Author: Alex Billington

"Keep telling stories to everybody in this room, to everybody watching abroad. Those of you who are not actors but have a voice, have a story that needs to be heard." –Lily Gladstone. As we move closer to the Academy Awards (they're on March 10th), the next important set of winners have been revealed. The 30th annual SAG Awards (Screen Actors Guild Awards) honor the finest performances from 2023, as chosen by other actors which means this is one of the most definitive lists of the very best. All of the nominees, too. Actors know their profession better than anyone and are very particular about good performances. What did they decide should win this year? Big news - Oppenheimer won the most awards, taking home Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Ensemble. This means it is probably going to win Best Picture and tons of Oscars next (same as Everything Everywhere All at Once last year). Lily Gladstone also won, over Emma Stone for Best Female Actor, along with the wonderful Da'Vine Joy Randolph from The Holdovers. Read on ...

The 74th Berlin Film Festival (also known as Berlinale locally) has wrapped its 2024 run following two weeks of screenings, with a big ceremony again in Berlin on Saturday evening, announcing the winner of the Golden Bear (Goldener Bär) for Best Film. That top prize from this year was given to yet another intriguing French documentary, this one titled Dahomey, directed by Mati Diop (of the film Atlantics previously). It follows the journey of 26 plundered royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey exhibited in Paris, now being returned to the original home of Benin in Africa. A French documentary also won the Golden Bear last year, too. Is this the hot trend now? The festival also awarded Sebastian Stan for Best Performance; along with Martin Gschlacht for Best Cinematography in the film The Devil’s Bath (Des Teufels Bad) - the latest from the Austrian co-directors of Goodnight Mommy and The Lodge previously. The rest of the awards are rather lackluster, but not surprising for this fest. Read on for the full list of Berlinale 2024 winners below. Here are the ...

One of my favorite films from 2019 is an animated French feature called I Lost My Body, about hand that runs off from a lab and a guy who encounters it. I was delighted to discover that the filmmaker behind I Lost My Body, named Jérémy Clapin, already has a new science fiction film finished and ready. His latest film is titled Meanwhile on Earth, also known as Pendant ce temps sur Terre in French, and it premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama section. I'm glad I caught up with it, even though I didn't even know it was playing at Berlinale until halfway through when other colleagues started talking about it. Meanwhile on Earth is a mesmerizing little sci-fi film about a woman connecting with extraterrestrial life. Not a knockout, nothing to phone home about, but vibrant filmmaking that kept me intrigued. It may not end up as impactful as I Lost My Body, but Jérémy Clapin will keep getting better the more films he makes. Meanwhile on Earth, both written and directed by Jérémy Clapin, ...

"You don't have to give up one life, just to go and live another one. You are more than just 'Sky.'" There's a worth watching short film available to watch online about the music industry and mental health and how tough it can be. The short is titled I Love You, Guys (stylized in all lower case as "i love you, guys") and it's directed by filmmaker Billie Melissa Rogan, making her fiction directorial debut. She's also working on another short doc and a few other films. Written by Cory Varney. A young singer on the verge of super-stardom, and the brink of a breakdown, must shake her demons before they derail her dreams and ruin the finale of her sellout tour. Starring Becky Bush as Sky, with Celi Crossland & Pedro Leandro. The film is an intimate look at the opposite side of stardom, the pressure and intensity of fame and how hard it can be on artists. While many are familiar with this (thanks to the stories about musicians like Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse) this film puts ...

"I must tell Tashi the truth and bring him home." Screen Daily has revealed the festival promo trailer for a Nepalese indie drama titled Shambhala 🇳🇵, the second feature film directed by Nepalese filmmaker Min Bahadur Bham. This film is premiering this week at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival just before it wraps up. It is the first ever Nepalese film to play in Competition at Berlinale, and has earned some rave reviews already. In a Himalayan polyandrous village, pregnant Pema faces scrutiny when her husband vanishes while on a trading trip to Lhasa. She sets off on an arduous journey to find him to give legitimacy to her unborn child. With her monk brother-in-law, her de facto spouse, she seeks her missing husband in the wild, unraveling her own self-discovery along the journey... The film stars Thinley Lhamo as Pema, with Sonam Topden, Tenzin Dalha, Karma Wangyal Gurung, and Karma Shakya. This is slow cinema at its finest, with a 2 and 1/2 hour runtime in total - and it seems like it will take its time. I always ...

