CRITICS WEEK, Cannes - Amine, a man for whom life is a struggle of every instant (French-Moroccan actor Younes Bouab)—at least this is what his weary and beautiful gaze seems to say—is being pursued by the police somewhere in the Moroccan desert. He runs up to the top of a hill to bury his treasure before getting collared. A decade later, he comes out of jail and goes back to the hilltop to retrieve his treasure. Except that, during

Life sometimes requires us to swallow our ego, put out fires and resolve crises on a variety of fronts, family, work, children. How about if this were the case all the time? How do we confront these adversities, but more to the point, where do we find the gumption to do so?  In Franco Lolli’s very personal film “Litigante,” there’s something almost invasive about watching Silvia (Carolin Sanin) go through a life that seems to be getting

When planetary disaster strikes the planet, one turns to country-music for solace. The song in question was written by Grammy-nominated country music singer Sturgill Simpson and keeps making a comeback throughout “The Dead Don’t Die,” the new Jim Jarmusch film which opened the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The song, which shows up repeatedly in dialogues, on a CD that changes hands, is a mantra, something for

Highland Film Group announced today that Jake Manley (“The Order,” Roland Emmerich’s upcoming "Midway") has joined Bella Thorne in writer/director Joshua Caldwell’s Southland. Colin Bates and Michael Jefferson of Lucidity Entertainment are producing alongside Thor Bradwell and Scott Levenson. Garrett Clayton, Katie Leary, Bennett Litwin and Adam Litwin will serve as executive producers.

Director Mary Harron has had a fascinating journey on her way to the Tribeca Film Festival. Her earlier film “American Psycho” tells the story of a demented killer. “The Notorious Bettie Page” was a historic period piece. With “Charlie Says,” a historic period piece about a demented killer, she’s completed the circle.The story of Charles Manson and his infamous crimes has been told before, most notably in the 1976 made-for-TV

Race, class, social injustice. Our country has struggled with these since forever and cinema provides the means to address issues and heed the call of activism and resistance through art.In these dangerously unstable times “Blindspotting” has led the charge and turned the camera on us. When the film came out last year, it was a striking debut for first-time filmmaker Carlos Lopez Estrada (Estrada had directed

Filmmaker Jonathan Levine stood in front of a packed theater in Washington, D.C., Wednesday evening to introduce a screening of his new film, “Long Shot,” a political comedy. He opined that it was somewhat of a challenge, in such surreal times as now, to make a comedy that satirizes politics. Nonetheless, he felt the time was right for such a rib-tickler like his new film.“We started making this eighteen months ago

Actor Michael Ealy was in the midst of renovating his own home when a script came his way about a man who sells his house to a young couple, but then, at first mysteriously but later ominously, refuses to leave them be after turning over the keys.“I understand this whole idea of the American dream and buying your first house, starting your family,” Ealy said, comparing real life with his new film “The Intruder.”

Wes Anderson turns fifty today. 50 is a big deal. If you've come this far it probably means one, or both, of two things: (1) you've got awesome survival skills and (2) you're the type of person who looks forward to whatever comes next. I wonder how the passage of time has affected Wes Anderson, our great American filmmaker. Does the spark to create more easily? Or, rather, do he fall into a new project a lot more easily than he did before?

Gender parity and multiculturalism are on the program at this year's Cannes Festival. Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux have done their homework and they've taken the temperature. Quite right!This year’s program, which we reported on on April 18th after attending the press conference here in Paris, is gleaming with talent and may even earn the Cannes Festival a Nobel Peace Prize, with women filmmakers better represented than ever