Like finding a grubby, balled-up bill in your spangly g-string and uncrumpling it to discover doughy old Ben Franklin staring benignly back at you, Ana Lily Amirpour‘s third feature is a sweet, scuzzy surprise made all the sweeter/scuzzier because you don’t know quite what you did to deserve it. Certainly, at the Venice Film Festival –where “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon” snuck into competition – giggling into one’s mask at its garish but gladhearted genre excesses felt like getting away with something naughty.

Continue reading Ana Lily Amirpour’s ‘Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon’ is a Sweet, Scuzzy Blast of Pure Escapism [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

Anyone familiar with the work of Mexican director Michel Franco, whether they be admirers or detractors, can attest to the “this is not going to end well” sentiment his sordid cinematic provocations instill. With a pensive angle, “Sundown” – a reteaming between the filmmaker and his “Chronic” star Tim Roth – upholds that tension of expecting the worst to come the characters’ way.

READ MORE: Venice Film Festival 2021 Preview: 12 Must-See Films To Watch

Luxurious accommodations, salted-rim cocktails, and enviable ocean views comprise a paradisiacal vacation in Mexico for a wealthy British family of four.

Continue reading ‘Sundown’: Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg Play Siblings In Michel Franco’s Tragic Acapulco-Set Drama [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

A journey of discovery rooted in questions about faith, fate, and mortality, “Miracle” offers up revelations like slow drips from a faucet, building to a staggering conclusion that synthesizes all of the film’s narrative ingredients. Part two of director Bogdan George Apetri’s Romanian trilogy, the film is self-contained as a piece, yet features characters from 2020’s “Unidentified” along the edges, expanding the tapestry of this world while germinating an entirely new story.

Continue reading ‘Miracle’ Lives Up To Its Name, Seamlessly Blending Narrative, Style, & Technique With Devastating Results [Venice Review] at The Playlist.