Academy Award winning filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has a divisive range of films that include an Oscar-nominated performance from Penelope Cruz in “Volver”, to airplane orgies in “I’m So Excited“. His latest “Pain and Glory” premiered at Cannes earlier this year to rave reviews and awards buzz, especially for frequent collaborator Antonio Banderas. Almodóvar turns the […]
Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang was one of the more impressive foreign film nominees last Oscar season. But Mustang wasn’t the film she really wanted to make. It was her 2011 screenplay that evolved into Kings, a story that focuses on one non-traditional family’s struggle during the 1991 LA riots. Landing two big stars (both former
The quality of the films is really the nail in the coffin. Spending so much time and effort just to sit through a movie called Small Town Crime, then another Small Crimes that are nearly the same concept makes you wonder if Janet Pierson head of film selections at SXSW needs to let someone else
Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín is having quite a year. His first English language film Jackie is garnering lots of awards attention, while Neruda is Chilies’ official entry to the foreign language category at the Academy Awards. Both redefine what a biopic is, but the two couldn’t be more different presentations. If Jackie is Larraín’s version
In his first film since nearly nabbing best picture for Boyhood. Austin, Texas landmark Richard Linklater returns with unofficial sequel to Dazed & Confused. If Dazed & Confused was Linklater’s representation of guys trying to get laid in the 1970’s, Everybody Wants Some is that notion for the 80’s. Boyhood raised the bar a bit
Driving from the island to Dallas isn’t a fun drive – in fact, it’s the longest trip this film critic makes in the car. Last year was my first time attending The Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF), which originated in 2006. “It is our mission to encourage this universal art form by bringing to Dallas
Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale (a real life couple), previously seen at SXSW promoting Spy, have now appeared in four films together. In Adult Beginners, co-written by Nick Kroll, the laughs are much more honest and natural unlike the ridiculous antics in the Melissa McCarthy film. We follow a 30 something wealthy businessman who loses
It’s that time again when Hollywood descends on Texas via South By Southwest, which is now one of the largest and most attended film festivals in the world. As we prepare for coverage, I thought I would run down the ten most exciting events happening in Austin this spring break week. This year will bring
