Ziad Shihab

Showing all posts tagged "Filmqueue"

Banel and Adama – cinema as fairytale

Banel (Khady Mane) and Adama (Mamadou Diallo) are a beautiful couple, introduced on the arid plains of Senegal, clad in yellow and red respectively. They float through their day’s work of cow-herding in a harmonious, almost dreamlike state. Banel closes her eyes against the blistering sun, hiding from reality by finding meaning in the flashing lights, or phosphenes, left behind in her vision. In this opening sequence, the pair exist in a montage of almost stock videos, in primary colours and ...

Spaceman - 2024 movie analysis

Netflix’s new sci-fi film "Spaceman," starring Adam Sandler, follows the story of an astronaut on a solitary research voyage to outer space. However, during his solo mission, he encounters an alien creature that leads him to a somber realization: his self-absorbed world is the cause of his estranged relationship with his wife. Is it too late for him to set things right?This article contain spoilers; readers discretion advised.Spaceman (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:Commander Jakub P...

Anatomy of a Fall

TIFF 2023 | Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet, France) — Special Presentations By Aurélie Godet. Published in Cinema Scope #95 (Summer 2023). Have you ever sat in front of a large poster depicting the human body without its skin? One muscle gets entangled into another, the precision and complexity of their web apparent in the areas that are most crucial for movement, but with the face on top of this transparent carcass looking very much alive. One can imagine that Justine...

Hollywood Types - THE MODERNS

From the Chicago Reader (May 13, 1988). — J.R.THE MODERNS *** (A must-see)Directed by Alan RudolphWritten by Rudolph and Jon BradshawWith Keith Carradine, Linda Fiorentino, Geneviève Bujold, Geraldine Chaplin, Wallace Shawn, Kevin J. O’Connor, and John Lone.For its first hour, at least, The Moderns gives us an Alan Rudolph very nearly back at the top of his form, on a level that approaches that of his two masterpieces, Remember My Name and Choose Me. The effort isn’t sustained — and the movie...

Unleashing the Fury - Monkey Man

Get ready to dive deep into the heart-pounding world of "Monkey Man". This new film looks like an exciting action thriller that promises to leave you on the edge of your seat. Dev Patel is taking on directing duties for this film promising something unique. In "Monkey Man," he’s taking us on a wild ride through vengeance, corruption, and a whole lot of gorilla-masked beatdowns. In "Monkey Man," Patel takes on the role of Kid. He’s a young man with a burning desire for justice in a world full ...

Outer Limits - IFFR 2024

This article appeared in the February 9, 2024 edition of The Film Comment Letter, our free weekly newsletter featuring original film criticism and writing. Sign up for the Letter here. Under a Blue Sun (Daniel Mann, 2024)Now four years into its run under the leadership of director Vanja Kaludjercic, the International Film Festival Rotterdam has firmly established its new MO. Following a pair of quietly inspired online iterations during the pandemic and last year’s somewhat scattershot return ...

Robot Dreams

Pablo Berger’s "Robot Dreams" might be created via simple animation in terms of the details of the anthropomorphic characters, but it doesn’t lack detail within the environment the film is set in. The opening scene alone showcases Dog’s loneliness as he heats up Mac and Cheese for dinner and sits down on his sofa. Meanwhile, in the background, we see a couple (a giraffe and a hippo) sitting down in their apartment opposite to watch a sitcom to finish their dinner. This occurs before Dog notic...

Cleaners in Film and Literature

Cleaners in Film and Literature About The Third Man, a film by Carol Reed that features a cleaner. The Third Man is a 1949 film noir that tells the story of Holly Martins, an American writer who arrives in post-war Vienna to meet his friend Harry Lime, only to find out that he has died in a mysterious car accident. Martins decides to investigate Lime's death and discovers that he was involved in a black market scheme that involved selling diluted penicillin to hospitals, causing many death...

Ms .45 - Abel Ferrara - stunning tale of revenge

(Credits: Far Out / Rochelle Films)‘Ms .45’: Abel Ferrara’s stunning tale of revenge Mon 29 January 2024 22:45, UKOne of the most widely debated genres in cinema history is easily rape and revenge. Many movies that fall into this category align closely with the horror or exploitation genres and, more often than not, are directed by men. Thus, much controversy surrounds these rape-revenge flicks, with many feminist scholars criticising specific films from the genre for featuring gratuitous, dr...

The Kitchen

A directorial debut for both co-directors, Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares, "The Kitchen" is a tale set in a near-future dystopian London. Tackling the inaccessibility of affordable housing while turning the volume up to eleven, "The Kitchen" almost reads like a damning premonition of what’s to come as the gap between rich and poor widens to even more damning degrees. Izi (Kane Robinson) lives in the Kitchen, a take on a futuristic housing project that has truly become...

We Don’t Need Another Hero

We Don’t Need Another Hero 1987 film - summary by Wavelength.ai "We Don't Need Another Hero" is a 1987 film that takes place in a desolate and post-apocalyptic world. The story revolves around a group of survivors who are desperately searching for a mythical city known as "Arcadia." This city is rumored to be a safe haven with an abundance of resources, offering a chance for a better life. The film follows their perilous journey as they navigate through treacherous landscapes, encounter hos...

Best Undistributed Films of 2023

After highlighting the 50 best films you may have missed this year and our overall top 50 films of 2023, today we put our spotlight on those that need a home in the first place: movies we loved on the festival circuit––from Berlinale, Sundance, Cannes, TIFF, NYFF, Rotterdam, and beyond—still seeking U.S. distribution.We hope that highlighting these titles spurs some distributor interest and a forthcoming release; we’ll be sharing any updates in this regard on Twitter, so make sure to follow u...

