The first thing that I noticed while watching Kantemir Balagov’s new film “Tesnota” (“Closeness” in the original russian) is the performance by lead actress Darya Zhovner. Her Ilana, the character from whose point of view the film is told, is a tomboy who works in her step-father’s garage and whiles away the days hanging out with her boyfriend. Zhovner, for whom this film represents a first role (she graduated from Moscow’s Art Theater

Ever since “Marie Antoinette” filmmaker Sofia Coppola has seemed to suffer from indolence, and that was the case again with “The Beguiled,” her new film debuting today in Cannes. I could not get into this movie in spite of its bravura visual palette, its many funny moments and primo cast composed of Colin Farrell, Kristen Dunst and Nicole Kidman. It’s three years into the civil war. Farrell plays Corporal McBirney

Roger Moore, third actor in the James Bond franchise, died at age 89. Considered the most suave personification of the legendary secret agent, the actor thought there were worse labels to wear the rest of one’s life. As a matter of fact, he considered himself incredibly lucky to have been selected to step into the uninimitable Sean Connery's shoes whom he wisely didn’t try to copy, becoming his own James Bond.

Midway through the 70th Cannes Festival the focus has veered sharply away from missing persons to domestic entanglements: or put another way, from people who have checked out of your life – voluntarily or involuntarily – to those you have no choice but to coexist with. It’s always difficult living in the shadow of a famous parent, but what if that parent isn’t exactly the genius you always thought he was? That question hugs

Characters in Yorgos Lanthimos’s movies seem moved by strange spirits and unknown motivations. From the beginning of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” questions come up: what is the relationship of Dr. Steven Murphy, an established surgeon, to Martin (Barry Keoghan), a teenager who has no connection to the doctor or his family? Why is Martin so weird, anyway? Martin’s father died on the operating table a couple years earlier.

Two men at an Andre Balasz properties hotel step inside […]

Filmmaker Claude Lanzmann traveled to North Korea three times in […]

In his latest film "Le Redoutable" Michel Hazanavicius looks at Jean-Luc Godard’s life at the peak of his career, a period that coincides with a time of great upheaval in France. The backlash from the Vietnam war could be felt from afar, the French had their Mai 68 and many a filmmaker, including Godard, led the rebellion against symbols of power, whether it was the state, the big corporations or even a certain kind of cinema. The times were a-changing and Godard

The name Taylor Sheridan will have a familiar ring to fans of “Sons of Anarchy” [FX] who will remember him for his role as police officer David Hale. There was a lot to the Hale character, an indication of Sheridan’s level as an actor and his ability as keen observer of people, how they function. Sheridan, who directed "Wind River," got his break as screenwriter when he was given writing duties for “Sicario,” directed by Denis Villeneuve.

Who is Billy Moore? He's a British citizen who was caught heroin while in Thailand and sent to jail, only to emerge a boxing champion. A white male, who gets thrown in jail while sojourning in a completely foreign country and walks out of there a boxing champion makes for the kind of extraordinary, by-the-bootstraps survival story that screenwriters are hardly able to generate. As it were, "A Prayer Before Dawn" is adapted from a book that Moore