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“I feel like this will all close in on me and I’ll disappear, which wouldn’t be such a bad fate, actually,” said “Emilia Pérez” writer/director Jacques Audiard as he surveyed the contents of the Criterion Closet.

The French filmmaker has been on a hot streak lately with his gonzo crime musical sweeping the European Film Awards last month and this month earning Outstanding Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes, as well as Outstanding Motion Picture – Non-English Language, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña, and Outstanding Original Song for “El Mal.” To celebrate these wins and potential Oscar fortune, Audiard took a brief trip off the red carpet to Criterion’s offices in New York City, where he selected a bagful of cinema’s finest, including Fritz Lang’s expressionistic serial-killer thriller starring Peter Lorre, “M.”

“For me, Lang is synonymous with silent films, even...

Marvel and Disney movies repeatedly present reliable narratives that clearly tell audiences what they should take away from a story. They go from beginning to end, asking questions and always giving answers — a comfort to moviegoers who just want to be entertained. When films like Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) leave viewers wondering about what its ending truly means, the lack of explanation often results in passionate, years-long debate.

Acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu, best known for The Revenant and Babel, didn't hold back while developing this Oscar-winning dark comedy. With Beetlejuice's Michael Keaton in the titular role, the rest of the film's cast is equally stacked, including Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough, and Zach Galifianakis.

The story instantly yanks audiences into the erratic world of Riggan Thomson, a washed-up actor haunted by his blockbuster-superhero past: a character named Birdman. While leading up to his Broadway debut,...

Quick Links Michael Keaton's Mainstream Roles Begin to Dry Up The Hollywood Satire in Michael Keaton's Birdman Birdman Led to Critical and Box Office Success for Michael Keaton

According to a recent interview, Michael Keaton doesn't like to call his turn in 2014's satirical comedy Birdman a comeback, but there is no denying the total career resurgence that the actor experienced once the film was released. The performance led to Keaton's first Academy Award nomination, and after seeing some of his more major roles subside before that, he began popping up in mainstream and prestige projects that solidified his place in the industry.

The comeback label may not be something that Keaton asked for, but given the film's subject matter and how much more the actor began appearing on the big screen, Birdman certainly boosted his career.

Michael Keaton's Mainstream Roles Begin to Dry Up

Following the success of Batman,...

The wonderful Raymond Carver story “Neighbors” perfectly evoked the strange out-of-body feeling that can come from occupying another person’s home when they’re not in it — the transient thrill of living someone else’s life, and the accompanying sense that it’s a little bigger and brighter than your own. That pang, at once delicious and dismaying, colors “In Her Place,” a peculiar mixture of true-crime riff, domestic melodrama and feminist fable that marks an uneasy venture into fiction for celebrated Chilean docmaker Maite Alberdi, who landed Oscar nominations for both “The Mole Agent” and “The Eternal Memory.”

There’s more shared DNA than you might think between Alberdi’s latest and her previous documentary work. In particular, the mixture of procedural storytelling, old-school genre tropes and whimsical human comedy that shaped the hard-to-classify hybrid “The Mole Agent,” a whodunnit-fashioned nursing home study, surfaces again in “In Her Place.

Michael Keaton received his first Oscar nomination for his leading role in 2014's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Now, Hulu subscribers can stream the 10-year-old dark comedy-drama film beginning this October.

Directed by Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu, Birdman focuses on Keaton's Riggan Thomson, a washed-up Hollywood actor best known for playing a superhero named Birdman, following the struggles he faces while trying to make a comeback by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". Keaton is surrounded by an all-star supporting cast that includes Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts. A critical and commercial success, Birdman becomes available to stream on Hulu on October 1, 2024.

Related Michael Keaton Among Five Guest Hosts Announced for SNL Season 50

Five guest hosts along with their musical guests have been revealed for...

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 film, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) starring Michael Keaton, explores the story of 90’s ex-superhero star Riggan Thomson and his return to the spotlight in his adaptation of Raymond Carver’s 'What We Talk About When We Talk About Love' on Broadway. Along with Keaton are Hollywood stars Edward Norton as Mike Shiner, a narcissistic actor who believes Riggan is just a Hollywood puppet; Emma Stone as the witty and sarcastic daughter of Riggan; Zach Galifianakis as Riggan’s best friend and voice of reason and Naomi Watts as Lesley, girlfriend of Mike Shiner and fellow star in Riggan’s adaptation. Despite appearing to be about an actor’s dying career and his last-ditch attempt at being relevant again, 'Birdman' cleverly tells a story unique in its delivery of the question: what is real art? This question is posed to us early...

