John Michael McDonagh’s “The Forgiven” walks the ever-fine line between artful examination and utter monotony. Adapting Lawrence Osborne’s novel, McDonagh’s film takes place over one weekend in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco and skewers the privilege of the wealthy and white. David (Ralph Fiennes) and Jo (Jessica Chastain) are traveling to a party taking place in the Moroccan desert. Late, ... more >
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Are we there yet? “THE FORGIVEN” | MOVIE REVIEW
The inconveniences of getting lost in the Moroccan desert on your way to a party
Jessica Chastain, Ralph Fiennes, Abbey Lee and Ismail Abou-El-Kanater
Directed by John Michael McDonagh
CANNES FESTIVAL: James Gray’s return to his childhood with “ARMAGEDDON TIME”
A story about growing up in the eighties
Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Anthony Hopkins
Directed by James Gray
CANNES, France -- There were problems with booking seats to the screening of James Gray's latest film, "Armageddon Time," this caused frustration. Finally, I managed to snag a ticket to join my group. Gray doesn't come to the Cannes Festival often. Fascinated by marginal characters left to fend for themselves, like Joaquin Phoenix's Leonard Kraditor of "Two Lovers," Gray casts a spotlight on ... more >
“Woman walks ahead” | Ahead of history: a conversation with Susanna White
A film from the Tribeca 2018 program
Interview with Susanna White
The film “Woman Walks Ahead” opens this weekend but I was fortunate enough to see it at the Tribeca Festival. It is an honor to finally review it and therefore close out my festival coverage by indeed saving the best for last. Like many films this year it was directed by a woman and judging by the response of the audiences, it’s proof that female directors are certainly on an even playing field ... more >
CANNES FESTIVAL, Will Smith and Jessica Chastain on jury
Read our coverage during the festival May 17-27.
Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, Maren Ade, Fan Binbing, Park Chan-Wook, Paolo Sorrentino and Gabriel Yared (a French-Lebanese composer known for writing the score for "The English Patient") have just been announced as this year’s jurors at the 2017 Cannes Festival, celebrating seventy years this year. These brave men and women will help jury president Pedro Almodóvar in choosing a winner among this ... more >
CANNES FESTIVAL OPENING, the star-studded red carpet
The beautiful actresses of this year's festival, up close
It would be hard to imagine the Cannes Festival without its coterie of stars, from Paris to Hollywood and points in between (but mostly from those two places). Yesterday's premiere of “Cafe Society” included castmembers Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart, as well as members of this year’s competition jury. ... more >
Crimson Peak
Jessica Chastain has pushed the dark to the limit
Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
"Ghosts are real. That much I know." So begins Guillermo del Toro’s spellbinding dark fairy tale, CRIMSON PEAK. Set in the late 1900s it follows aspiring fiction writer Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) as she falls for, and marries, a penniless, seductively handsome English Baronet, Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). Along with his older sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain), Thomas brings Edith back ... more >
A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
Elevating the crime genre to new heights
Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain
Directed by J.C. Chandor
“A most violent year” isn’t so much about graphic violence as it is about a more invisible form of it. More specifically “Year” is a character study, a character study of the violence inflicted upon the integrity of a man who’s faced with the kinds of pressures that tempt him to abandon his principles. It is New York, 1981. Fuel supplier Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) is about to close a real ... more >