Category: News

(Photograph credit: IFC Films)

Cristi Puiu out, Matt Dillon in. Filmiere.com reports that Cristi Puiu who has been confirmed to be on Venice International Jury a month ago is no longer there. Probably because of travel restrictions or some other thing. Instead, he’s just replaced by Matt Dillon. Dillon spends a lot of his time in Italy as his girlfriend is from there and he’s not a stranger to such things since a few years ago he was the head of the Rome Film Festival jury. Dillon continues his streak on being a European arthouse favorite; he recently starred in Alice Winecour’s “Proxima”, Lars Von Trier’s “House That Jack Built” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ short film “Proxima”. Occasionally appears in American films also (as in recent “Capone”). Most recently, Dillon has directed a documentary that he is currently in post-production on about Cuban soul singer El Gran Fellow.‎ The following is the definitive composition of the Venezia 77 International Jury:

Cate Blanchett – President (Australia), actress

Matt Dillon (USA), actor

Veronika Franz (Austria), director and screenwriter

Joanna Hogg (Great Britain), director and screenwriter

Nicola Lagioia (Italy), writer

Christian Petzold  (Germany), director and screenwriter

Ludivine Sagnier (France), actress

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(photograph credit: The Playlist)

Leaked set photo shows Bradley Cooper and Paul Thomas Anderson (with his mask) filming something. Anderson is one of the most beloved directors by cinephiles, so his new film is obviously very exciting news for movie fans around the world.

Paul Thomas Anderson has begun production on his next film with the working title of “Soggy Bottom”, Filmiere.com reports.

Supposed to set in the 1970s in San Fernando Valley With it being an ensemble film following multiple storylines, we still have yet to learn the casting of the main character (or any other characters in that matter)––a high school student and successful child actor but probably soon there will be more news which we’ll share as Filmiere.com.

Rumors claim one of the girls of the band HAIM has joined the cast but it’s yet to be confirmed. It’s not unlikely as PTA often shoots their music videos. Carey Mulligan recently visiting Bradley Cooper’s house is said to be for his “Bernstein” movie but who knows? Maybe it’s for this one? We’ll look forward to the news.

Being possibly the first major production in LA since the pandemic, it’s also a sign that Hollywood is back to making movies.

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(Photograph credit: The Wrap)

Pedro Pascal is in talks to join Nicolas Cage in “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” at Lionsgate, to play Cage’s superfan. It was reported last year that this “meta’ film is in production where Nicolas Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself and is going to re-create some of the iconic moments of his career.

It seems to be a tribute to his career and also a comedy around his internet popularity.  Even though the director hasn’t done anything acclaimed, the theme will be enough to bring audiences to the film. In the movie Cage plays a character who is desperate to get a role in a new Quentin Tarantino movie.

While also dealing with a strained relationship with his teenage daughter. He also occasionally talks to an egotistical 1990s version of himself who rides him for making too many crappy movies and for not being a star anymore.

Filmiere.com reports that the film will go into production in this fall and Pascal Mexican billionaire who happens to be a fan of the actor’s work and secretly hopes to show him a script on which he’s been working.

While he bonds with the man, Cage is informed by the CIA that the billionaire is actually a drug cartel kingpin who has kidnapped the daughter of a Mexican presidential nominee, and Cage is subsequently recruited by the U.S. government to get intelligence.

Credit: Mensur Zeinal

(Photograph credit: Deadline/Sarajevo Film Festival)

Bosnia’s Sarajevo Film Festival was supposed to be the first film festival to behold on a physical level after the COVID-19 breakout but at the last minute, due to rising cases in Bosnia, they had to change their mind and hold the festival online.

A jury led by Hungarian director Michel Hazanavicius and featuring director Carlo Chatrian, actress Jadranka Đokić, director Srdan Golubović, and the Morelia Film Festival’s Andrea Stavenhagen, awarded the festival’s top prize to Visar Morina’s Exile.

Best Director Award went to Ru Hasanov for “The Island” and the Best Actress went to Marija Skarcic for “Mare”, Best Actor to Vangelis Mourikis for “Digger”. Honorary Heart Awards went to Mexican director Michel Franco whose new film will be in Venice Film Festival and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen who cinephiles love for many films for decades.