Villains are crucial in defining Bond movies - casting the right antagonist can shape the tone of Bond 26. Actors must embody the tone and traditions of Bond villains, with some being better suited to the role than others. Bond 26 can either play it safe with an established villain actor or take a risk by making a daring choice.

Although casting the new 007 for Bond 26 remains the most important decision facing the franchise, choosing the right villain could ultimately prove to be equally vital. Bond villains are one of the franchise's most beloved traditions, and they often come to define their movies. It's no coincidence that Goldfinger and Skyfall are considered among the best Bond movies, since Auric Goldfinger and Raoul Silva are also among the best Bond villains. Choosing Bond's antagonist will help shape the tone of Bond 26.

It takes a special kind of actor to play a compelling Bond villain.

Michael Keaton is recognized as one of the finest actors in the industry. He is widely known for the portrayal of Batman in Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns. The actor’s career experienced a resurgence after he starred in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman. Keaton’s performance not only received praise but also earned him a nomination at the Academy Awards for Best Actor.

Michael Keaton starred as Riggan Thompson in Birdman

The story follows the struggles of a Hollywood actor best known for playing a superhero, Birdman, and his attempts to make a comeback. Upon its release, the movie received critical and commercial success, especially for the screenplay, direction, cinematography, and performances of the actors in the movie. In an interview, Keaton talks about Birdman and reveals its connection to a Sam Mendes movie.

Michael Keaton talks about Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman

In his interview with GQ,...

The last cork has been popped and the final flute of Kirkland Signatures sparkling wine drained down to the last drop. Old Man 2023 has gathered his sash about his withered frame and slunk into the night, clearing the way for cherubic New Year 2024–giggly, chubby and brimming with promise.

Or something. In reality, years don’t flip on and off like a light switch. They smear into each other like paint, until everything is the same weird shade of brownish-purple. But still: we all strive to make each new chapter in the Gregorian filing system a fresh start–a chance to break bad habits and begin good ones.

The traditional way of kickstarting these self-improvement reboots is through the maddeningly self-deceptive ritual of setting New Year’s Resolutions–80% of which are inevitably abandoned by February 1, according to most studies. But hey! A sustainable 20% is still pretty good. And for cineastes,...

Actress Kate Beckinsale’s greatest comforts in life include cuddly cats and giant candles. The 50-year-old actress, who was recently targeted by a troll for dyeing her naturally brunette hair blonde, posted a series of images of items that bring her solace and joy.

She captioned the carousel, which has pictures of a framed image of a cat surrounded by huge flickering candles, as well as Raymond Carver books, a skull ornament and one of her pals at a party, “Things and people that have given comfort or lifted my spirits, should anyone need some ideas x (there will be a volume 2 to this)” .

Beckinsale has changed the colour of her locks for Christmas and also showed off her new look in a series of party pictures on Instagram, reports aceshowbiz.com.

They showed her in a shimmering dress enjoying time with friends, including 42-year-old heiress Paris Hilton.

Fans took...

Actress Kate Beckinsale’s greatest comforts in life include cuddly cats and giant candles. The 50-year-old actress, who was recently targeted by a troll for dyeing her naturally brunette hair blonde, posted a series of images of items that bring her solace and joy.

She captioned the carousel, which has pictures of a framed image of a cat surrounded by huge flickering candles, as well as Raymond Carver books, a skull ornament and one of her pals at a party, “Things and people that have given comfort or lifted my spirits, should anyone need some ideas x (there will be a volume 2 to this)” .

Beckinsale has changed the colour of her locks for Christmas and also showed off her new look in a series of party pictures on Instagram, reports aceshowbiz.com.

They showed her in a shimmering dress enjoying time with friends, including 42-year-old heiress Paris Hilton.

Fans took...

Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to one of his “all-time favorite writers,” the former Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, in an Instagram tribute on Friday.

“The passion and deep intensity of his music and lyrics is unmatched by all but the very best in the rock & roll canon,” he wrote. “I was fortunate to spend a little time with Shane and his lovely wife Victoria the last time we were in Dublin. He was very ill, but still beautifully present in his heart and spirit. His music is timeless and eternal. I...

