Isabelle Huppert to head 2024 Venice Film Festival jury.

I'm really only here for the Almodóvar, the Guadagnino, and the Larraín.

Edit #2: And the Halina Reijn!

Sucks not to see Malick but I am hearing Cannes 2025 rumblings. Apparently the film is actually finished but Terry wants to let it sit a bit. Which is a shame because I think he would've had a better shot this year at a potential Director nomination (and maybe even more than that) if the film was well-received this year.

Word on the street is Corbet's film is almost four hours in length. Which just aggravates me more than he recast Rylance and Cotillard.

Glad to see Harvest, The Order and Joker: Folie a Deux (no surprise it would be here). Surprised Martel didn't make it into comp as well.

Yeah, pretty sure The Brutalist is 3hr 35m.

Fyi, music nerds, you know who you are ffs


Alex Ross Perry’s Off-Kilter Pavement Movie Will Premiere At Venice Film Festival/

pitchfork.com/news/alex-ross-perrys-pavement-movie-to-premiere-at-venice-film-festival/

The director responded by attempting to make something “legitimate, ridiculous, real, fake, idiotic, cliché, illogical,” comparing his vision to various Bob Dylan movies combined: “You take the Todd Haynes Bob Dylan movie, the Scorsese documentary, the Pennebaker documentary, and the movie Dylan himself directed that everyone hates, and put them all in a blender.” As the article explained, he operated under this premise: “What if Pavement, the Pynchonian rock group that never had a platinum record, was the most important band of all time?”

Golden Lion: April
Grand Jury Prize: Vermiglio
Special Jury Prize: Stranger Eyes
Silver Lion for Best Director: Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Daniel Craig, Queer
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Marcello Mastroianni Award: Angélina Woreth, Leurs enfants après eux
Golden Osella for Best Screenplay: Love

La regina di Venezia

Only 39 years old.......

I have had something bubbling in my mind about film festivals for a while now, and it boiled over when I watched Swing Girls on Monday. I am not basing this on any real research, just observed trends from my own filmwatching. I think that both historically and currently, festivals tend to highlight certain kinds of films - specifically, the arthouse variety. These arthouse films would not receive any attention if they didn't play at film festivals, so they are vitally important to the ecosystem in making sure that these movies get seen.

HOWEVER, I think that they often shaft "popular" entertainment from around the world. Movies that are big hits in their native countries and are very good at what they are doing don't often play at major festivals - and then the minor ones tend to pick up the hot tickets from their major colleagues to boost their selling power. Some of these films are crap, but I'm finding that many of them can be very enjoyable. But it is rare to see something like Bahubali or Swing Girls at these festivals, unless somebody involved has made a major name for themselves internationally.

The critics - the tastemakers that decide what is worth distributing - go to these festivals and report back what they find. Which is a lot of arthouse films, and many of them are great! This does create a very monolithic feel to "international" cinema, though. (Yes, there are festivals specifically designed for genre fare or to highlight a region's cinema, but they don't receive the same press.) I grew up thinking that all international films were dour and grim, like Hollywood had a monopoly on "fun." The critics can't judge every movie from all over the world, so they relied on the festivals to curate their selections - and then they would further curate the good and bad for everyone else. But because their selection is limited by the curation, we get a fairly drab, samey bunch of movies year after year. This is being compounded by the curators picking the same few directors year after year for competition slots: The most notable selections often tend towards the same directors, making similar movies to what they usually make.

Huppert says that different categories of films are screened at these festivals, but I browsed through some choices from Cannes and Venice in 2023, 2013 and 2003, and I don't see *that* much variety. I'm not talking competition lineups, but everything that plays.

I think the modern climate has made international cinema "for the masses" easier to find, and although festivals are certainly an important piece of the supply chain, but I don't have the same rosy view as some people. I think that streaming has made it possible to find hidden gems that are more along the lines of "popcorn entertainment," so long as one keeps their eyes open. Or perhaps I've misjudged how the system works entirely - I don't really keep a close eye on these things. Regardless, I'm always excited for the major festivals and what they have in store.

anyone have a link to the schedule to see when each movie is premiering?

i’ve tried to look for it for the past 5 mins and i feel like i shouldn’t have to put that much work in lmao

sick, thank you. it’s much appreciated

Welcome back, man! Very excited to know your thoughts?

How would you rank the three Larrain actresses-as-historical figures (and feel free to throw in the actual best, Stella Gonet in El Conde, if you feel so inclined).