The 68th Venice Film Festival was a pandemonium of pushy, autograph-hounding journalists, hapless stargazers and underage fashionistas talking their way into exclusive parties. Walking along the beach, as the late-summer sun beat down on the Lido, it was easy to forget that this festival was about movies of differing shapes and sizes, where big Hollywood productions vied with quirky indies and ... more >
FESTIVALS | VENICE
Alexandre Sokurov’s Faust in Venice
Sokurov, Alfredson and McQueen
The surprise winner of the 68th Venice Film Festival was Russian master Alexander Sokurov’s hallucinogenic take on the Goethe’s “Faust” (pictured). But before the International Jury, chaired by Darren Aronofsky and featuring David Byrne, Todd Haynes and André Téchiné handed out their statues, much award buzz was being devoted to Steve McQueen’s “Shame” and Tomas Alfredson’s ... more >
VENICE MOSTRA – Chicken with plums
A disappointing second film by the Persepolis directing team
Marjane Satrapi’s “Poulet aux Prunes” (“Chicken with Plums”) is the French-Iranian filmmaker’s live-action adaptation of her namesake graphic novel. Co-directing once more with Vincent Paronnaud, who also worked on the 2007 film adaptation of “Persepolis,” Satrapi creates a fairly-tale 1950s Tehran as the backdrop for the story of Nasser Ali, a violinist (Satrapi’s uncle, or so ... more >
VENICE MOSTRA – “A dangerous method”
Reporting from the 68th Mostra
Costume dramas and fairy tales set the tone for the opening days of the 68th Venice Film Festival. David Cronenberg’s hotly awaited “A Dangerous Method,” details the collaboration and rivalry between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud and set on the eve of World War One. “A Dangerous Method” arrived on day three of the festival and has been one of the stronger entries in the 22-film-strong ... more >
Venice Film Festival
A look at this year's Mostra
Let's have a look at the amazing line-up for this year's Biennale. I took a friend and his girlfriend to lunch today and we were talking about the strange timing of these various major film festivals. Cannes is in a bit of a strange month because May is a strange month for films to be released. Basically, if the year overall has been stuffed to the gills with good movies then Cannes will have a ... more >
Marisa in Venice
Who loves Marisa Tomei? We do.
The beautiful Marisa Tomei will be starring opposite George Clooney and Ryan Gosling in "Ides of March," which will premiere at the next Venice Mostra. ... more >
Clooney gears up for Mostra
Lock away your drip-coffee machines
Venice is gearing up for its 68th Mostra, scheduled to run from August 31 to September 10 and opening with George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” in competition. The film, based on the play “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon, is the timely story of a U.S. governor, the democrat Mike Morris, running for president. George Clooney plays the candidate. Along for the ride are Ryan ... more >
