Starting right here, right now, I’m kicking off a podcast that brings together film and fashion in a brand new way, where you'll find yourself sitting in the room with celebrities and artists, for some cozy conversations. Cultural events and world affairs decoded, from Cannes to Venice to London and across the pond, to NYC.
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A still from the film, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Tim Burton’s 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' to kick off 81st Venice Film Fest
The film features Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, with Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe and will be screened on the 28th of August in the Sala Grande.
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How to make your life more 'Ripley' like...
Without the messy murders, of course!
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Hala Matar's 'Electra' world premieres, at this year's Santa Barbara IFF
And is worth a watch.
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The Venice Diaries: Creativity decoded by Schnabel's 'At Eternity's Gate', Assayas' 'Non-Fiction' and 'Why Are We Creative?'
The first ever Venice Film Festival was held in 1932, from the 6th to the 21st of August and it opened with 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' -- the Fredric March version. March went on to win favorite actor and since there were no official prizes, he was picked by the audience.
In that magical moment, during the first edition of the first ever world film festival our own profession -- film criticism and film writing -- was also born. There hadn't been a true need for it before, think about it.
When I come to Venice, I realize this is where it all comes from, and despite some problematic years in our history, we should remember the heritage of the Venice Film Festival. All journalists should take a moment and think about that when they first set foot on the Lido. Without Venice, we probably wouldn't be here. They started it. All.
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PHOTO BY FRANÇOIS DUHAMEL, COURTESY OF VICE
Jim Carrey in a still from ‘Man on the Moon’
The Venice Film Festival Diaries: ‘mother!’, ‘Loving Pablo’ Escobar and Jim Carrey Made Me Cry
Every meeting at this year’s Venice Film Festival has been a once-in-a-lifetime chance encounter for me. From chatting with the fabulous James Toback, to meeting his visionary producer Michael Mailer, from the relaxed junket on San Clemente island with Kirsten Dunst and the Rodarte sisters to sitting leisurely with artist Shirin Neshat at Villa degli Autori, from the wisdom of Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel to the Zen discipline and class of Maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto — it’s all been divine. There is no other word to describe it.
And yet, on the seventh day of the festival, another surprise awaited me. A cozy, wonderful junket with Jim Carrey and director Chris Smith, who together made a film that has quickly risen to my top five — alright top three actually — in Venice.
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COURTESY OF THE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL AND NETFLIX
Peter Sarsgaard in a still from Errol Morris’ ‘Wormwood’
The Venice Film Festival Diaries: Warwick Thornton’s ‘Sweet Country’ and Better than Fiction with ‘Cuba’ and ‘Wormwood’
On one of the English language news channels this morning, they were talking about this new film ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ which is making a big splash — or shall I say “flush” — in India at the moment. It’s a love story shot around the absolute, undeniably dire need for better plumbing facilities in the Desh. “This is one instance where perhaps a movie has been able to change policies,” said one anchor. Duh, I thought. Cinema has been changing the way we think, act and feel since its inception. It’s just that we don’t often think about it, because the kind of films which usually change us, for better or for worse, are those that entertain us without apparently teaching us anything. But the power of their subliminal messages is there, always, on the big screen, your TV and even your mobile screen.
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