Music plays a central role in Wolf Like Me, with the show's music supervisor Andrew Kotatko collaborating closely with director Abe Forsythe to create a unique soundtrack. Kotatko's background as a director informs his approach to music supervision, as he focuses on the tone and subtext of the music rather than just finding cool tunes. Abe Forsythe and Kotatko have a strong working relationship and share a deep understanding of the connection between music and character in the show, with some songs even being integrated into the narrative.

The compelling Peacock dramedy Wolf Like Me is back for season 2. Isla Fisher and Josh Gad return as Mary and Gary, and Fisher’s secret—that she is a werewolf—is closer than ever to being discovered. Wolf Like Me continues to be written and directed entirely by Abe Forsythe, the Australian filmmaker known in part for his 2019 zombie film Little Monsters.

By 2017’s Thin Black Duke, Oxbow’s brand of sludge rock had blossomed into a grandiose blend of art rock, noise, neoclassical, and jazz. Like their uncompromisingly experimental brethren Swans, the San Francisco noise rockers experienced a resurgence in the autumn of their career, one made all the more remarkable by the pace of their output (the band had only released two other albums since 1996’s Serenade in Red).

Oxbow’s latest, Love’s Holiday, was inspired in part by the births of guitarist Niko Wenner’s two children and the death of his father, but that sentimental connection translates into something far removed from mawkish balladeering. Singer Eugene Robinson imbues the very concept of love with an element of foreboding on the album’s opening track, “Dead Ahead.” “Believe it, heed it/This god of love destroys and creates,” he yelps on the second verse.

Sonically, though, Love’s...

After a rather timid third episode that mainly acted as a filler, exposing the traitors from both sides of Fury/Talos’ resistance and Gravik-led rebel Skrulls, the fourth one once again addresses the threat to the sovereignty of the world governments that the Skrulls represent. The hierarchy of the United States government suffers a major setback as even more shocking revelations are made about the Skrull infiltration, but somehow the feeling is bound to creep up in fans’ minds that the event could have taken advantage of a big-budget movie adaptation instead of basically being a Nick Fury show. In the previous episode of Secret Invasion, Nick Fury’s Skrull wife, Priscilla/Varra, turned out to be in cahoots with Gravik, something Fury has started suspecting.

While helping her father, Talos, stop the attack on the U.N. envoy, G’iah’s treachery gets exposed to Gravik, who shoots her to death.

This article contains spoilers

“Trust no one.” That bit of advice is the cornerstone of every paranoid thriller, whether it’s The X-Files, 70s classics like Three Days of the Condor, or recent entries such as Get Out.

As a show about shape-shifting aliens, Secret Invasion should be able to excel at “trust no one” better than any of its predecessors. Nearly anyone can be a Skrull, even Tony Stark’s best friend Rhodey, a mainstay of the MCU since its beginning (albeit played by different actors).

And yet, four episodes in, Secret Invasion’s biggest mystery is about the nature of the show itself. Is this a thriller about secret agent Nick Fury uncovering a vast conspiracy? Is this a commentary about the insiders and outsiders in the American experiment? Is this a show about spies battling aliens?

One gets the sense that showrunner Kyle Bradstreet wants to say...

This review contains spoilers

Rip to a real one. Talos, one of the best characters Marvel has introduced to the MCU since they began wrapping up the Infinity Saga, is dead. Ben Mendelsohn will certainly not be short of work and never really is; he’s a terrific actor who always gives 100% to any role, and though his time as the gentle Skrull Talos was pretty fleeting, it always seemed to pack a punch. If you’re already missing Mendelsohn’s Australian lilt and disheveled demeanor (I know I am) he’s the lead of a new TV series coming out soon on Apple TV+ called The New Look, where he plays fashion designer Christian Dior opposite Juliette Binoche as Coco Chanel. I will be watching!

But for now, we shall draw our attention back to episode four of Secret Invasion, “Beloved”, named after a section of the poem “Late Fragment” by Raymond Carver.

If Joni Mitchell’s Joni Jam at the Gorge Amphitheater Saturday were to become a scene in the upcoming Cameron Crowe biopic on the iconic troubadour, Mitchell just taking the stage to a standing ovation eight years after she nearly died of an aneurysm would have been a glorious Hollywood ending.

Mitchell simply being back on stage was already the triumph of the human spirit we all desperately craved as fans of her music and tougher than nails image. At one point during the show, Brandi Carlile, who acted as host/interviewer for the night,...

