Thompson on Hollywood

Juliette Binoche Talks 'Elles,' Masturbation & her Upcoming Portrayal of Camille Claudel

Features

If there’s one theme running through Juliette Binoche’s impressive and varied resume, it’s her desire to confound preconceived notions about the predominantly challenging women she portrays. That’s true of her latest film, "Elles," in which she plays a journalist and mother juggling domestic routines while toiling on an expose about prostitutes.

By Matt Mueller
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April 23, 2012 12:04 PM
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SFIFF 55 Reviews: 'Goodbye,' 'Robot & Frank,' 'How to Survive a Plague,' 'Fourth Dimension'

Festivals

Only two films into the day and I’ve already been confronted with political repression, abuse, Down syndrome, and Alzheimer’s. I go to see “The Fourth Dimension,” a trilogy of films created around a set of instructions that sound Dogme-esque but more specific (stuffed animals and bad jokes must be included) by Harmony Korine...

By Meredith Brody
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April 22, 2012 3:52 PM
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Tribeca Film Festival Review: Familiar Thriller 'Replicas' Boasts Strong Leads

Reviews

If you’re out in the woods in a mansion, don’t open the door to strangers. If you do, and you happen to be in a movie, prepare to be at the wrong end of a shotgun.

By David D'Arcy
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April 22, 2012 3:07 PM
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Tribeca Film Festival Review: Alex Karpovsky's 'Rubberneck' Channels Hitchcock and Chabrol

Reviews

Writer/director/actor Alex Karpovsky is a presence out there for the younger indie public – a bit Woody Allen, a bit of a geek from his own generation, with a sinister side as a pathetic, intelligent but volatile loser at love in the low-budget “Rubberneck,” which made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

By David D'Arcy
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April 22, 2012 2:53 PM
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SFIFF Review: Peter Nicks' Doc 'The Waiting Room'

Reviews

"The Waiting Room" is edited to give the range of emotions observed and experienced in that space, and that range is vast. This is documentary as distilled observation. It’s also as strong an argument for universal health care that I’ve seen in years.

By David D'Arcy
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April 22, 2012 1:41 PM
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55th San Francisco International Film Festival Gets Under Way: 'Farewell My Queen,' 'Trishna,' 'Twixt'

Festivals

Among the fiction films, famed auteurs are not in abundance, having seen the Coppola, Winterbottom, and Johnie To films: the new Kassovitz and Guedigian appeal to the Francophile in me, but those are not exactly marquee names. Star power seemed reserved for the tributes to Judy Davis and Kenneth Branagh, but even those names are somewhat subdued in celebrity culture terms.

By Meredith Brody
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April 21, 2012 12:15 PM
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Cannes 2011 Box Office Recap: Some Played, Most Didn't

Festivals

As we anticipate savoring the various sections of Cannes 2012 (official and sidebar), let's dig into the level of success of last year’s entries – including the first Best Picture Oscar-winner launched at the festival, and two others also nominated in the same category.

By Tom Brueggemann
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April 21, 2012 7:15 AM
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SFIFF Review: 'Tokyo Waka: A City Poem'

Reviews

Would someone please summon Alfred Hitchcock? "Tokyo Waka; A City Poem" is, among other things, an ode to the crows that seem everywhere in that Japanese city. They attack people, they eat anything available, and they raid the city’s zoo to steal baby prairie dogs and other small animals that they can carry away.

By David D'Arcy
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April 20, 2012 3:38 PM
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Watch First-Ever Sundance London Short Film Competition Winner 'Extranjero'

Festivals

By Maggie Lange
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April 20, 2012 12:10 PM
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Cannes Stars: Considering 14 Careers Heading Into Festival

Festivals

Cannes can have a huge impact on a star's career--from the dazzling experience of walking up the Palais red carpet, to facing a gauntlet of international press. With the Cannes lineup revealed, let's dig into what this year's stars have to win or lose.