Great Films Based on Books

Clip source: Great%20Films%20Based%20on%20Books%20%7C%20LibraryThing Skip to main content Come join our LibraryThing 2023 Roundup Hunt! Dismiss https://www.librarything.com/pic/10346985Great Films Based on Books Description Book lovers often have very strong opinions about how their favorite stories ought to be adapted, when being made into films. Our List of the Month this November is devoted to films that got it right—films that were successfully adapted from books, or that even improv...

DO NOT DISTURB - 2022 film

366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.DIRECTED BY: John AinslieFEATURING: Kimberly LaFerrière, Rogan ChristopherPLOT: Their relationship on the verge of collapse, Chloë and Jack honeymoon in Miami—and ingest a lot of peyote in their hotel room.COMMENTS: John Ainslie’s evidences certainty as a director in how he orchestrates his main characters’ indecision so convincingly. At one moment—well, at plenty of moments—the audience really, really dislikes Ja...

VISITORS FROM THE ARKANA GALAXY (1981)

Gosti iz galaksije; AKA Visitors from the Galaxy366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.DIRECTED BY: Dusan VukoticFEATURING: Zarko Potocnjak, Ksenia Prohaska, Lucie ZulováPLOT: An aspiring science fiction writer finds he has materialized the aliens from his long-gestating novel, including a space monster.[link ]COMMENTS: Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy is a curious artifact from nowhere. Or at least, from nowhere that exists anymore: a co-production bet...

Love Story 1970 - A Timeless Tale of Love and Loss

Love Story is a 1970 American romantic drama film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw. It tells the story of Oliver Barrett IV, a wealthy Harvard University student, and Jenny Cavilleri, a working-class Radcliffe College student, who fall deeply in love despite their contrasting backgrounds.Oliver, heir to a prominent family fortune, is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps and attend law school. He plays hockey for the university team and leads a privile...

Flash - The

Hope you all had a fun autumn.Me, I genuinely enjoyed taking a break from the blog so I could focus my time and attention on other projects. I liked that I didn’t have to bother pretending to give a shit about The Last Voyage of the Demeter. I’m glad I got to see Bottoms and Dicks: The Musical without trying to sufficiently describe what the high-flying fuck I just sat through. Watching Killers of the Flower Moon was enough of a commitment without the pressure of writing a master’s thesis abo...

Containing Russia

Alexander Kluge, Russia Container, trans. Alexander Booth (Chicago: Seagull Books, 2022). 392pp., £27.50 hb., 978 1 80309 065 8Russia Container is not a book about Russia. It’s about the images and stories that East Germans had of Soviet Russia before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and after. Alexander Kluge wrote it ‘on commission’ by his sister Alexandra Kluge, who, unlike her brother, lived in the German Democratic Republic after the separation of their parents. There Alexandra learnt...

WOLF MAN - The (1941)

Welcome back to the scariest, and at times goriest, column here at Film Inquiry: Horrific Inquiry. Twice a month, I will be tackling all things horror, bringing two films back into the spotlight to terrify and frighten once more. And occasionally looking at those that could have pushed the envelope further. Join us as we dive deep into the heart of horror, but warning, there will be spoilers.It’s that time of the year again – the beloved month of horror. While the leaves may have begun to cha...

New Thriller by Amazon - Wilderness - needs more camp

Stefania Rosini/Prime VIdeo By Valerie Ettenhofer · Published on October 4th, 2023 Welcome to Up Next, a recurring column keeping an eye on what’s new in TV. This week, TV critic Valerie Ettenhofer checks in with a review of the new Amazon Prime show Wilderness.For a few years roughly a decade ago, nearly every mystery or thriller novel to hit shelves was dubbed "the next Gone Girl." In the wake of the success of Gillian Flynn’s dark, twisty novel about an acrid marriage that turned potential...

Pickpocket

Near Matches Ignore ExactFull Text Everything2 Pickpocket (thing) See all of Pickpocket, there is 1 more in this node. (thing) by ellF Fri Dec 06 2002 at 8:10:40 Title: Pickpocket Color: Black and white Country: France Director: Robert Bresson Release: 1959 Language: French, with English subtitles Runtime: 75 minutes Starring: Martin LaSalle as Michel, Marika Green as Jane Synopsis: Often viewed as Bresson's strongest film, Pickpocket is the story of a masterful Parisian thi...

Gun Crazy

Gun Crazy is a precursor to Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and the sub-genre of ‘Couple on the Run’ films, which, like any film noir or neo-noir, is bound to end in tragedy. With impeccable editing that smoothly transitions across tense blocks of the screenplay, the movie establishes both a rapid-fire plot of thrills and finds time to reflect on the themes and psychology of its lead protagonists.Directed by Joseph H. Lewis and written by the HUAC blacklisted Dalton Trumbo (under a pseudonym), the sc...

One Night Stand Murder - Cast and Characters Explained

One Night Stand Murder looks like it will be a movie masterpiece, with a gripping story and great acting from a skilled cast. This thrilling story of mystery, memory, and redemption will be out soon, so mark your calendars, set reminders, and get ready to be spellbound. Don’t miss the chance to go on this amazing movie journey. In the movie, a young woman wakes up in the home of a stranger and finds a dead body. She doesn’t remember what happened the night before, but now that she is a suspec...