in the satire cum disaster movie. Other cast members include Samantha Morton, Daniel Brühl, Nicolas Braun, and Vincent Lindon.

In case you've forgotten, the French thespian presided over the Cannes Jury that decided on that Triangle of Sadness victory…

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Immaculate: How to Sell Horror 101

by Cláudio Alves

This Wednesday, April 3rd, a selection of theaters in the US will be selling tickets for Immaculate at the devilish price of $6.66. This promotion, devised by NEON in partnership with AMC, Regal, Marcus, and Harkins Theaters, is another ingenious step in the movie's pitch-perfect campaign. Horror is an easy sell, as the industry seems to re-discover every six months or so, but the Immaculate team has outdone themselves and surpassed most expectations. The Sydney Sweeney vehicle, which also counts with her as producer, has proven a word-of-mouth hit, slashing a bloody streak across the holy season that combines Easter, Ramadhan, Passover and the new Beyoncé release – thank you for the joke, Ramy Youssef…

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