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And so, movie theaters remain closed indefinitely in Cuomo’s state. The controversial Governor reiterated on Monday that he won’t reopen cinemas because they are less essential and come with a higher risk of virus transmission. This means that, as we speak, theaters in the country’s two largest markets (New York City and Los Angeles) will not be screening “Tenet” when it is released in the United States on September 3rd....

I agree with the first two, but not entirely sold on “Elvis” yet. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely has a good shot, having already made $100 million domestically, but its odds will depend on just how strong the upcoming fall slate of films will be. If we’re in for another weak year like 2020 and 2021 then, yeah, sure, “Elvis” gets one of the ten BP slots. At this point, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is practically a lock — A24 would have to totally mess up its awards campaign for it to get snubbed....

Schrader now has COVID and is bedridden in a hospital with pneumonia and breathing difficulties. It’s crushing to hear this, but he can pull through. If you remember, Schrader filmed his latest movie, “The Master Gardener,” with an oxygen tank in hand and even refused to go to the hospital during the last week of production. At the Venice premiere of the film, he cryptically stated that it would be his “last rodeo”....

Well, that’s kind of what Schrader’s been doing on Facebook. For the past few years, He’s been playing movie critic with the latest releases. His movie opinions are fantastic and indeed Kael-esque in their frankness. In his latest social media post, Schrader decided to write about Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which I reviewed a few weeks ago: Back to Schrader, he premiered his latest, “Master Gardener,” at Venice in September and that was followed by a NYFF bow....

PTA hasn’t been in Cannes competition since 2002, when he won the Best Director prize for “Punch Drunk-Love.” Since then, it’s been mostly NYFF (“Inherent Vice”) and Venice (“The Master”). Then there’s a piece by Le Figaro this morning that says French actor Vincent Lindon might have also been asked to be the Jury President. Who is speaking the truth? Maybe they’ve both been asked … The delay in Cannes announcing a President is a messy story....

It’s not like he’s stopping either, the 75-year-old director just premiered “The Fabelmans,” the most personal movie of his career, to overwhelmingly positive reviews and a Toronto audience award to boot. Now, it’s become the current frontrunner to win the Best Picture Oscar. This comes after another critically-acclaimed film, 2021’s “West Side Story,” which itself was a seven-time Oscar nominee. Suffice to say, there was no shortage of films to choose from when I asked 85 critics to submit what they considered to be the five best films of Spielberg’s career....

“I hope one day in the not-so-distant future we don’t get asked what it was like to share the screen with other women,” Weisz said “Because I don’t think you ever ask men that. But I could be wrong.” Does she really think her male colleagues are never asked what it’s like to work with this or that guy? I’m honestly dumbfounded by what she said. Contribute Hire me...

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I see “Linoleum” is getting some praise (not really deserved). “X” had a lot of buzz, but it’s really just an entertaining-as-it-goes slasher flick. Meanwhile, top prize winner “I Love My Dad” may be the most cringe-inducing movie I’ve seen in years. Safe for the big studio world premieres, SXSW tends to show films with mid-range to low production values. Nothing wrong with that, plenty of great filmmakers started off making these sorta films....

Regardless, as to whether or not Simien’s film turns out to be a winner, I just can’t waste a precious two hours on a Taylor Swift doc that, if any good, I can easily catch on Netflix next weekend. To hell with that. At least Simien is the director of the critically-acclaimed “Dear White People,” which was much better than the TV adaptation it received a few years back. Also in the works tomorrow is a screening of “Crip Camp,” another non-fiction film premiering at the Eccles, this one about a summer camp that inspired disability rights....

ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke has just confirmed that there will officially be no host for the 2020 Oscars. Burke confirmed the decision during her annual remarks at the Television Critics Association conference this morning. Apparently this year’s show will be the same as last year’s; A big musical opening number, big stars to present individual awards and additional musical numbers. Last year’s 12% increase in viewership seems to have convinced The Academy and ABC that host-less was the way to go....