At the height of the pandemic, Jess Williamson found herself taking long walks with her neighbor Natalie Mering, who performs as Weyes Blood. “I had met her in passing over the years, but we didn’t know each other,” says Williamson. “We were podded up, and we got to be really good friends.” Venturing around Los Feliz with Mering’s Pomeranian, Luigi, the songwriters discussed their upcoming music and dating, even starting a group text titled Ho Support. “We’d talk about boys and sorcery,” Mering says. “Mostly boys.”

Williamson...

An airheaded anchorman, a perpetually upbeat elf, an evil Lego minifigure — Will Ferrell has found a variety of colorful outlets for his comedy over the years. Ever since he first graced the stage of "Saturday Night Live's" iconic studio 8H back in 1995, Ferrell's distinctly fluid, improv-heavy, and hilariously infectious brand of humor has helped him successfully make the jump from small-screen funnyman to one of the biggest and most bankable movie stars working today.

It's a bit more than that, though. Ferrell's comedic talents have attracted some unlikely comrades over the years — people like John C. Reilly and Mark Wahlberg — and in turn, they have helped create a new comedy sub-genre that's unafraid to keep things fast and loose when it comes to off-script gags and adlibs. With riskier, more thoughtful entries scattered through his résumé, he's not one to rest on his laurels either.

All this, we know.

After the unexpected success of 1992’s The Player, Altman directed one of his most acclaimed films, an intimate epic that features 22 separate characters adrift in the city of Angels. The massive cast features everyone from Julianne Moore and Tim Robbins to Lily Tomlin and Tom Waits. Altman and Frank Barhydt wrote the screenplay based on the work of Raymond Carver.

The post Short Cuts appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

In his arresting, thought-provoking directorial debut The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year, Australian Director Harry Windsor takes a nuanced journey into the feelings of dissatisfaction which push some people to hit the reset button. Through the eyes of a young mother whose home and life seem to brim with the supposed markers for happiness, we see what happens when the question of how satisfied you truly are is given the chance to develop into life-altering action. It’s a feeling that many of us entertain in idle ‘what if’ thought experiments but rarely follow through with and one which echoes Windsor’s own hesitant move from the world of film journalism to helming his first directorial project. Ahead of today’s online premiere of The Most Wonderful Day of the Year we had the opportunity to probe Windsor about his detailed and studied prep work for the script, how...

When Italian director Giada Bossi met artist and musician Arssalendo at a branded content shoot they were immediately drawn to each other and through a mutual appreciation of each other’s work, tastes, sensibilities and references, quickly decided that they wanted to collaborate on a project. Through this, Quattro Pareti was imagined as an exploration of the painful theme of loss, grief and mourning, focusing on the young age where such concepts are still impossible to grasp entirely. Bossi, who studied filmmaking in Milan and has worked in the world of music videos, fashion films and advertising, wanted to create a crossover between the language of short film and music videos, merging the two. In the film she explores being suddenly forced to deal with an adult world and the merciless flow of life from a child’s point of view, focussing on the struggles of comprehending loss. Quattro Pareti...

Fred Ward, iconic character actor and star of films like “The Right Stuff,” “Tremors,” “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,” “Miami Blues,” and “Henry & June,” has died. He passed away on Sunday, May 8, as confirmed by his representatives. The Golden Globe winner was also known for starring in Robert Altman films like “The Player” and “Short Cuts.”

Fred Ward is survived by his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward, and his son, Django Ward.

On screens since the early 1970s after serving in the U.S. Air Force and stints as an order cook, boxer, and a lumberjack in Alaska, Ward was known for his versatility in both comic and dramatic roles. He could play author Henry Miller in “Henry & June,” the world’s first Nc-17 movie, or a dirt bike rider in “Timerider: The Aventure of Lyle Swann.” But his first major role came in Clint Eastwood’s 1979 “Escape from Alcatraz...

Never one to be boxed into a corner, Jacques Audiard is following up his Palme d’Or-winning Dheepan and his English-language debut, the western The Sisters Brothers, with Paris, 13th District, a black-and-white tale of young love between four individuals. Scripted by Audiard, Léa Mysius, and Céline Sciamma, based on Adrian Tomine’s short stories, the Cannes premiere will now arrive in theaters next month and the new trailer has debuted via IFC Films.

