Whether or not we lived in NYC in the 1980’s or watched TV shows like Sesame Street, or even ever talked to an imaginary friend as children (or adults), there is something about the miniseries created by Welsh screenwriter Abi Morgan and directed by Lucy Forbes that strikes a chord — a musical chord.
Read MoreThis year's Festival de Cannes line up is announced
And it features the latest works from Yorgos Lanthimos, Karim Aïnouz, Ali Abbasi, David Cronenberg, Paolo Sorrentino and Francis Ford Coppola, to name a few — phew!
Read MoreFive films to illuminate in these dark times, and check your racism at the door
“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” — James Baldwin
When I learned what happened to George Floyd on Memorial Day, I remembered more profoundly what “white privilege” means.
Read MoreSideways The Experience: A quintessential California story makes for the perfect NYC evening
Everyone is probably familiar with the 2004 film ‘Sideways’ by Alexander Payne, starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, playing two best friends on a trip through California’s wine country. Giamatti’s Miles wants to enjoy the wine tastings while his buddy Jack is looking for a last fling before his wedding at the end of their journey together. Sprinkle in Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh as their romantic interests and needless to say, the film was a indie hit. Yet I never realized what a devoted fan following the story has, originally written as a novel by Rex Pickett who also did the stage adaptation for ‘Sideways: The Experience’.
Read More'Breaking Bread' and the story of one super, courageous NYC film festival
In history, it has often proven dangerous to attempt to be a peacemaker. In fact, men from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to John F. Kennedy and even Malcolm X — once he realized his own philosophy of hate was going nowhere and advocated peace between the races — have fallen victims to assassinations because of their ideals.
When we look to the Middle East, the list grows to include Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In April of 2011, Palestinian-Israeli actor and director Juliano Mer-Khamis was murdered by masked gunmen outside his theater in Jenin, where he worked to promote a meeting of minds.
Read MoreRome Film Festival Diaries: Three things I love about La Festa del Cinema di Roma
Alright, I’ll kick it off right away by saying that the opening film for this 14th edition of the Rome Film Festival is wonderful! ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ the second directorial venture by beloved actor Edward Norton is everything an opening film should be for a festival — full of star power, great performances and evoking an elegance that only that particular time and in that place can bring about. More on it later.
Read MoreThe NYC Diaries: 'Sea Wall / A Life' on Broadway proves Jake Gyllenhaal is the best actor we have today
Alright, I’m partial I’ll admit it, ever since securing this wondrous interview with the man back in 2017 in Cannes. But now on stage performing in the second half of ‘Sea Wall / A Life’ which premiered last summer at the Public Theater before moving to the Hudson for its Broadway run, the man does blow every other actor of his generation out of the water.
How, you ask?
Read MoreFive projects from this year's Qumra I simply cannot wait to watch
The yearly, five days long Qumra event in Qatar, held by the Doha Film Institute each March is that rare occasion for those of us who write about cinema to connect with the filmmakers, producers, film programmers, sales agents and festival directors who make the magic happen. Don’t misunderstand me now, I think film journalists and bloggers are equally to praise or blame for great movies being made. Our collective word, the reviews and interviews we manage to sell to publications or feature on our blogs, can create a movement that reverberates around the world. I know colleagues who pride themselves on making or breaking someone’s career. It’s not nice, but it is true. Take the case of Gianfranco Rosi’s ‘Below Sea Level’ and the infamous Variety review that ensured the film never made it to a cinema near you — a fact the filmmaker mentioned in his Masterclass at last year’s Qumra.
That said, in Doha there is a great energy created by the powers that be of the DFI, which allows journalists to relate to the film projects in such a personal way that it’s impossible thereafter to dislike it or even ignore it.
Read MoreThe Venice Diaries: Bruce Weber paints a daring portrait of Robert Mitchum in 'Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast'
As I sat down to meet legendary fashion photographer Bruce Weber I said "Mr. Weber, I can't say I grew up with your photographs because I'm older than I look, but I definitely grew into my sexuality thanks to your iconic images." It's true. Those NYC billboards in Times Square of underwear models for Calvin Klein, the Ralph Lauren "out of Africa" campaign, Kate Moss in the bathtub, the beach scenes, the catalogues I devoured before the advent of the internet, I grew into my skin thanks to Weber's images.
Today, Weber has helped me to rediscover the beauty and genius of classic American actor Robert Mitchum. 'Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast' screens at the Venice Film Festival in the Venice Classics section and is co-produced by Weber's wife Nan Bush. In the documentary, Mitchum is shown as never before, a singer, a lover and a poet, aided in part by cameos by Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Polly Bergen, Brenda Vaccaro and Liam Neeson, among many many more.
So why a film about Mitchum, why from Weber and why now?
Read MoreThe Berlinale Diaries: Hulu's 'The Looming Tower' and a Lav Diaz virgin no more!
The 21st century version of the all-American question "where were you when JFK was assassinated?" is "what were you doing when the planes hit the World Trade Center?"
Some of us watched the towers disintegrate before our very eyes, our landscape changed forever, and it's a vision, a feeling we will carry inside our hearts for as long as we live. The smell throughout downtown Manhattan, the lines of demarcation -- complete with checkpoints -- between the northern and southern parts of the city but also the newfound sense of camaraderie we bestowed upon each other to merely get from day to day, is also what I remember from those days.
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