The Film Stage

After a relatively quiet last few years, Saoirse Ronan is returning in a major way this fall, leading two new features: first up, Nora Fingscheidt’s Sundance highlight The Outrun followed by Steve McQueen’s Blitz. The former is set for an October 4 release from Sony Pictures Classics and now the new trailer has arrived. Here’s […]

The post Saoirse Ronan is on the Road to Recovery in U.S. Trailer for The Outrun first appeared on The Film Stage.

Paramount on a list of news we wouldn’t wish to receive is David Lynch’s directing opportunities being winnowed to a very small set of possibilities. Though limitations have often served a big bang for his art, a new interview with Samuel Wigley in Sight and Sound revealed details of his ongoing homebound isolation, an issue […]

The post David Lynch Reveals He Can Only Direct Remotely; Martin Scorsese Plans Limited Series and Smaller Films first appeared on The Film Stage.

For a film about saving the universe from cosmic evil, stakes couldn’t be lower in The Paragon. What begins as a man’s quest for revenge takes a hard left into the occult and psychedelic, but its scope never expands outside of a small-town setting and smaller-minded protagonist. If anything, the film can’t get any bigger […]

The post Fantasia Review: The Paragon is a Micro-Budget Fantasy Comedy with Low-Key Charm first appeared on The Film Stage.

As the world flattens with new technologies to reveal how tragedies we used to only hear about now and then are actually everyday occurrences, we become inured to those horrors as a means to cope. It’s gotten to the point where something as heinous as domestic abuse has become a meme whenever the latest sports […]

The post Fantasia Review: Black Eyed Susan Confronts the Limitations of Humanity first appeared on The Film Stage.

David Lynch might never make another film (he could have; Netflix said no) or transcendental television project (he could have; Netflix said no) but the lead-up to his new album has been a verdant moment for true-blue fans who can hum tracks from The Big Dream and know who really wrote “The Pink Room.” Following […]

The post Stream David Lynch and Chrystabell’s New Album Cellophane Memories first appeared on The Film Stage.

Videogame IP, a remake, and a children’s film: August’s blockbuster titles don’t really need marketing help. So, Borderlands (August 9), The Crow (August 23), and Harold and the Purple Crayon (August 2) go heavy on the Photoshop to slap something on the wall and rake in the cash. If Bill Skarsgård didn’t look so much […]

The post Posterized August 2024: Trap, Red Island, Alien: Romulus & More first appeared on The Film Stage.

Likely the burden of precedent never lifts from M. Night Shyamalan, whose name became noun, adjective, and verb more-or-less the moment The Sixth Sense landed with shockwaves a quarter-century ago. As certain narratives about his career (twist endings, Newsweek covers) waned, others emerged: a has-been for whom more than one obituary was penned with delight; […]

The post Trap Review: M. Night Shyamalan’s Best-Engineered Work Since The Village first appeared on The Film Stage.

It wouldn’t have been Sundance without at least a handful of coming-of-age stories. Sean Wang’s audience award winner Dìdi (弟弟) proves that, with a new perspective, there are still emotions to be mined from a tried-and-true formula. Exploring the everyday life of a Taiwanese-American boy growing up in Fremont, California, wherein issues of friendship and potential crushes […]

The post Dìdi (弟弟) Director Sean Wang on Resisting Nostalgia, Marketing Battles, and Why First-Time Directors Need Patience first appeared on The Film Stage.

As the summer movie season comes to a close, August brings a shockingly stacked slate of offerings, topped by a film that is sure to age like a fine classic in years to come. Elsewhere we have accomplished debuts, action spectacles, and a thriller from the man who has recently returned to perfecting the formula. […]

The post 15 Films to See in August first appeared on The Film Stage.

After just wrapping production a few months ago, Pedro Almodóvar is already putting the finishing touches on his next feature. Following Venice Film Festival’s announcement of a world premiere for The Room Next Door, starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, it’s now been unveiled as the Centerpiece selection for the 62nd New York Film Festival, […]

The post Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door Set for Centerpiece of 62nd New York Film Festival first appeared on The Film Stage.