It's hard not to feel trepidations after our most successful film auteur has become designated to head the world's most beloved film festival. In a rare convergence of schedules, Steven Spielberg has been nominated to preside over the 66th Cannes Festival. “My admiration for the steadfast mission of the Festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none. The most prestigious of its kind, the festival has

Ann Hornaday, eat your heart out. Iran's islamic republic can fight with the best of them when it comes to voicing opinions on movies. The "Argo" win this weekend has unleashed a torrent of film criticism from the Iranian capital. Maybe we should all pay more attention to this. Or should we? Yesterday Iranian media described the handing of the Best Film Oscar to Ben Affleck for “Argo” as “politically motivated." "Argo" is based on events

I never get my prediction for Best Movie right. This year, I did. Sure, you will claim that “Argo” was a shoo-in, what with the trail of fire it’s been leaving behind it these past few months (unstoppable, that movie was, picking up multiple nods along the way), and you’re right. “Argo” is where the money’s at. Although shot in Turkey, the Ben Affleck-directed political thriller takes place in Tehran, Iran, right in the

Even Sam Neave is quick to admit that the material of “Almost in love,” his latest romantic dramedy, is shared by countless films that have come to disenchant him with their overdone depictions of the afflictions of yuppiehood. And yet, ten years later Neave returns to the universe of urban sophisticates his debut “Cry Funny Happy” depicted in 2003 intent on exploring the depths of the everyday. Working with a cast comprised mostly of friends–

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All told, no other conflict has been committed to film more than the Israelo-Palestinian one. This glut of images in a way characterizes "5 broken cameras," a documentaries-within-the-documentary produced over a period of five years by a Palestinian amateur which may yet earn the best nod a filmmaker could hope for, this weekend. The son of a peasant, a gardener and farmer, Emad Burnat lives in the village of Bil'in in the West Bank.

The work of Quentin Tarantino could be said to fall into categories: firearms and explosion/fire. That’s what this new infographic (see below) created by Vanity Fair seems to tell us, anyway, in its surveying the number of dead and the cause of death throughout Tarantino's opus. According to this graphic there are relatively few deaths in his first three feature films and people are killed with firearms. “Kill Bill” comes packed with a higher