Filmiere.com hopes to report your festival news that is held at the physical level but with full safety around the world soon.

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(Photograph credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Comic book fans had a good week, especially those of DC Comics since they got the new “Wonder Woman” trailer and upcoming Snyder Cut of “Justice League”. Probably the most discussed one was “The Batman”, Matt Reeves’ new adaptation and the general reception is positive.

Of course, the movie this big will always get criticism and doubts, but that’s always the case. So far, we got the in-larger look at Robert Pattinson as Batman, including his eye make-up in which some of the “Batman” films were magically disappearing when he was taking his mask off.

Then we got to see Jeffrey Wright and some others, even though Paul Dano and Zoe Kravitz were mostly in mask and fans kept discussing if it was Colin Farrell in make-up, as one character was almost unrecognizable in make-up but looks like Penguin indeed.

The film follows a more Nolan-ish semi-serious atmosphere of Gotham with noir traditions. So those who prefer Tim Burton’s style will be disappointed seemingly. Matt Reeves made it clear that it’s a detective story loyal to the origins of the comic book with the noir tradition of “Chinatown”, the street look of “Taxi Driver” and the atmosphere of cop films like “The French Connection”. Everything sounds good, so far. Filmiere.com will keep you updated.

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(Photograph credit: Warner Bros.)

As Filmiere.com recently, It’s possible “Tenet” doing a good box office business because the box office results of the recent weeks are pretty solid. The reviews won’t hurt either. Finally, the critical reception is out; there are some mixed thoughts on the quality of the movie.

The Guardian criticized it a lot and Indiewire also gave a very mixed review. While some call it as one of the lesser Nolan efforts that work like a typical espionage film with a sci-fi spin but there are strong reviews as well, like Independent UK called it one of Nolan’s most satisfying films actually.

In general, the reception is good but not great. It shouldn’t bother Nolan’s fans or his box office. While it’s unknown if it’ll turn into a classic or not in the future, Nolan fans shouldn’t be angry as it’s not the first time his movies gets a more mixed reception.

“The Prestige’ and “Interstellar” are not necessarily universally acclaimed films but they’re beloved by the public. So there won’t be much negativity that would affect “Tenet”. The next few weeks will be interesting for many reasons. Current Rotten Tomato consensus reads: “A visually dazzling puzzle for film lovers to unlock, Tenet serves up all the cerebral spectacle audiences expect from a Christopher Nolan production.”

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(photograph credit: Netflix)

 He may be 82 but British director Ridley Scott is nowhere close to stopping. There was already a project of his that turns around the Gucci brand, how the grandson of the creator of the famous company got murdered by his wife, which was supposed to be played by Lady GaGa.

It could have been just a project that stuck in development hell but Scott kept going with it and now he has a lot of big names attached to cast including Adam Driver, Jared Leto and most notably Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, two of the biggest movie stars ever reuniting for the fourth time.

Most recently they both appeared in last year’s Martin Scorsese masterpiece “The Irishman”, which brought Pacino an Oscar nom for his acting and De Niro a nom for his producing. The cast is certainly very appalling.

Filmiere.com will keep you updated with the news but we have to say that, Scott has had cases where he failed with big ensemble casts like in “The Counselor” but recently he got acclaim for his biopic “All the Money in the World”. So he can do it again.

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(Photograph credit: Universal Pictures)

It’s been so long that “Spider-Woman” was in development but seemingly now it’s one closer to happen. Filmiere.com can’t totally confirm that if it’s “Spider-Woman” or not as it’s a rumor at this point but it’s confirmed that Olivia Wilde is going to direct a Marvel movie.

Wilde rose to fame with her role in “House” and has starred in a number of successful films even though her best performances lie in less-seen arthouses like “A Vigilante” and “Meadowland”. Her directorial debut “Booksmart” was very flashy and got widespread acclaim.

