The Filmic 5: Everyone Wants A Different World Edition
Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley
I. Film I Am Loving This Week
I just went to a weekend screening and am FURIOUS that so few people were beside me for this BRILLIANT debut film from Pulitzer prize winning playwright Aleshea Harris. IS GOD IS is a Southern Gothic revenge fantasia that proves equal parts Zora Neale Hurston and hyperreal black neo-feminist grind house…with my favorite heroines of the year, equal parts Pam Grier and avenging Greek furies. The performances were phenomenal…Is it too early to declare next year’s Academy award for best ensemble cast? GO SEE IS GOD IS immediately. #IsGodIsMovie
II. Winners Out Of Cannes I'm Thrilled For This Week
The world's most important film festival has come to a close- and the winners are in. Here are the selections via this year's Official Jury, headed by South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook along with the rest of the jurors including filmmakers Laura Wandel, Diego Cespedes, and Chloé Zhao; actors Ruth Negga, Isaach de Bankolé, Demi Moore, and Stellan Skarsgård; along with screenwriter Paul Laverty. FIND THESE FILMS as soon as you can (I'm particularly thrilled for Mungiu and Pawlikowski). And the winners are....
Palme d’Or: “Fjord,” Cristian Mungiu
Grand Prix: “Minotaur,” Andrey Zvyagintsev
Jury Prize: “The Dreamed Adventure,” Valeska Grisebach
Best Director: Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, “The Black Ball”; Pawel Pawlikowski, “Fatherland”
Best Actress: Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, “All of a Sudden”
Best Actor: Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, “Coward”
Best Screenplay: “A Man of His Time,” Emmanuel Marre
III. Social Media Take I'm Loving This Week
Via my frequent co-conspirator (THEY DID IT CONSPIRACY PODCAST, REEL WEIRD HORROR AWARDS) and cinephile extraordinaire Bryan Bonner of the DO YOU LIKE SCARY MOVIES Podcast. Check 'em all out!
"...I went into this film expecting a fun, mindless comedy to kill a couple of hours. What I got instead was a cinematic fever dream that kept taking turns so sharp I’m surprised the theater seats didn’t come with seatbelts. Every time I thought I had the movie figured out, it yanked the rug out from under me and threw me into an entirely different genre. Trying to describe this film to someone is nearly impossible without sounding slightly unhinged. It’s a comedy, a drama, a sci-fi film, and a horror movie all mashed together into one chaotic experience that somehow works far better than it has any right to. One minute you’re laughing, the next you’re questioning reality, and shortly after that you may be wondering if you accidentally wandered into a different movie entirely.Honestly, the less you know going in, the better. Don’t take my word for it. Go experience the madness for yourself. It’s an absolutely wild ride from start to finish."
Yup. No notes. ;) Enjoy this bonus short talk from director Boots Riley from the Toronto International Film Festival on his cinematic world view.
IV. Film Book I Can't Put Down This Week
Get it here- it will change EVERYTHING you think about score as its own cinematic LANGUAGE.
V. Your Moment of Cinematic Zen
Jack Hanley is a film scholar, podcaster, and critic based in Boulder, CO. He is a programmer with the Chicago Underground Film Festival, Slamdance's Indies Awards, and the Boulder International Film Festival. He is one-half of Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast and the founder of the Reel Horrors Short Film Festival. Find him at Kinophilia on Medium and at HanleyOnFilm.com