The Venice Film Festival: Herzog, Soderbergh, Clooney and More
Cannes has La Croisette and the world premieres and the yachts and the red carpet mishegoss, but Venice is no slouch when it comes to excellent directors and exciting premieres (and oh yeah, the parties). This year's line-up has plenty to offer cinephiles from around the world. And for you betting types, take note that Abel Ferrara and Werner Herzog will both be there; Herzog will be showing his "re-imagining" of Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant, which so incensed Ferrara that he wished dire bodily harm upon Herzog and star Nicolas Cage. I'm also particularly excited about Alex Cox showing Repo Chick, a sequel to his fabulous 1984 film Repo Man. Other super-cool stuff includes Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! with Matt Damon and his creepy mustache, Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats, starring George Clooney, and [REC 2], the sequel to the Spanish horror film from Jaume Balaguero. Michael Moore with also be there with his new film, Capitalism: A Love Story. And audiences will finally get a look at the long-awaited Cormac McCarthy adaptation, The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen.Ang Lee, who himself has won two Golden Lions at prior Venice festivals, is heading up the jury. The full list is after the jump. Let us know what you think about the line-up and what you're eager to see.Continue reading The Venice Film Festival: Herzog, Soderbergh, Clooney and More
Hard as it is to believe in this lull of summer hallmarked by the usual hot-weather popcorn fare, we're edging ever closer to fall and the major fall film festivals, and Cinematical Indie will be bringing you heaps of coverage this year. Labor Day weekend, as always, means Telluride. Last year was our first year to cover the Telluride Film Festival; the fest is unique in that it doesn't announce its lineup until it actually starts, but that doesn't stop them from selling out passes well in advance of the fest every year, as film lovers converge on the small mountain town and triple its population for the weekend. If you want to hit Telluride this year and haven't bought your passes yet, be prepared to pony up the big bucks; the Acme and Festival passes are sold out already, so you'll have to score yourself a $3500 patron pass if you want to attend. And good luck finding lodging in town at this point, unless you also want to dig deep and rent a spendy luxury vacation home -- but hey, if you that, drop me a line so I can come hang out -- we can talk movies while soaking in your jacuzzi overlooking the scenic San Juan mountains.Continue reading The Major Fall Film Fests: Get Ready for Telluride, Toronto and Venice 
The directorial debut by veteran Hollywood screenwriter John August is among the seven films selected for the International Critics' Week program, which will be held during the upcoming Venice Film Festival. The Nines had its world premiere at Sundance early this year and was subsequently picked up by Newmarket Films for U.S. release and GreeneStreet for international. Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis star in what's been described as "a compelling blur of reality, science fiction and metaphysical fantasy." A fall release is expected.The program is composed entirely of first features, so it would seem to be a good scouting ground for new talent. Last year the Critics' Week Prize was awarded to Dito Montiel's A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, which didn't strike Cinematical's James Rocchi as either new or very talented, so obviously opinions will differ. Still, I'm curious to see the closing night feature, Jónas Cuarón's Year of the Nail. It's "a thoughtful, tender but quite hip look at two young people with too much separating them for a match to ever be possible," according to Robert Koehler's Variety review. Koehler thought distributors and film festivals looking for new voices "should come a courting," so maybe it will secure additional exposure for the first film by the son of Alfonso Cuarón. As with scripter John August, other experienced industry professionals have moved into the director's chair. Veteran French actor Jalil Lespert is represented by 24 Measures (pictured). Set on Christmas Eve, it's a drama about "four young people that were never meant to meet." Long-time assistant director Andrea Molaioli gets his shot with The Girl in the Lake, a thriller about a possible serial killer preying upon young people. International Critics Week will take place between August 30 and September 8; Cinematical will be on the scene in Venice. 
Mention Venice to most North Americans, sweltering in the July heat, and romantic images of canals, gondolas and love under the stars may pop into mind. Most Italians probably think: "Eek! July! Overweight American tourists wearing tight white shorts and black socks with sneakers! Run for the hills!" But mention Venice in July to Cinematical writers, and we think: "Oh, good! The Venice Film Festival lineup will be released." That day has finally come; Variety has the details and the program looks stellar.World Premieres include the latest from American directors Woody Allen (Cassandra's Dream), Wes Anderson (The Darjeeling Limited), Brian DePalma (Redacted), Paul Haggis (In the Valley of Elah), Todd Haynes (I'm Not There) and Ang Lee (Lust, Caution). We've covered all these hotly-anticipated titles, and personally I can't wait to hear how they turned out. European directors Kenneth Branagh, Claude Chabrol, Alex Cox, Manoel de Oliveira, Peter Greenaway, Ken Loach and Eric Rohmer will also be represented, as well as Asian helmers Takashi Miike, Takeshi Kitano, Lee Kang Shen, Im Kwon-Taek and Shinji Aoyama. Stars such as George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Brad Pitt (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) are expected on the red carpet. As previously announced, Joe Wright's Atonement, starring Keira Knightley, will open the festival and Alexi Tan's Blood Brothers, produced by John Woo and Terence Chang, will close things out. In between, Tim Burton will be honored and John August's The Nines will be featured in the Critics' Week program. The festival runs from August 29 to September 8; Cinematical will be on hand to report on all the highlights. 
Have you been reading Cinematical Indie lately? If not, here's what you've been missing ...COLUMNS, REVIEWS, and INTERVIEWS
Matt Bradshaw reviews Hollywood After Dark -- with the guys from MST3K!!! -- for Killer Bs on DVD.
Nick Schager reviews Your Mommy Kills Animals
Podcast: On The Rocchi Review, James Rocchi chats it up with Andrew Grant, the voice behind one of my fave film blogs, Like Anna Karina's Sweater, and Aaron Hillis, who reviews film for the likes of Variety The Village Voice and Premiere. Both guys are also the brains behind Benten Films, which will release Joe Swanberg's LOL on DVD August 27 28.
Erik Davis interviews Four Eyed Monsters Co-Director Arin Crumley. The guys talked so much we had to break it into two parts, so be sure to check out both Part One and Part Two.
Jeffrey M. Andersons 400 Screens, 400 Blows: Coming to America
Cinematical Indie Chat: Deliver Us from Evil director Amy Berg.
RvB's' After Images: Zouk's Lair in Mr. Arkadin.
Review: alleyball
James Rocchi interviews No End In Sight director Charles Ferguson.
... and more, much more, right after the jump ...**Thanks, Aaron, for the corrections ...Continue reading Now Playing at Cinematical Indie: 'Your Mommy Kills Animals,' 'No End in Sight,' and Spike Lee Scores Emmy Noms