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Portugal’s João Pedro Rodrigues takes the familiar story of an aging drag queen, whose lover, job, and very body are all in varying states of turmoil, and imbues it with deep feeling. Rodrigues’s first two films, O Fantasma (02) and Two Drifters (06), viewed desire through a sometimes hallucinatory lens, and while his latest at times shares their dreamlike intensity, it rests just as much on the broad shoulders of Fernando Santos, playing the overwhelmed but never less than engaged Tonia....

Early on in Ed Wood, the irrepressible director reads a savage opening-night review aloud to his cast, and chirpily emphasizes a bit of backhanded praise about the “realistic” costumes. Clothes on Film upends the well-established critical tendency to either make a punchline out of this component of filmmaking, or simply take it for granted. Drawing on the wealth of precise vocabulary available to both fashion and film, the rewarding site’s diverse stable of contributors write about both disciplines in an articulate manner that is intelligible to a person versed in neither....

Zero Dark Thirty begins with two complementary instances of terror. One is the agony in the voices of desperate people trying to comprehend the event of the conflagration on the top floors of the World Trade Center—the voices of people about to die conversing with those struggling to console, or to offer uncomprehending (and of course false) reassurance. The other scene shows diligent, serious, intelligent CIA operative Dan (Jason Clarke), observed by the film’s main character Maya (Jessica Chastain), torturing a captive Al Qaeda agent in pursuit of information concerning the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden....

Earth Mama (Savanah Leaf, 2023). Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama opens with a woman facing the camera, saying defiantly: “I don’t care if y’all don’t care if I do make it. It’s my journey; it’s nobody else’s journey. Nobody is going to walk with these shoes I got on my feet.” Bright and early on my second day in freezing Park City, this scene felt like an invigorating omen....

Midnight Family (Luke Lorentzen, 2018) There’s a scene in Luke Lorentzen’s Midnight Family that has all the trappings of a high-octane action-movie chase sequence. The Ochoas—patriarch Fer, and sons Juan and Josue—race against another vehicle through the neon-lit streets of Mexico City. The teenaged Juan is at the wheel, cutting haphazardly through traffic; Fer yells out directions, shouting at passersby to get them out of the way; and the nine-year-old Josue sits in the back, whooping and cheering, “We’re gonna win!...

The Thin Man It took 80 films for Myrna Loy to become an overnight star. The hardworking dancer-turned-actress weathered typecasting of one kind or another for years before sashaying into screen immortality, martini in hand, as Nora Charles in The Thin Man. Shot in just 12 days, W.S. “One-Take Woody” Van Dyke’s sparkling comic mystery became one of 1934’s biggest hits, and launched Hollywood’s first prestige franchise, founded on the unrivaled chemistry of its leading pair....

The Strawberry Blonde In Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, a contemporary screenwriter played by Owen Wilson is whisked away to 1920s Paris, where he delights in mingling with his literary idols. Yet when he finds the girl of his dreams there, she yearns for the elegant, optimistic Belle Époque of a generation before. And when the two are mysteriously transported to that time, they find its denizens pining for the cultural surge of the Renaissance....

Lady Bird This year’s Telluride Film Festival—the 44th edition of the intimate annual Labor Day weekend event held in the well-appointed Colorado mountain town—was a kind of homecoming for Barry Jenkins. Stars famously walk Telluride’s streets and are rarely approached, but while out and about Jenkins was frequently greeted with hugs. One year ago during a casual party hosted by distributor A24 at a popular local Italian restaurant, Jenkins canvassed the room for first reactions to his new film, Moonlight....

The group focused on a handful of notable nominees—Sound of Metal, Minari, Judas and the Black Messiah, and Nomadland, among others—and also dug into the massive Oscars marketing apparatus, ’90s zine culture, the phenomenon of professional “Oscarologists,” and much, much more. To top it off, the discussion was interrupted by a brief visit from New York’s finest. Fear not! Everyone is safe. Though Margaret, if you’re listening, please be advised....

Catch up on all our Cannes 2022 podcasts, interviews, and dispatches here. Thanks to James Wham for production assistance.

On today’s podcast FC Publisher Eugene Hernandez sits down with Arianna Bocco, President of IFC Films, to take the temperature of Cannes, mid-way through. The two talk about her history with festival, how Cannes’ role in the film industry has evolved over the years, and how seeing 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days from Cristian Mungiu (director of this year’s standout drama R.M.N.) changed her career. Subscribe to the Film Comment Letter today for a steady stream of festival coverage, and catch up on all our Cannes 2022 podcasts, interviews, and dispatches here....

On today’s episode, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish is joined by Kevin B. Lee, Abby Sun, and Vadim Rizov to debate their differing reactions to Jia Zhangke’s Caught by the Tides, Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumours, Patricia Mazuy’s Visiting Hours, and Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language. Subscribe today to the Film Comment Letter for a steady stream of Cannes coverage, providing everything you need to know about the 2024 edition....

In advance of the 49th Chaplin Award Gala, taking place on April 29, Devika sat down with Bridges for a look back at the actor’s long career. Taking inspiration from a painting Bridges made many years ago, titled Jeff Makes a Decision, which depicts him as a stick figure navigating a river full of whirlpools, their conversation touched upon several of Bridges’s iconic roles—The Last Picture Show, Tron, Crazy Heart, and more—and how the actor ended up in those movies, often in spite of himself....

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The Film Comment Podcast from Sundance is sponsored by Autograph Collection Hotels.

The Film Comment Podcast from Sundance is sponsored by Autograph Collection Hotels.

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