Luke Hicks said in his review, “Audiard’s career-spanning desire to jump from story to story has landed him some new, noteworthy co-writers. The wandering narrative was penned by Léa Mysius, Portrait of a Lady on Fire writer-director Céline Sciamma, and Audiard himself. It’s an interwoven adaptation of three black-and-white Adrian Tomine short stories––“Amber Sweet,” “Summer Blonde,” and “Hawaiian Getaway”––from his graphic novel collection Killing and Dying (pulled from his popular New Yorker cartoon series,...

Naturalism is not a single thing: every art form has a different kind of naturalism. So if I say that R. Kikuo Johnson’s graphic novel No One Else leans towards a prose fiction kind of naturalism, I don’t mean just that it aims to tell a story about real people in a real world.

Comics naturalism is close to film naturalism: use the panel like a camera eye, honestly, depicting what a person would see in that position and following sequences of events as they happen. Everything may not be clear at any moment, but the information to understand the story is all there, on the screen or the page, for the eye to process.

Prose naturalism, though, since Raymond Carver, is about not saying things – it’s about what’s deliberately left out of the story, the things careful readers will notice and catalog. This is inherently...

Filmmaker Boaz Yakin discusses some of his favorite films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Aviva (2020)

The Harder They Fall (2021)

The Harder They Come (1972)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Fresh (1994)

Mo’ Better Blues (1990)

Safe (2012)

Scream (2022)

The Punisher (1989)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Kagemusha (1980) – Bernard Rose’s trailer commentary

Mean Streets (1973)

Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The 400 Blows (1959) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary

Yojimbo (1961)

Dodes’ka-den (1970)

Short Cuts (1993) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray commentary

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Coonskin (1975) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Fritz The Cat (1972) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

Wizards (1977)

Heavy Traffic (1973) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Warriors (1979)

Quintet (1979)

Brewster McCloud (1970) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Mash (1970)

Nashville (1975) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Dan Perri’s trailer commentary,...

There is no such thing as a typical Jacques Audiard film. Take his last three as examples: in 2012 he captured the trauma-induced romance between a wayfaring father and killer-whale trainer in rural seaside France in Rust and Bone; in 2015 he won the Palme d’Or for Dheepan, a film about a Sri Lankan freedom fighter who seeks refuge in Paris with the involuntary help of two strangers fronting as his wife and daughter; in 2018 he cast Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly as bickering, sharp-shooting brothers hunting down Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed in frontier-era Oregon in The Sisters Brothers. His newest, Paris, 13th District, is something entirely different.

Audiard’s career-spanning desire to jump from story to story has landed him some new, noteworthy co-writers. The wandering narrative was penned by Léa Mysius, Portrait of a Lady on Fire writer-director Céline Sciamma, and Audiard himself. It’s an interwoven...

Adrian Tomine has always struck me as the closest thing to a literary short-story writer in the comics field – our Raymond Carver, perhaps – with his tight, focused stories of real people in real worlds dealing with mundane lives and just interacting with each other. It’s the kind of work that sounds dull when I try to describe it, but is thrillingly true when done right, and Tomine generally gets it right.

So it was strange first to see that his new book last year, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist , was a memoir – I wondered if that knife-edge would still be there when writing about his own life.

And it was even more surprising to meet eight-year-old Adrian on the first page, on his first day at a new school in Fresno in 1982, declaring his undying love for John Romita. Ok, sure, he was mercilessly tormented for it – that’s how he remembers it,...

When Michelle Zauner lost her mother in 2014, the only thing that got her through was food. The Korean American musician, who has won acclaim for the dreamy indie rock she records as Japanese Breakfast, found that learning to cook comforting dishes like jatjuk (pine-nut porridge) and kimchi-jjigae (a savory, spicy stew) allowed her to grieve for her mother, who’d cooked for her for years but had never taught her how. “There was no sense of urgency to learning that [before],” says Zauner, 32. “I never thought I was going to have...

Writer, director, producer Nicole Holofcener joins podcast hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss some of her favorite films.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Enough Said (2013)

True Romance (1993)

Coming Home (1978)

Bound for Glory (1976)

Hal (2018)

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

The Cowboys (1972)

Harold And Maude (1971)

Conrack (1974)

Norma Rae (1979)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Miller’s Crossing (1990)

Naked (1993)

The Short And Curlies (1987)

Short Cuts (1993)

Nashville (1975)

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

The Father (2020)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Sex, Lies And Videotape (1989)

Jaws (1975)

Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy (1955)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

World Without End (1956)

Boogie Nights (1997)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Goodfellas (1990)

Adaptation (2002)

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Lolita (1962)

The Shining (1980)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

12 Angry Men (1957)

A Serious Man (2009)

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Capote (2005)

A History of Violence (2005)

The 400 Blows...

