Two of the San Francisco International Film Festival’s most anticipated films — The Centerpiece Film Palo Alto and the World Premiere of Last Weekend — both deal with the woes of the rich. They’re also made by Hollywood royalty: writer-director Gia Coppola, who directed Palo Alto” is the grand-daughter of director Frances Ford Coppola and […]
Film Festivals
What to see and what to skip at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF)
“Frank” **1/2 (Ireland) Director Lenny Abrahamson, who brought us the brilliant psychological drama What Richard Did, may not seem like the most likely candidate to make a comedy, but Frank” is a deftly handled, bizarre and charming comedy. Michael Fassbender plays the eponymous Frank, a talented musician whose main quirk is that he walks around […]
What to expect at the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF)
The 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) runs from April 24 to May 8, and it is already shaping up to be a must-attend event for cinephiles. The festival will screen 168 films, including 29 documentary features, from 56 different countries, and in 40 different languages. The festival expects 200 filmmakers and industry […]
Sundance Film Review: Frank — getting inside his (gigantic cartoon paper mâché) head
Lenny Abrahamson’s charming, offbeat comedy film, Frank, tackles loneliness and mental health with wit and features great work by Domhnall Gleeson and Michael Fassbender. Listen to our podcast on Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did. Listen to our podcast on Lenny Abrahamson’s series Normal People. Irish director Lenny Abrahamson’s latest film, the charming, offbeat comedy, Frank, is about […]
Sundance Review: Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon charm in The Trip to Italy
Looking over the skulls at the Fontanelle Cemetery in Naples in The Trip to Italy, Steve Coogan begins to quote Hamlet to his companion in travel and comedy, Rob Brydon: “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow/ of infinite jest…Where be your gibes now? your/gambols? your songs?’”. This famous speech could be the thesis […]
Sundance Review: Hong Khaou’s film Lilting explores grief with Ben Whishaw
Hong Khaou’s feature film debut, Lilting, is an exploration of grief, family, and the trauma of immigration. The film premiered at Sundance. Is there anything Ben Whishaw can’t do? He played Hamlet in the West End at twenty-three, Keats in Bright Star, Q in Skyfall, a timid but potentially dangerous young man in Criminal Justice, and […]