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Tackling the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party, “Judas and the Black Messiah” tells the true account of the architect behind not just the assembling the violence against police, but the community service that was instilled by that particular chapter of the infamous black resistance group. This is only the second film for director Shaka King, after 2013’s “Newlyweeds,.” he also wrote the screenplay alongside Will Berson, with additional help from Kenny and Keith Lucas (the “22 Jump Street” twins)....

Despite his east-coast roots at Harvard, Stevenson, decided to move to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned. His urgency to find justice had him thrust upon the case of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a black man sentenced to death, despite evidence proving his innocence. With the help of a civil rights activist (Brie Larson), Stevenson ended up investing heart and soul into Walter’s case, all this despite the bias of a racially motivated Alabama police force and equally biased state judges....

The tangled plot has Chinese-French student Émilie (Lucie Zhang) searching for a roommate, which leads her to Camille (Makita Samba), a twentysomething high-school teacher. They hook up the first night he moves in, but the roommate-with-benefits perks quickly turn into nadir as Émilie develops feelings for him that he can’t reciprocate. Enter Nora (Noémie Merlant), a thirtysomething student enrolling in law school and being mistaken for “Amber Sweet,” an online sex-chat worker; After being ridiculed by the student body for the sex work she never did, Nora drops out and makes a career in real estate and that’s where he and Camille become co-workers at the agency and eventual sexual partners....

Shot in the summer of 2019, against the backdrop of San Sebastien, the film feels like a waste of time if you’re not a Woody completist such as myself. It’s a bland, moanful, slight riff on what Allen seems to be doing these days — making light and ineffectual romcoms. It really just dabbles around with the usual same-old-same-old. The occasional dreamy tributes to classic ’60s cinema (8 1/2, Jules and Jim, Persona) which, given Allen’s masterful penchant for being inspired by these directors in the past, feels incredibly off and forced....

You can throw in factually accurate out the window as well. At some point, after Elton hits it big with his 1969 debut single “Your Song,” a record exec tells him it’s the best thing he’s heard since “Let It Be.” Problem is that Beatles classic only actually came out a year after the John hit, in 1970. Quite unsubtly, the film hammers down its message at its very start, when John starts singing his hit “I Want Love,” it’s a family affair, as the whole clan from his mother to grandmother chime in with their own sung verses....

What’s brilliant about Field’s slowburner of a film is that he leaves it up to the viewer to decide whether “TÀR” is anti-cancel culture or a tongue-in-cheek condemnation of Cate Blanchett‘s brilliant but prickly conductor. For most of the film, Field obstinately hints at what’s to come, but takes his time to build everything up. The plot developments are minimal, but eventually add up to something monumental. There’s an elliptical quality to the film’s narrative, so much so that once it reveals its cards you immediately want to see it again to further grasp its thematic resonances....

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Hogg is back, premiering her latest film “The Eternal Daughter,” at Venice. The embargo just broke, and the reviews are not as good as both ‘Souvenir’ films but sustainably positive. THR and Variety are mixed on it. David Ehrlich, a Hogg super fan, gives it a B+ in his IndieWire review. This won’t break barriers like her previous two films. It will probably be just as distancing an experience for regular audiences as any other Joanna Hogg film....

Don’t let the title mislead you, this is the story of real-life serial killer Charlie Cullen (Eddie Redmayne), the “good” nurse of the title. Cullen, was known as the “Angel of Death,” and regarded as one of the most prolific murderers in modern American history. He was allegedly responsible for the deaths of almost 300 of his patients over a 15-year time span. Jessica Chastain plays Cullen’s co-worker at the hospital, and fellow nurse, who started to suspect Cullen’s nefarious ways....

The film stars Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, two major A-list stars, and is directed by ‘Avengers’ filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, who are probably the most popular MCU directors. So, why is Netflix hiding this movie? You’d think for such a major investment, they would be heavily promoting this is one, but there’s barely been any marketing. Even worse, they’re holding reviews until 9am on Thursday, July 14th, that same evening it’ll be released in theaters....

Anglo-Saxon critics, that is. The French have no interest. “The Souvenir”, released two years ago, wasn’t even released in French cinemas. Thierry Fremaux balked at choosing them for Cannes. American audiences as well have either ignored or maligned the film. A tepid 6.4 rating on IMDB, an astoundingly bad 36% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a horrendous $1.7 million box-office. If the term “critic-proof” ever existed for a film, this would be it....

Despite my reservations on the film, consider me very pleased that Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” keeps soaring in its second weekend of release at the box-office. The film made $25 million just on Friday alone. A $80 million second weekend is not out of the question. That’s just a 33% dive from its $124 million three-day opening last weekend . Word-of-mouth amongst moviegoers has been incredible for the sequel, the film even earned a rare A+ grade on Cinema Score....

In her final film, “Varda By Agnes,” Varda looks back over her film and photography career in a doc that feels more like a TED Talk than an actual cinematic statement from Varda. A real shame, but regardless, a historic final document from a legend of the craft. Sitting onstage at the Cartier Foundation in Paris, surrounded by a crowd of admiring up-and-coming film students, this two-hour film has Varda showing snippets of her work and explaining her motivations within that specific creative process....

“The film-loving tradition of Britain’s Sight and Sound magazine, especially its international poll on ‘The Greatest Films of All Time’, is over,” White declares. “[By] announcing the decennial poll’s latest results — Jeanne Dielman tops the list now, as Vertigo did in 2012 — S&S has ruined its trustworthiness [and] is no longer a reliable consensus, as the poll has fragmented film culture into political sects.” “Don’t mistake this decade’s poll for a mere shift in the zeitgeist....

Flawed idea? The acting awards are the main draw, why would you cut them in half? This is BAFTA basically injecting politics into the fear. Imagine the media meltdowns anytime a man wins over a woman. The categories are fine as they are. Making them more and more political alienates more and more people. You’d also have to expand Lead Performance and Supporting Performance into 10 nominee categories, and what if there are 7 male and only 3 female performers nominated one year?...

Affleck played Batman/Bruce Wayne in two films; the Zack Snyder-directed “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League,” both of which were box-office successes but got trashed by critics. In the aforementioned interview, Affleck acknowledges that his motivation for leaving, what was supposed to be his third Caped Crusader film, ‘The Batman,’ an origin story he was set to write, direct and star in, was more about his own personal demons than anything having to do with the script or studio....

An NPC, in conservative-speak, is a political reference to what conservative’s perceive as the leftist media’s earnestly ingested and regurgitated talking points. In other words, that their views aren’t concentrated on individualized common sense, but rather severe groupthink reflecting the talking points that progressive mouthpieces push on a daily basis. In other words, their beliefs are programmed into them by PC culture, which makes them believe they are thinking individually, at their own will, when, in essence, they are not, and doing the total opposite....

What did I gather from most of these lists? Well, that, despite being busy with their own films, film directors are quite passionate about other people’s movies as well. Recurrently mentioned films include “The Irishman” “Parasite,” “Marriage Story,” and “Uncut Gems.” Out of the dozens of people included in the piece, there is plenty of love for films like “Parasite,” “Marriage Story,” and “Uncut Gems,” amongst the various other projects that are dominating the awards season conversation....

Topping the poll was Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, “Titane.” A surprising number one, given the fact that it garnered love-hate reactions from critics, but the passion is definitely there it seems for Ducournau’s sophomore effort. Although most North American press went back home during the final few days of Cannes, late-screened films such as “Memoria” and “Nitram” managed to garner enough votes to respectively finish in 9th and 12th place....