By Christina Litsa

Haruki Murakami, then based in Hawaii, recalls his early career as a jazz club owner, his sudden decision to write a book in his thirties and the inevitable change that came in his life after closing his club to achieve a steady and successful presence in writing, while he lists his experiences in marathons and in an ultramarathon.

From times to times, it seems that prolific writers feel the unbeatable need to discuss with the reader about the starting point, the inspiration, the reason behind their craft, in conjunction with their struggle of choosing the ultimate word to jot down in a hard-covered journal (as I like to imagine), the art of wording, a subtle one someone might think, but also one that requires a great deal of stamina as Murakami declares in his non-fiction book “What I Talk About When I Talk About...

It’s been two years since his latest feature and English-language debut, The Sisters Brothers, premiered at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, and as Variety reports, Jacques Audiard is back on set with Les Olympiades.

It’s quite the jump from his black comedy western, though: This one is based on Adrian Tomine’s Killing and Dying and will feature female protagonists in a story of adolescence. A cartoonist for the likes of The New Yorker, Tomine’s collection of short stories debuted in 2015 upon which A. O. Scott described the book as “certainly invit[ing] comparison to the work of words-only short-form masters like Raymond Carver, Ann Beattie, and Mary Gaitskill, and for that matter O. Henry himself” despite its graphic novel format.

Audiard co-wrote the adaptation with Léa Mysius and Céline Sciamma. Christel Baras is the project’s casting director, reprising her role from Audiard’s The Sisters Brothers, Sciamma...

In a barn with his wife, an orchestra and a new set of cowboy-inflected songs, the Boss reflects magnetically on past demons and meditates on age

Even hardened Bruce Springsteen agnostics were converted after watching last year’s Netflix documentary of his Springsteen on Broadway show – a straight-up account of an acoustic set of greatest hits. You really would have to be clinically soul-dead not to be blown away by the intensity of his performance and the monologues about his childhood and early career, scripted with the storytelling power of Raymond Carver stories.

Now comes a new documentary with more of the same – this time Springsteen performing in a barn on his ranch in New Jersey, playing his latest album Western Stars.

Time spent in a modern war zone can be traumatic for participant and observer alike, yet across continents and cultures, the shared experiences of living and loving in the wake of such experiences can be startlingly similar. This is multi-faceted and overarching theme woven throughout Ben Lawrence’s sensitive and affecting new Australian drama “Hearts and Bones,” an impressive narrative feature debut from the winner of last year’s Sydney Film Festival documentary prize for “Ghosthunter.”

Lawrence’s thoughtful drama also casts an illuminating light on the current hot-button issue of immigrants to Australia and their place in the social fabric, specifically in the Western Sydney suburbs in which it is filmed. The film’s second-place finish in the narrative section of the fest’s audience award (behind Samuel Van Grinsven’s “Sequin in a Blue Room”) suggests it struck a chord with traditionally partisan Aussie audiences, and with proper handling,...

Every Friday, we’re recommending an older movie available to stream or download and worth seeing again through the lens of our current moment. We’re calling the series “Revisiting Hours” — consider this Rolling Stone’s unofficial film club. This week’s edition: Alex Pappademas on Paul Schrader’s 1978 working-class raunchcom/working-man’s crime drama Blue Collar.

Two Detroit auto-plant workers are meeting up for a substance-fueled orgy at the home of a third. Zeke (Richard Pryor) and Jerry (Harvey Keitel) are both married; their host is Smokey (Yaphet Kotto), who isn’t.

Every Friday, we’re recommending an older movie that’s worth seeing again through the lens of our current moment. We’re calling the series “Revisiting Hours” — consider this Rolling Stone’s unofficial film club. This week: Tim Grierson on Robert Altman’s 1993 celebrity-ensemble feel-bad masterpiece Short Cuts.

Because movies are a global art form, it’s natural that some filmmakers get interested in how stories connect us as human beings. (Yawn.) Much like life itself, which can sometimes be a medley of unrelated events that ultimately form a grand...

