COMING soon

[Chris Knipp]

Coming soon, a review of. . . . documentary by Luca Guadagnino.



"Salvatore: Shoemaker Of Dreams chronicles how Ferragamo established his Hollywood foothold."

SYNOPSIS
In the early 20th century, impoverished teenage Italian cobbler Salvatore Ferragamo sailed from Naples to America to seek a better life. He settled in Southern California, and became Hollywood's go-to shoemaker during the silent era. In 1927, he returned to Italy and founded in Florence his namesake luxury brand. This feature-length documentary recounts his adventures.

[Chris Knipp]

Watched, nice enough, but a bit disappointing. Metascore 64%. I'd not rush out to see it. Lots of Italian, and lots of shoes.

Now on the agenda: ARMAGEDDON TIME (James Gray); AFTERSUN (Charlotte Wells).

[Chris Knipp]

Coming review: AFTERSUN (Charlotte Wells 2022).
Best review comment on it is from A.O. Scott of the New York Times. I will quote it in my review:

It’s hard to find a critical language to account for the delicacy and intimacy of this movie. This is partly because Wells, with the unaffected precision of a lyric poet, is very nearly reinventing the language of film, unlocking the medium’s often dormant potential to disclose inner worlds of consciousness and feeling.

[Chris Knipp]

AFTERSUN (Charlotte Wells 2022), from Cannes Critics' Week 2022. Filmleaf review thread is open HERE.

[Chris Knipp]

New Yorker cartoon from Nov. 7, 2022:


"The line in the script was actually 'Woof woof,' but, when we
started shooting, 'Bow wow' came out, and the rest is history."

[Chris Knipp]

Hope you liked that one.

ARMAGEDDON TIME (James Gray), in a way the most important film by one of my favorite American directors, seen today: this requires some thought, but I will publish a my report on it soon.

My REVIEW is up now.

[Chris Knipp]

THE BOX (Lorenzo Vigas 2021)

Finally getting to LA CAJA/THE BOX (2021). The director, Lorenzo Vigas, is responsible for the 2015 Venice Golden Lion winner, FROM AFAR/DESDE ALLÀ, which I had a lot of time for. I gather some citizen critics find this one too low-key for their taste. Alejandro A. Riera wrote a good review for Mano. CAJA/THE BOX is an Argentinian film set in Mexico. It concerns a 13-14-year-old boy who collects the remains of his estranged father for his grandmother and then thinks he sees his father alive and comes looking for him.

[Chris Knipp]

LIVING (Oliver Hermanus 2022)

The British remake of Kurosawa's 1952 IKIRU by Kazuo Ishiguru. Did not know I had a screener of it (Sony), and it's not out till next month, but I watched it and wrote a review. I lost nearly the whole review and am quite bummed. This never happens. But on the plus side, despite expecting to be disappointed because the original is a masterpiece and officially my favorite film, I'm happy to sqy tht Hermanus' version with Bill Nighy is exquisite.

I shall write another review.

[Chris Knipp]

South African director Oliver Hermanus' LIVING doesn't release till December, so my replacement review will be held till then. Though I had strong resistance to a remake of Kurosawa's IKIRU, this is an exquisite little film with beautiful academy ratio color images, an elegantly used postwar London setting and a subtly controlled turn by Bill NIghy.

Upcoming review, just watched in theater: Sally Hosaini's THE SWIMMERS. Somewhat baggy saga of two sisters who escape from war-torn Damascus and make it eventually to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, a true story from the director of the 2012 MY BROTHER THE DEVIL.

Probably coming soon (Netflix): DESCENDANT. Documentary about a ship unearthed revealing details of enslaved Africans brought to Alabama many years after slavery was made illegal. A NYFF Main Slate film.

[Chris Knipp]

DESCENDANT Margaret Brown 2022)

Stunning documentary not only for content but for formal power. One of the 2022 NYFF Main Slate's most critically admired films, a personal look at the ever-present legacy of slavery.

[Chris Knipp]

Seen in theaters on the big screen in the San Francisco area the past week:

THE MENU
BONES AND ALL
LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER
THE FABELMANS
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

The last one had literally dozens of people in the audience.

It was a good movie-going week! THE FABELMANS, which I hadn't 'been expecting that much of, is a wonderful watch, very enjoyable and Spielberg at his best. We had James Gray's ARMAGEDDON TIME, also a portrait of the artist as a budding filmmaker (and growing up Jewish). And we have another one coming from Sam Mendez shortly, EMPIRE OF LIGHT. (Mendez's mother is Jewish - but he seems to have grown up with his father.)