Like all current cinema events, the 2020 iteration of the Bentonville Film Festival is taking place almost exclusively online. Next week, the festival started by Oscar-winner Geena Davis will take place in Northwest Arkansas as pure usual, but with on-the-ground screenings taking place at a local drive-in—with nearly everything else going virtual. Panel discussions, celebrity guests and a great ... more >
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Screen Comment interviews WENDY GUERRERO, Bentonville Film Festival president of programming
Five years' young this year, Bentonville Film Festival adapts to the pandemic while hewing close to its principle of inclusiveness and diversity
CANNES FESTIVAL – A very tarantinesque UPON UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD came and went (Best Acting Prize to Leonardo DiCaprio, please!)
This film is competing for the Palme D'Or
This year, there was a before- and an after-Tarantino Cannes Festival. Quentin Tarantino's new film “Once upon a time in Hollywood” was the marker. And it was also the most anticipated film of the 2019 festival. What a party! There is no other American auteur who can command the kinds of huge crowds like the ones seen yesterday in Cannes, when he and the cast walked the red carpet. The Croisette ... more >
NEBRASKA: We had more to say about it
Available in Blu-ray / DVD / Digital HD
Starring Bruce Dern, June Squibb and Will Forte
(this is Screen Comment's second review of "Nebraska") American indie cinema also has its giants. Just like his compadres Wes Anderson and Jason Reitman Alexander Payne has, after directing only a few movies, spearheaded this other cinema in which America, and its history, fill the whole screen. As it were, in “Nebraska” America is hiding in plain sight. Not the one where superheroes save humanity ... more >
NEBRASKA
Today's his lucky day
Bruce Dern and Will Forte
Directed by Alexander Payne
In “Nebraska” Omaha-born director Alexander Payne is right back where he belongs. His last film, “The Descendants,” (REVIEW) aimed to capture the secret turmoil of seemingly-zen Hawaiians—misery in paradise—but it registered more like picture-perfect George Clooney sulking through a picture-perfect vacation. Even at its most poignant, the tropical setting made the pathos feel forced. Here, the ... more >
NEBRASKA-ON-CANNES
Road tripping in the heartland
Bruce Dern, Will Forte and Stacy Keach
Directed by Alexander Payne
Alexander Payne's new film "Nebraska," a melancholy road movie shot in black and white with some hilarious moments, is a worthy contender for a Grand Prix or a Jury prize. And yet, to say that I was less than enthusiastic going to the 8:30 screening of this film is an understatement: I wasn't a fan of "The Descendants" and a black and white movie, well, it's a risky proposition for any ... more >