Is this the new feminist minimalism? Director Kelly Reichart doesn’t like labels, and to her credit as a woman director, her amalgam of three tangential short stories transcends the format in a studious, low-key way. Four interesting actresses present interesting portraits that illuminate the realities of life in the great Middle America.

Certain Women

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 893

2016 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 107 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 19, 2017 39.95

Starring: Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Lily Gladstone, Kristen Stewart, Jared Harris, James Le Gros, Rene Auberjonois.

Cinematography: Christopher Blauvelt

Film Editor: Kelly Reichardt

Original Music: Jeff Grace

Written by Kelly Reichardt from short stories by Maile Meloy

Produced by Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

Directed by Kelly Reichardt

One of the first things that the interesting director Kelly Reichardt says is that she’d like her movie to not be considered a ‘woman’s picture.’ We at first think she’s kidding herself,...

There are some authors who transcend genre so fully that classification becomes a moot point. Kelly Link is one example. Link’s writing style mirrors other authors - Angela Carter, Shirley Jackson and Neil Gaiman come to mind - but only superficially; her words are her own. The moods swing wildly, from whimsical to melancholic to deranged, though her voice always comes through. She writes as if talking in her sleep, lackadaisical and sparse, strange but deeply evocative. Yet what truly sets her apart from other genre authors is her incredible understanding of the human mind.

Though she has written some terrifying tales, Link is hardly a simple horror or fantasy writer. It’s difficult to think of a writer whose imagination covers more conceptual territory. “The Specialist’s Hat” may be her most straightforward ghost story, but even this narrative hints at melancholic truths. “Water Off a Black Dog...

Simon Brew Jun 30, 2017

Jon Ronson talks to us about writing Okja, writing films, his upcoming projects and Jason Statham...

This is the second time that Den Of Geek has had the pleasure of interviewing author, screenwriter and broadcaster Jon Ronson. The occasion this time was the release of the film Okja, that he’s co-written. The first time? Well, that seemed like a good place to start this interview…

I did always wonder how I’d start a conversation with you, given that the last time you and our website crossed, it nearly brought down Den Of Geek altogether…!

You know what, I’ve got a memory of this. But my memory’s so shit, you’re going to have to remind me!

You touched on it in the early passages of The Psychopath Test. We interviewed you ahead of the release of the film The Men Who Stare At Goats,...

Mubi is celebrating National Canadian Film Day, in partnership with Reel Canada, by exclusively showing Kyle Thomas's The Valley Below (2014) from April 19 - May 19, 2017 in most countries around the world.I’ve always had a fascination with small towns. The Valley Below is set in Drumheller, a rural community in the Alberta badlands, where I had shot many of my short films over the years. I have always had a strong belief in regional filmmaking that connects intimate personal narratives with landscapes and cultures outside of urban centers. The Valley Below is interested in exploring the stuff of everyday life: family, community, love and loss.In 2013 we rented a large house in the Drumheller valley and all of the cast and crew lived together for several weeks during production. We were making a film about complicated relationships and family dynamics and needed to create an environment where the work...

Success in the ’90s gave Robert Altman the opportunity to experiment once again. Several short stories by Raymond Carver interlock in a mosaic of Los Angeles populated by scores of actors in ensemble mode. Clocking in at three hours, Altman’s epic has all the time and space it needs.

Short Cuts

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 265

1993 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 187 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 18, 2016 / 39.95

Starring Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Jack Lemmon, Julianne Moore,

Matthew Modine, Anne Archer, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Penn, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey Jr., Madeleine Stowe, Tim Robbins, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher, Annie Ross, Lori Singer, Lyle Lovett, Buck Henry, Huey Lewis, Margery Bond, Robert DoQui.

Cinematography Walt Lloyd

Production Designer Stephen Altman

Art Direction Jerry Fleming

Film Editors Suzy Elmiger, Geraldine Peroni

Original Music Gavin Friday, Mark Isham

Written by Robert Altman, Frank Barhydt from writings...

Editor’s note: After a two-week vacation break, we’re now back with an expanded selection to catch up.

Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.

Boyhood (Richard Linklater)

After being put through the awards season grinder — resulting in hours upon hours of conversations — what left is there to learn about the production of Richard Linklater‘s 12-years-in-the-making project Boyhood? The Criterion Collection edition proves, evidently, a fair amount. In fact, what’s so interesting about the plethora of special features — aside from an intimate...

