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There’s no denying that Taylor Russell is a star in the making. It’s simply a fact of life, especially if you pay any attention to cinema.

Back in 2003, Sofia Coppola teamed up with Bill Murray for Lost in Translation, one of the best films of the past 25 years. Now, in 2020, they’re getting back together for a movie with a potentially similar vibe in On the Rocks.

Yesterday, the New York Film Festival made another 2020 announcement, this one looking back on the past a bit. Yes, longtime festival goers know that NYFF each year has a robust Revivals lineup, and this year will be no exception.

It would have been very easy for Words on Bathroom Walls to take a simplistic approach to the story that it’s telling. Young Adult novels that get turned into movies tend to lean on heavy themes, but don’t always tackle them in particularly mature ways.

Horror movies can easily get lost going down a path of just being a gore-fest or just being one big metaphor. The most successful efforts in the genre manage to do more than one thing, or at least aren’t completely simple to pin down.

Giving a leading role to Jacki Weaver is something any filmmaker should be commended for. The veteran actress is a welcome presence anywhere, no matter the topic.

2020 has been a hell of a year for Danny Wolf. Not only did he have his three part documentary series on cult films (Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films Of All Time) released, he’s now also about to release another in Skin: A History Of Nudity In The Movies.

The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game franchise was an absolute revelation in the industry, as well as a huge attraction for gamers on the whole. I know even just personally, growing up it was one of the most popular things you could be playing, whether or not you knew anything about skateboarding, or even if you were interested in it.

We don’t get enough material set in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The era is so fraught with mystery and intrigue, it benefits more than just spy thrillers.

It’s really hard to make a documentary about movie nudity. Even with the best of intentions, one can really easily fall into exploitation and titillation, as opposed to information.

Politics is, without question, a dirty business. At all levels, the political machine brings out (sometimes) the best in humanity, as well as (oftentimes, sadly) the worst in people.

Moments ago, the 2020 New York Film Festival announced their Main Slate, coming after the big three announcements recently. NYFF will be different, obviously, given the pandemic, but there’s still 25 movies that will make up the fest.

It seems like there’s an entire generation out there that just seeks to go viral. Social Media and its positive and/or negative effect on the world is not a new debate, but cinema has certainly begun to chime in on that conversation.

The New York Film Festival just now unveiled the final selection of their annual big three titles, naming Azazel Jacobs’ French Exit as the 2020 incarnation of the fest’s Closing Night pick. We now know the festival’s Opener in Lovers Rock, Centerpiece in Nomadland, and Closer, so all that’s left is the Main Slate, which should be headed our way shortly.

In the wrong hands, cliches are about the worst thing that can populate a film. Handled poorly, they just remind you all that can be wrong about cinema.

Could the upcoming Oscar season be one that Netflix just out and out dominates? The possibility certainly exists, especially considering how they’re one of the only games in town, in terms of grabbing and scheduling “awards season” releases. I’m sure the streaming giant would love to win Best Picture this year, but they’d also probably love even more to win in a year where no one can put an asterisk next to their victory.

Folks, we’ve nearly reached the end of the line. Yes, this penultimate time around I’ll be tackling one of the very biggest of the big eight categories, one of the only two left.

Retro games have an appeal that even their AAA titles on the Playstation 4 and XBOX One can’t quite compete with. Things for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and before, contain a portal back to childhood that’s pretty singular.

There’s a charming weirdness at the core of An American Pickle, the latest Seth Rogen star vehicle. It’s a movie that sounds like it could be either amazing or terrible, depending on the execution.

The sport of hockey, at least in the United States, didn’t always have the Russian influence that it now has. There was a time where players from the former Soviet Union first came over to American shores and started in the NHL.

Only a few films in, Kris Ray is an emerging voice on the independent cinema scene that’s well worth paying attention to. Gillian Jacobs, of course, is one of the better young actresses in the business.

Charlie Kaufman is back! For his lasted project, the singular filmmaker is adapting a novel and diving into genre elements with I’m Thinking of Ending Things, his first collaboration with Netflix. Yes, the streaming giant adds another Academy Award-winning auteur to their stable, but Kaufman also will undoubtedly see the biggest audience ever for one of his movies.

There are several constants that you find in a David Ayer movie. He loves to explore the world of crime, as well as the thin lines of good and evil that exist within the criminal underworld.

What would you do if you wound up back at college? Many of us have wondered that over the years since graduating, but too many movies that think about that go broad and silly in their depiction. Not here, however, as I Used to Go Here finds a perfect angle and avoids the pratfalls that those other films fall into.

At the core of Waiting for the Barbarians, a surprisingly star-studded new independent release, is a concept that’s worthy of top-tier cinematic execution. Unfortunately, despite solid performances, great cinematography, and strong themes that should resonate, the emotion of it all is held too much at arm’s length.

For months, the fate of Disney’s live action Mulan remake has been up in the air. It’s seemed like whatever Warner Bros.

There’s almost always something really interesting to hear about when an actor makes their directorial debut, and especially when they’ve written the project as well. This was, unsurprisingly, no exception a few days ago when I was able to hop on the phone to chat for a few minutes with actor and now writer/director James D’Arcy, whose film Made in Italy is being released this weekend.

Jerry O’Connell deserved better. Frankly, anyone does than this, though O’Connell in particular is a solid actor who has thrived in raunchy comedies before.

Moments ago, the New York Film Festival announced their Opening Night Selection, and it’s not a title you’d expect. Going in a different direction than at least I anticipated, they’ve tapped Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock as the Opener.

Tales of fathers and sons are nothing new to movies. It’s all in how you choose to tell this story.

Lately, Ron Howard has had his eye on the documentary format. The Academy Award winning director, long known as the helmer of dramatic Oscar fare (after his career as an actor, of course), has recently been interested in non-fiction.

Making a tearjerker that still has a sense of fun to it is a fairly difficult proposition. After all, you want the emotions to seem real, so the playfulness can’t overwhelm it, or frankly, vice-versa.

With August coming tomorrow, this would usually be prime time for a new updated to Oscar predictions. However, these are not normal times, so for many pundits, awards season prognostication is on hold.

Cuba is a really interesting place. I’ve actually been there, though only for a day, back a few years ago before the U.S.

After unveiling a few of the works that would be at the fest, the Toronto International Film Festival has today releases their full lineup for 2020. Obviously, this comes in the wake of COVID-19 and the coronavirus pandemic changing what film festivals will be like this year.

For anyone who loves Kevin Smith (and it’s no secret that I’m chief among them), it’s been a bit of a wait for news on Killroy Was Here. Shot a few years ago, the horror anthology took a backseat to Jay and Silent Bob Reboot in the wake of Smith’s heart attack, but now, while doing a virtual version of his annual Comic-Con panel, it has revealed itself.