Joan Chen and Izaac Wang in a scene from Sean Wang’s ‘DÌDI’
An American coming of age story like you’ve never watched on the big screen before, ‘DÌDI’ opens this weekend and it is a must watch. I caught up with the stars and the visionary filmmaker for a Zoom press conference and here are a couple of takeaways to whet your appetite.
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Once the absurd discourse about Bradley Cooper’s nose will have finally quieted down, those who have been lucky enough to have watched ‘Maestro’ on the big screen will realize they’ve witnessed a masterpiece.
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Josef Hader as Stefan Zweig
Long before signing on to direct ‘Unorthodox’ on Netflix, Maria Schrader made another beautiful film about a Jewish figure, Stefan Zweig. I interviewed her in 2016 as she was nominated to represent Austria as the country’s Academy Award’s entry. I wanted to revisit that interview and my love for her work. The interview and my own thoughts about the film are as current today as they could ever be. Just read on.
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Back in 2012, I watched and wrote about ‘The List’ a haunting documentary by American filmmaker Beth Murphy. It premiered at Tribeca and immediately became a symbol of the country I called home at the time. President Bush Senior had fought Iraq on the fields of Kuwait, while Bush Junior invaded the country vouching to get back at Saddam Hussein for, and I quote the then President, “this is the guy who tried to kill my father.”
Ever since then, it’s been an unmentionable subject, Iraq. In US news,
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Agnès Varda and JR on the road
“Did you like our little film?”
Agnès Varda grabs my hand and holds it between hers as I try to exit the room where I’ve just spent the last ten minutes interviewing her and artist JR about their cinematic collaboration ‘Visages, Villages’ (’Faces, Places’) which premiered “Out of Competition” in Cannes. We may have learned in the film that the filmmaker has cute little feet, but I now know she also has lovely, kind hands.
“Of course I did! Why would I have wanted to interview you otherwise?!” I hear myself say, but almost as soon as the words come out, I realize I’m telling a half truth. Yes, I loved this film, its simple premise and grand cinematography and I relished the mutual respect the legendary 88 year-old filmmaker and the anonymous 33 year-old photographer show for each other throughout their road movie around the French countryside. To me, they are the new Beatles, the rockstars of cinema’s here and now. But I also craved to be in the presence of Varda and JR and would have come to interview them even if I hadn’t enjoyed the film as much as I did. It’s Madame Varda, after all, and JR, the artist — wrap your head around this — with a million Instagram followers!
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