NYFF Review: Pain and Glory

by Murtada Elfadl

Salvador Mallo, the director and lead character in Pain and Glory, tells one of his actors that holding back tears in emotional scenes instead of crying makes actors better. Yet Pedro Almodóvar, who wrote and directed and based this film partially on his life, does not. He goes deep, he explores honestly and elicits a deeply emotional and cathartic reaction. 

In this thesis on his life and his work, he finds the generous space to include many of his collaborators in front and behind the camera. On screen we have Antonio Banderas as Mallo, Cecilia Roth, from All About My Mother (1999), appears as an actress from Mallo’s past who’s eager to work with him again. And most poignantly Peneope Cruz, his muse of many years and movies, plays a version of his mother...

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Link Club

• Variety RIP Piero Tosi one of the great costume designers. His film credits include Death in Venice, La Traviata, La Cage Aux Folles and The Night Porter so he's the one responsible for Charlotte Rampling at her most sexually provocative
• BuzzFeed good piece on Brad Pitt's talent and why he shines in weirder sideline roles as opposed to leads... though we object to any notion that he isn't a leading man in Once Upon a Time... but this battle is already lost since critics keep calling him supporting even before the Oscar campaign does. (sigh)

more after the jump including The Hunt, a fun conversation on Hobbs & Shaw, Tarantino and Almodóvar...

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Best LGBTQ Movies - Nathaniel's List

by Nathaniel R

At the beginning of the month we shared a collection of disparate lists from various websites on the "best LGBTQ films ever" and since that got such a good response let's return to the well for something more personal as Pride month winds down. Naturally when you make personal lists the order can be justifiably odd, even to your own eyes, so we must acknowledge first and foremost that this is by no means definitive: I haven't seen every queer movie ever made, and were the list to have been made on a different day or perhaps a different hour, it might be noticeably different, at least in ranking.

Nevertheless here's to hoping you enjoy this imperfect list of... 

Nathaniel's 125 Favourite Queer Movies

1. Cabaret (Fosse, 1972) 8 OSCAR WINS INCLUDING BEST DIRECTOR
2. Carol (Haynes, 2015)

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Cannes: Pedro's "Pain and Glory" is a hit at Cannes

by Nathaniel R

Antonio, Penelope, and Pedro together once again.

Hang this photo in the Louvre, s'il vous plaît. Loyal readers know that Pedro Almodóvar is my favourite living director so I bring you glorious news from Cannes -- Pedro's latest, Pain and Glory, starring his only real male muse Antonio Banderas and featuring his current female muse Penélope Cruz, is winning reviews that are much closer to glorious than painful. It could well be in contention for prizes with the jury...

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Would you rather?

It's our favorite Instagram pics of the week, courtesy of the celebs themselves, in reader survey form. Would you rather...

• have breakfast with Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio?
• enjoy a cocktail named after Helen Mirren with Helen Mirren?
• do Elizabeth Taylor cosplay with Gemma Chan?
• help Diane Keaton choose a hat?
• spot deals in Hollywood with Anne Hathaway?
• consider Bruce Campbell's unique face with Paddy Considine?
• give blood with Anna Kendrick?
• throw an axe with Arnold Schwarzenegger?
• hug it out with Ariana Grande & Julia Roberts?
• reminisce about your first Almodóvar movie... with two Pedros, Pascal and Almodóvar?
• hawk protein supplements with Zachary Levi? 
• wear the Tony nominations with pride on your body like Best Actress contender Caitlin Kinnunen (from The Prom)? 

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide

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