Posts Tagged ‘directing debut’
 

 

Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Holdovers,” “Pain Hustlers” & “Woman Of the Hour”

  These haven’t been glory days for the Toronto Film Festival.  The WGA/SAG strikes dampened the vibe, of course–of the 27 films I saw at TIFF, only 4 screenings featured appearances from the cast.  Beyond th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Sundance 2023 Reviews: “Past Lives,” “Fairyland” & “Infinity Pool”

  PAST LIVES (A24):  The playwright Celine Song makes an impressive feature writing/directing debut with the lovely, eloquent Past Lives.  The film is sort of the opposite of Sliding Doors and all of the multiversal ente...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

ShowbuzzDaily Sundance 2022 Reviews: “When You Finish Saving The World” & “Fresh”

  It’s the second consecutive Virtual Sundance, with safety, convenience and isolation in place of weather, shuttle buses and community.  Over the next several days, we’ll be bringing you reviews of several Su...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Virtual Toronto Film Festival Reviews

  This was a Toronto Film Festival unlike any other, and not just because I “attended” it from the laptop in my house.  Toronto has become an important stop on the road to the Academy Awards, with 9 of the pas...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “A Star Is Born” & “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

  A STAR IS BORN (Warners – October 5):  Bradley Cooper, making his directing debut, decided to do the equivalent of a first-time weightlifter starting out with a 400-pound barbell.  It isn’t just that A Star...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Sundance Film Festival Reviews: “Wildlife” & “The Tale”

  WILDLIFE (no distrib):  If you’ve ever felt sorry for youngsters who are cordoned off from their parents’ difficult relationships, and then blindsided by the consequences, Paul Dano’s directing debut a...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “mother!” & “Unicorn Store”

  mother! (Paramount – Sept 15):  It may come as a shock to people who have been following the marketing for Darren Aronofsky’s mother! to find out that it isn’t a horror movie at all.  It uses thriller...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Review: “Truth”

  The screenwriter James Vanderbilt has made his directing debut with TRUTH, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival tonight, and at times it’s clear that this is a writer’s movie:  Vanderbilt gives no fe...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Review: “A Tale of Love and Darkness”

  Natalie Portman certainly hasn’t made it easy for herself with her debut as a writer/director, A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS.  The film, which premiered at Cannes (but tellingly, doesn’t yet have a US distribu...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto 2014 Review: “Nightcrawler”

  NIGHTCRAWLER (Open Road) – Opens October 31 – Worth A Ticket Over the past few years, Jake Gyllenhaal has seemed determined to scrub the wholesomeness out of his screen image, in movies like Zodiac, Brothers,...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Film Review: “Tammy”

  TAMMY:  Not Even For Free – Melissa McCarthy Fumbles Her Industry Clout When a star earns hundreds of millions of dollars for Hollywood, it can show its appreciation by handing over the creative reins to the star ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY FILM REVIEW: “That Awkward Moment”

  THAT AWKWARD MOMENT:  Watch It At Home – Low-Impact Rom-Com If you heard that a new indie movie featured the stars of the past 2 years’ back-to-back Sundance sensations, Michael B. Jordan from 2013’s F...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE 2013: “Don Jon’s Addiction”

  When Joseph Gordon-Levitt decided to make his feature writing and directing debut with DON JON’S ADDICTION (starring in it as well), his attitude was clearly Go Big Or Go Home.  To a large extent, he’s pulle...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Quartet”

  QUARTET:  Watch It At Home – AARP’s Version of a Rock Concert Reunion Movie It may come as a surprise to some of the directors who’ve tangled with Dustin Hoffman to hear that QUARTET is supposed to mar...
by Mitch Salem