Whatever you think of Raymond Carver and Gordon Lish’s partnership, there’s no denying the influence of a strong editor. Robert Gottlieb is another case in point, not only for his five-year tenure at the New Yorker but for his time as editor-in-chief at Knopf, where he published, among many other things, the memoirs of both Lauren Bacall and Katharine Hepburn. In a new Vanity Fair article excerpted from his forthcoming “Avid Reader: A Life,” Gottlieb delves into his collaborations with the two screen icons, both of which produced best-sellers.

Read More: Listen: Robin Williams & Lauren Bacall Remembered on Indiewire’s Podcast, Screen Talk

“Betty didn’t need a collaborator, and in any case would never have put up with one,” he says of Bacall (real name Betty Perske). “What she needed was a way to work.” His solution was to give her an office at Knopf where she could write distraction-free,...

Chicago – Golf and gambling go together like the 19th hole and tall tales. The green grass of the course isn’t the same without a little wagering, and the new film ‘The Squeeze’ – written and directed by Terry Jastrow – follows the game from small town America to the big stage of Las Vegas.

The film boasts an all-star cast, and is co-produced by Oscar nominee Anne Archer. The excellent character actor Michael Nouri, the steady Christopher McDonald and the very funny Katherine Lanasa are joining forces with newcomers Jeremy Sumpter and Jillian Murray. The odyssey of a young hot prospect and two gambling legends – based on a true story – are teed up to create a viable comedy about colorful characters, the essence of the links and who-will-outdo-who on the fairway and in the rough of life.

Katherine Lanasa and Christopher McDonald Check Out the Golfer’s Life in ‘The Squeeze...

With the number of new hot takes on the Oscars sufficiently cooled down, now may be the best time to take a closer look at this year’s Best Picture winner in the context of an Oscar nominee from a previous year that covers surprisingly similar ground. Miguel Branco has put together “Blackbird,” which plays shots from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s technical marvel “Birdman” side-by-side with clips from Darren Aronofsky’s beautifully terrifying “Black Swan,” revealing the similar terrain of both films. First of all, both films are essentially about the struggle of putting on a good show: a Raymond Carver adaptation for the stage in Inarritu’s film and a new version of the “Swan Lake” ballet in Aronfsky’s. The two main characters both have a rival who threatens to steal their moment in the spotlight. Both also put their protagonists through the ringer physically, mentally, and emotionally...

Before I get started on this week’s musings, here are a couple of housekeeping items:

1) Have I mentioned lately how great the other writers here at ComicMix are? It’s probably been awhile, so let me take a quick minute to do so (again). If you somehow found ComicMix via me and primarily read my column here on the site, a) Cool, thanks! and b) I highly recommend you give the other folks here a try. Even in just reading through the last few days of columns, from Mindy Newell’s thoughts on Battlestar Galactica to Marc Alan Fishman’s discussion of guarding one’s creative integrity versus going for a payday and wider success, to Molly Jackson’s rejoicing over the awesomeness that is Agent Carter, I am reminded of how quality the folks who write for this site are, and how lucky I am to be amongst them.

It’s all a bit satirical. Or maybe not. Look, over there, Shakespeare in a superhero cape! I’m “biast” (pro): like the director, love the cast

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

It was one thing when Birdman was the scrappy little indie that could. (Never mind that it was an indie with a budget of $22 million and an A-list cast.) Then it was just a snooty pretentious film with an arty gimmick that hardly anyone had seen. But now it has been crowned as the very best movie of 2014 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. The people who are the most Hollywood that people can be have officially spoken. And what they have said is, “We hate superhero movies. We hate the fans who make superhero movies huge. But we love your money, so thanks for that.

Taking home four Oscars out of its nine nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and Cinematography, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman was the big winner at this year’s Academy Awards. Premiering last August at the Venice Film Festival (where it left with trio of minor awards), cinematography has long been the awards season lock for the film (winning Lubezki a BAFTA), and it’s picked up a pair of Golden Globes (Screenplay and Actor) and a host of critic’s choice awards. Box office has also been profitable, opening last October in limited release before expanding nationwide Mid-November to successful box office results—its Best Picture win will most likely edge it over or close to the one hundred million mark.

Not only is Birdman (or The Virtue of Ignorance) arguably the best film of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s impressive filmography (from a list that includes Amores Perros,...

“I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone’s heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.