Tag: Cannes

It Was Just An Accident (2025) | REVIEW

Vahid (played by Vahid Mobasseri) takes a break and a smoke while he contemplates what to do with a man he thinks was the one who ruined his life in IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT — PHOTO: NEON (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Jafar Panahi — Screenplay by Jafar Panahi.

For some, making art with something to say is a vocation that means risking your life if you decide to pursue it. Such is the case for renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Panahi, a veteran of the art form, has had a career that has seen him come into direct conflict with the Iranian government, which has, over the years, censored, detained, imprisoned, and punished him for making films that criticize the people in charge of the country, the politics of said government, and the effects of the system in place on Iranians. A former political prisoner who has been banned from making films in his home country, Panahi has frequently been supported by organizations, politicians, and filmmakers from all over the world, and he consistently tries to find loopholes to get around the extreme difficulty of being a filmmaker in a country that has no interest in seeing him make films. To make his Palme d’Or-winning and Oscar-nominated film It Was Just An Accident, he had to film in secret without a permit and be inventive with where and when to film so as not to be approached, arrested, or worse by authorities. As the accolades won by him attest, Panahi succeeded in making something worthwhile. I finally saw it earlier today, and I thought it was a fantastic film (and important text) made even more impressive by the difficulties he and his crew had to overcome to make it.

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Making Sense of the New Oscars Rules | Special Features

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced what changes are being made for the upcoming 99th Academy Awards in a lengthy news update and press release. These are significant rule changes in certain categories that, in one case, frankly, needed an update. There are also more technical adjustments to be found in the press release, as well as an attempt to rule out the influence of artificial intelligence on what is considered award-worthy. Do note that while a Best Stunt Design category has previously been announced, this new category will not be a part of the Oscars until the 100th ceremony in 2028; these rule changes do not take into account said category. So, today, I’m going to go through the most significant changes and answer whether these award rule changes make sense, so that you can better understand their reasoning for changing things and be better prepared for the upcoming 99th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 14th, 2027.

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Anora (2024) | REVIEW

Mikey Madison as the title character in Sean Baker’s ANORA — PHOTO: Neon (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Sean Baker — Screenplay by Sean Baker.

When Sean Baker walked up to the stage to accept the Palme d’Or prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, he stood next to George Lucas, who had just received an honorary award. There the legendary creator of Star Wars, essentially the blockbuster film that changed the direction of American cinema for the next many decades, stood next to perhaps the most well-known American independent filmmaker who was enjoying the biggest moment of his career with his latest film, Anora. Arguably, no two filmmakers could better symbolize the vast breadth of American filmmaking, and here Baker was becoming the first American competitive Palme d’Or winning director in more than a decade (since Malick in 2011). Frankly, for Baker, Anora marks arguably his feature with the most public appeal. 

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The Substance (2024) | REVIEW

Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkles in Coralie Fargeat’s THE SUBSTANCE — PHOTO: Mubi / Camera Film (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Coralie Fargeat — Screenplay by Coralie Fargeat.

For whatever reason, there is a recent trend in French cinema where rising female filmmakers are gravitating towards horror filmmaking to tell stories with plenty to say. Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Julia Ducournau is the best example of this, as her critically acclaimed oeuvre — consisting of Raw and Titane — is filled with sensationally good and attention-grabbing body horror films that in the case of Titane is so out there and distinctive that you can’t describe it without getting strange looks from the person you’re talking to about it. French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat — whose first film was the revenge thriller appropriately titled Revenge from 2017 — is following in her footsteps. Her sophomore effort was, similarly to Ducournau’s Titane, warmly received at the Cannes Film Festival. While Ducournau won the main award, Fargeat’s evocative and expressive body horror film The Substance earned her the festival’s prize for Best Screenplay. Like Raw and Titane when they were released, The Substance, which reportedly received a standing ovation at upwards of 9 minutes at its world premiere, is an excellent piece of genre filmmaking that is sure to be remembered as one of the best and most memorable films of the year.

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REVIEW: Decision to Leave (2022)

Tang Wei as Seo-rae in Park Chan-wook’s DECISION TO LEAVE — PHOTO: CJ Entertainment.

Directed by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy; Joint Security Area) — Screenplay by Park Chan-wook and Chung Seo-kyung (Lady Vengeance).

Since the release of Park Chan-wook’s 2016 period piece masterpiece The Handmaiden, longtime fans of his have had to wait quite a while until his next feature film. Since then he has co-written Lee Kyoung-mi’s The Truth Beneath, worked on short films with his brother, produced the Daveed Diggs-led series adaptation of Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer, and directed the underseen but quite strong limited series adaptation of John le Carré’s The Little Drummer Girl. Six years is a long time to wait for a new film from such a gifted auteur. Now that I’ve finally had the chance to see his latest film, Decision to Leave, it brings me great joy to state that it was worth the wait. Decision to Leave, which earned Park Chan-wook the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival, is one of his best films. 

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REVIEW: The House That Jack Built (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster (Director) — TrustNordisk / Zentropa / IFC Films

The following is a review of The House That Jack Built — Directed by Lars Von Trier.

I have in a previous review described Lars Von Trier, the controversial Danish auteur, as a ‘true auteur mad man,’ and I’ve thought of him as the devil on Danish director Jørgen Leth’s shoulder guiding his every move in the fascinating documentary The Five Obstructions. He has been accused of sexual harassment, some people think he is a misogynist, and he has made a fool of himself by joking about his own identity, Naziism, and Israel. I’m not sure he cares whether or not you like him, and I’m sure he’d say that he’s perfectly happy knowing that his films divide audiences.
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Should Netflix Films Be Eligible for the Oscars? – Special Features #21

I have reviewed many Netflix films, and I really enjoy doing that. These are films that are, in most cases, released at the same time for everyone everywhere. That is genuinely a good consumer-friendly distributing system. Sure, some of these films are godawful, but sometimes among the ‘Netflix films of the week’ something truly special appears on the streaming service.

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