While she’s preparing to work on a new film with Dakota Johnson and Chris Pine, she now has another directorial project. Not MCU though. According to initial reports, it’s supposed to set in Sony’s “Spider-Verse” universe. Now having Olivia Wilde in the director’s chair the project is also bringing aboard Booksmart writer Katie Silberman, who will be penning the script.

Wilde is a very talented individual, so it’ll be interesting to see what she has to bring to such a project.

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(Photograph credit: IFC Films)

European Film Awards are coming soon. The films have been selected by a committee consisting of the EFA Board and invited experts. In the coming weeks, the over 3,800 members of the European Film Academy will screen the selected films and, after part 2 has been announced, they’ll vote for the nominations.  So far, the first part includes:

Adults in the Room – Costa-Gavras (France/Greece)
Atlantis – Valentyn Vasyanovich (Ukraine)
Bad Tales – Damiano & Fabio D’Innocenzo (Italy/Switzerland)
Berlin Alexanderplatz – Burhan Qurbani (Germany/Netherlands)
Between Heaven and Earth – Najwa Najjar (Palestine/Luxembourg/Iceland)
Cat in the Wall – Mina Mileva & Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria/UK/France)
Charlatan – Agnieszka Holland (Czech Republic/Ireland/Poland/Slovakia)
Charter – Amanda Kernell (Sweden/Denmark/Norway)
Corpus Christi – Jan Komasa (Poland/France)
DAU. Natasha – Ilya Khrzhanovskiy & Jekaterina Oertel (Germany/Ukraine/UK/Russia)
Delete History – Benoît Delépine & Gustave Kervern (France/Belgium)
Echo – Rúnar Rúnarsson (Iceland/France)
Falling – Viggo Mortensen (UK/Canada/Denmark)
Father – Srdan Golubović (Serbia/Germany/France/Croatia/Slovenia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Final Report – István Szabó (Hungary)
Hidden Away – Giorgio Diritti (Italy)
Hope – Maria Sødahl (Norway/Sweden)
Let There Be Light – Marko Škop (Slovakia/Czech Republic)
Martin Eden – Pietro Marcello (Italy/France)
Mother – Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Spain/France)
Motherland – Tomas Vengris (Lithuania/Latvia/Greece/Germany)
My Little Sister – Stéphanie Chuat & Véronique Reymond (Switzerland)
Persian Lessons – Vadim Perelman (Russia/Germany/Belarus)
Servants – Ivan Ostrochovský (Slovakia/Romania/Czech Republic/Ireland)
The Endless Trench – Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño & Jose Mari Goenaga (Spain/France)
The Painted Bird – Václav Marhoul (Czech Republic/Ukraine/Slovakia)
The Personal History of David Copperfield – Armando Iannucci (UK/USA)
The Platform – Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (Spain)
Undine – Christian Petzold (Germany/France)
Uppercase Print – Radu Jude (Romania)
Vitalina Varela – Pedro Costa (Portugal)
Wildland – Jeanette Nordahl (Denmark)

Credit: Mensur Zeinal

(Photograph credit:Indiewire/Marion Curtis/Starpix/Shutterstock)

“Bill [Murray] and Rashida [Jones] is the father-daughter duo we never knew we needed,” says Apple on their film with A24 “On the Rocks”, directed by great Sofia Coppola. After few dry months, we finally started to get new trailers back to back, and “On the Rock” is probably the most notable trailer of the last few days since it’s coming from an acclaimed director.

It’s confirmed to be an October release, which is good but also strange since it skipped all the major festivals including Venice. Sofia is usually regular at such places. Alberto Barbera, head director of the Venice Film Festival said they wanted the film but couldn’t get it.

Filmiere.com can’t confirm the reason behind this decision by A24 but hoping it has nothing to do with the quality of the movie and Coppola yet delivered another strong work. Her last film “The Beguiled” is robbed of adapted screenplay Oscar nomination in a weak category but brought her a Cannes director award.

“On the Rocks’ could have been something we call an awards-season release but this is a different year and who knows even if there will be Oscars or not? Whatever it is, many cinephiles are probably that the new Bill Murray-Sofia Coppola collaboration is very near.

Credit: Mensur Zeinal