In a new piece published today, Hertz seems to be implying that we should expect around 150-200 films for this coming September’s 47th edition of TIFF. This would mean no drive-in screenings, and a digital platform (the scale of which “we’re waiting a little bit to figure out”). Briefly, CEO Cameron Bailey wants to be less reliant on the virtual/hybrid model the fest has adopted these last two years to get the bigger World Premieres....

It does look like TIFF is trying to continue the momentum of last year’s edition, which premiered eventual Best Picture Oscar winner “Green Book,” something that hasn’t happened since the late ‘90s for the festival. Was last year’s impressive lineup of films a way to end retiring Festival director Piers Handler’s two- decade tenure with a bang? Supposedly, it wasn’t. According to a source, this sudden burst of World Premieres has to do with TIFF implementing stricter rules on submitted films....

However, something’s changed these past few years, maybe it’s their insistence on nabbing world premieres or maybe it’s the studio’s sudden realization that they don’t really need to go to TIFF, regardless, the message this fall is quite clear: Some films can get by without Toronto. The films set to skip Toronto this year are some of the biggest ones, opting instead for bows at Telluride and and/or Venice: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Bardo,” Todd Field’s “TAR,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones & All,” Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise,” Paul Schrader’s “The Master Gardener” … it’s astounding to see this unfold....

The Toronto International Film Festival tends to not to be too picky in its selection of films. If it’s a big Hollywood film with a marquee director attached to its name then you can bet your bottom dollar TIFF will nab it for its 200+ film lineup. I was led last night to a 2015 piece from THR, “Birdman” producer John Lesher is interviewed in saying that the fest passed over Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s film....

Himesh Patel plays “Jack Malik,” the only person in the world that remembers John/Paul/Ringo/George making music history between 1962 and 1970. He uses the surreal nature of his peculiar situation to kick-start a career as a successful musician by ripping off the fab four’s songs, except is it really plagiarizing if nobody remembers them? The film has been chosen to close the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival, a bad sign given that it means the film has decided to skip the fall festival season altogether and that it was also either rejected by Berlin and SXSW or that it didn’t even bother trying to attempt to appear at those fests....

Martin Eden (Pietro Marcello) Gloria Mundi (Robert Guédiguian)Ema (Pablo Larrain)Ford vs Ferrari (James Mangold)The Truth (Hirokazu kore-eda)About Endlessness (Roy Andersson)MalmKrog (Christian Puiu)Ad Astra (James Gray)Qui Ridio io (Mario Martone)The Salt of Tears (Philippe Garrel)Vitalina Varela (Pedro Costa)Joker (Todd Phillips)The Aeronauts (Tom Harper)A Rainy Day in New York (Woody Allen) The following are possibilities: First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)The Laundromat (Steven Soderbergh)Lucy in the Sky (Noah Hawley)Uncut Gems (The Safdie brothers)Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi)Nomadland (Chloe Zhao) Untitled Noah Baumbach (Noah Baumbach)Little Women (Greta Gerwig)Dry Run (Todd Haynes)The King (David Michod) Contribute Hire me...

Take for example Ascher’s first feature, “Room 237,” the absorbing cult essay on “The Shining,” which tackled every possible conspiracy surrounding Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, including how Kubrick tried to sprinkle his film with clues regarding the NASA moon landing being a stunt and that he had shot the fake footage of Neil Armstrong planting the American flag. Ascher’s new movie, “A Glitch In The Matrix,” focuses on a conspiracy theory that has grown exponentially in popularity ever since “The Matrix” was released more than 20 years ago....

Apple made the biggest deal out of Sundance 2022 by buying Cooper Raiff’s “Cha Cha Real Smooth” for a whopping $15 million. I somewhat fell for Raiff’s sweetly romantic film when I saw it at the fest this past January. If you remember, Apple also had the biggest deal of Sundance 2021 with the $25 million spent on eventual Best Picture winner “CODA.” Apple are giving ‘Cha Cha’ the same treatment as their recent Best Picture winner....

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