"I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." Greenwich Ent. has posted the US trailer for The Fox, also known as Der Fuchs in German, an Austrian WWII film telling a true story. At the dawn of World War II in Austria, a young soldier encounters a wounded fox cub and takes it with him to occupied France. He clings to it as the last vestige of his humanity amidst the carnage of war. The story of an unlikely friendship. Based on the true story of Franz Streitberger, director Adrian Goiginger's great-grandfather. This premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival back in 2022, and is only now getting a VOD release in the US to watch. The Fox stars Simon Morzé as Franz Streitberger, with Adriane Gradziel, Marko Kerezovic, Karl Markovics, Alexander Beyer, and Karola Niederhuber. Thankfully this doesn't look as cheesy as so many other WWII films recently, it really does look like a moving tale of friendship amidst chaos. And the fox seems real! Somehow! They shot with real foxes on set!? Better than using a ...

"You can bet on me." Well Go USA has revealed an official trailer for an action comedy sequel from Japan titled Baby Assassins 2, once again written and directed by Japanese action filmmaker Yugo Sakamoto. This is a follow-up to the 2021 film Baby Assassins, about two high school girls who also just so happen to be highly trained assassins. Apparently it was enough of a success they had to come back and make a sequel - with everyone returning for more. After the agency suspends its top assassins, aspiring hitmen decide to eliminate them—leading to a lightning-fast showdown between trained killers. Baby Assassins 2 brings back Akari Takaishi and the rising star and Snake Eyes and Rurouni Kenshin franchise stuntwoman Saori Izawa as the two leads - who try to stay alive. With Atomu Mizuishi, Tomo Nakai, Tsubasa Tobinaga, Tetsu Watanabe, Joey Tee, Oto Abe, and Tatsuomi Hamada. This played at Fantastic Fest 2023 last fall and will be out to watch in the US on VOD / Blu-ray starting in April. Have fun with Chisato & Mahiro. Here's the ...

Everyone knows that most big restaurant kitchens are a mess. Everyone also knows that restaurant workers are overworked, underpaid, usually some of the most stressed out people on the planet, who work tirelessly where we can't see them to prepare our food and keep the restaurant running at full speed. There have been a number of good films made about kitchens and restaurant workers recently (Boiling Point and "The Bear" are two of the most prominent) and now there's another new one to add to that growing subgenre. La Cocina is the latest feature film made by a Mexican filmmaker named Alonso Ruizpalacios, who directs this B&W drama based on the acclaimed stage play by Arnold Wesker. Alas, La Cocina is unfortunately a messy, tiresomely chaotic, frustrating film that is so obsessed with its own chaos that it becomes annoying to sit through, especially the final 30 minutes. Check, please! I don't want a desert today, I'm ready to leave. La Cocina is written and directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios, and is set entirely in New York City at a fictional Times ...

"Search everywhere! Everywhere! Do you hear me?" Quiver Distr. has debuted the official US trailer a true story WWII thriller titled Irena's Vow, the latest film from Canadian filmmaker Louise Archambault. This originally premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival last fall, and it also played at the Cinéfest Sudbury Film Festival in Canada, but nowhere in the US. Discover the incredible true story of Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish nurse who heroically saved Jewish lives during WWII. An inspiring story that needs to be seen to be believed. The film follows the Polish nurse Irene Gut Opdyke who was awarded the "Righteous Among the Nations" medal for her remarkable courage. After being promoted to housekeeper in a Nazi commandant's house, she decides to shelter 12 Jewish people working there in the basement for years. This stars Sophie Nélisse (from "Yellowjackets," 47 Meters Down: Uncaged) as Irena, Dougray Scott, Andrzej Seweryn, and Maciek Nawrocki. Yet another harrowing story of survival during the Holocaust. Take a look below. Here's the official trailer (+ new poster) for Louise Archambault's Irena's Vow, direct from ...

"Wild, hilarious, and cryptically profound." Buckle up! Mubi has revealed their full trailer for the acclaimed Romanian indie film titled Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, the latest creation by filmmaker Radu Jude (who won Berlinale's Golden Bear prize in 2021 for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn). This premiered at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival last year and many critics went berserk for it, heralding it as one of the best films at any festival last year. However, most people are not going to be into this one - it's nearly 3 hours long, mostly in B&W, following a woman driving around as she makes her own TikToks and cracks semi-offensive jokes all the time (here's my full review). An overworked and underpaid production assistant has to shoot a workplace safety video commissioned by a multinational company. But an interviewee makes a statement and must then re-invent his story to fit the company's narrative. Starring Ilinca Manolache as Angela and "Bobita", plus Ovidiu Pîrsan, Nina Hoss, Dorina Lazar, and Katia Pascariu. This kind of ...