Directed by Abel Ferrara, Tommaso is about a man, played by Willem Dafoe, as an older American living in Rome with his young wife and daughter.
Tommaso is Ferrara’s first dramatic feature film since Pasolini, which Dafoe also starred. Disoriented by his past misgivings and next, unexpected blows to his self-esteem, Tommaso wades through this late chapter of his life with an increasingly impaired grasp on reality as he prepares for his next film.
Directed by Matias Moltrasio, En Brazos De Un Asesino follows Victor, played by William Levy. He is smooth-talking, seductive, eye candy for the ladies and a cold-blooded assassin who kills for money.
When he arrives at the home of an unmerciful drug lord to collect payment for his recent assassination, he encounters the gorgeous Sarai, played by Alicia Sanz. She spent the last nine years forced to be with the drug lord.
Victor leaves the drug lord’s compound, and Sarai seizes her chance at freedom by hiding out in Victor’s car. But things don’t go as planned, and instead of being transported back to her home, she finds herself free from one dangerous man only to be caught in the clutches of another.
While on the run from the vengeful drug lord and his brutal henchmen, Victor’s conscience catches up with him as he risks all he stands for to protect his captive.
In the end, the power Sarai unknowingly holds over Victor, and their undeniable attraction, places her right in the arms of a killer.
The thriller, based on the book “Killing Sarai,” by J.A. Redmerski, also stars Adrian Lastra, Roberto Sosa, Ettore D’Alessandro and Jean Jean.
Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is a French movie with English subtitles that won Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival 2019.
he movie takes place during the end of the eighteenth century on an isolated island in Brittany. A female painter named Marianne, played by Noémie Merlant, is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman named Heloise, played by Adèle Haenel.
Marianne is secretly painting Heloise’s portrait, and they gradually fall in love with each other.
Directed by Alexis Michalik, Cyrano, My Love is a French film in English subtitles. The story begins in December 1897, Paris. Edmond Rostand, played by Thomas Solivérès, is not yet thirty but already has two children and too much anxiety.
He has not written anything for two years. In desperation, he offers the great Constant Coquelin, played by Olivier Gourmet, a new play, a heroic comedy, in verse, for the holidays.
One thing though, a problem: it is not written yet. Ignoring the whims of actresses, the demands of his producers, the jealousy of his wife, the stories of his best friend’s heart and the lack of enthusiasm of all those around him, Edmond must focus and put to pen to paper. For now, he has only the title: “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
The movie looks and sounds a lot like 1998 Oscar winner Shakespeare in Love directed by
John Madden, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, and Geoffrey Rush. Shakespeare writes Romeo & Juliet while handling the demands of the theater owner and falling in love with Viola, who becomes his muse.
Co-written and directed by Joon Ho Bong, Parasite won the Palme d’Or of the Canne Film Festival 2019, with Jin Won Han credited co-writer.
Ho Bong’s screenwriting and directing credits include 14 movies and some shorts, such as Okja, Snowpiercer, and The Host.
The movie follows the unemployed Ki-taek’s family. The family takes an uncommon interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks family for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
The young man of the family, played by Kang-ho Song, is tutoring a young boy who is part of the Parks family. Watching the trailer, I sense something peculiar is happening between him and the family.
The cast includes Hye-jin Jang, Sun-Kyun Lee, and Yeo-Jeong Jo.
Written and directed by one of Spain’s most successful filmmakers, Pedro Almodovar, Pain and Glory follows a film director played by Antonio Banderas. Banderas won Cannes Film Festival 2019 Best Actor for his role and New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actor.
The director reflects on the choices he’s made in life as past and present come crashing down around him.
Watch the trailer, and you get a feel for what happens in the movie. The movie is in Spanish with English subtitles. The film also stars Penelope Cruz, who is Almodovar’s muse. His movies launched her career.
The director reflects on the choices he’s made in life as past and present come crashing down around him.
The director reflects on the choices he’s made in life as past and present come crashing down around him.
The movie clip shows the reason Banderas won Best Actor at the Cannes Festival.
Cruz looks good in this clip. I suspect the scene is a flashback when the brothers are with their mother.
Co-written and directed by Victor Kossakovsky, Aquarela is a documentary about water being the main protagonist. Society sees it as a great and terrible beauty. For example, the Mountains of ice move and break apart as if they are a life form with their own will to survive.
Kossakovsky’s documentary travels the world showing different forms of water. The movie travels from the dangerous frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal and Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s majestic Angel Falls to paint a portrait of this fluid life force in all its glorious forms.
The documentary shares the undeniable truth of how fragile humans experience life and death, joy and despair, in the face of its power.
Koosakovsky has endless credits as a documentarian. A couple the stand out are Russian From My Window and Graine de Champion. Aimara Reques co-wrote the documentary with Koosakovsky. Reques is also an actress and producer.
Written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron, Roma is an autobiographical story of Cuaron growing up in Mexico City in the early 1970s. The movie spans a year in the life of his middle-class family’s maid, Cleo, played by Yalitza Aparicio.
The movie is available on Netflix and is nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture of the Year and Best Foreign Language Film of the Year.
The movie clip shows the cleverness of the screenplay and the detail of the scenes. The cinematography by Cuaron is stunning. Cuaron wrote, directed, and shot the movie. The details of the story are so powerful.
Cuaron, who won an Oscar for Gravity, has already captured a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director. Aparicio is nominated for an Oscar for
Best Actress. Marina de Tavira, who plays the mother of the household, is nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
The movie is a well-told story about a time in Mexico when the culture began to change. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles.
Directed by Asghar Farhadi, Everybody Knows follows Laura, played by Penelope Cruz, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires. She returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her two children to attend her sister’s wedding. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open.
Javier Bardem stars opposite Cruz (who are a real-life couple) as a former lover. The upset on her trip is tragic. The movie trailer indicates a kidnapping or disappearance. It’s not clear, but someone is missing. I believe it is her daughter.
The movie is in Spanish with English subtitles.
After watching the movie clip “Call the Cops.” we find out Laura’s daughter is missing and, at best, kidnapped.
The movie is being called a big-screen thriller. It is scary and intense. This was not obvious in the last clips and trailers. The featurette shows how intense the movie truly is.
The full interview with Cruz is now available for you to view. She explains the story, her character, and her character’s relationship with everyone involved in the story. Cruz talks about working with her husband as well. It’s a beautiful interview, and you get to be with her for a little over 8 minutes.
Written and directed by award-winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Never Look Away is a foreign film that won two awards at the Venice Film Festival 2018.
The movie follows young artist Kurt Barnert, played by Tom Schilling. Barnet fled from East Germany to West Germany. Yet, he is still tormented by his childhood experiences as a boy during the Nazi years and the GDR-regime. The German Democratic Republic began in 1949 and ended in 1990. The period when the eastern portion of Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War period with the Berlin Wall in existence.
He meets a student named Ellie, played by Paula Beer. He is positive he has met the love of his life. He begins an artist journey creating paintings that mirror not only his fate but also the traumas of an entire generation.
The next three movie clips are long but tell the story or at least part of the story. The oppression these Europeans experienced is appalling. Even though the movie fills with abuse, the colorful scenery and well-defined sets indicate hope for the people.