Cinema News: Movies Update: ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’ and More

August 26, 2022

By Stephanie Goodman

Film Editor

Hi, film fans!

It's relatively quiet in movieland right now, but that's about to change. Next week, the Venice Film Festival kicks off the fall season, and my colleagues and I are busy making plans for coverage. There's a lot to look forward to!

At the top of our list is "White Noise," Noah Baumbach's adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel. It's not arriving on Netflix until Dec. 30, but the trailer dropped this week, giving us some idea of what to expect when it opens Venice on Wednesday. (It's also opening the New York Film Festival.)

Another Venice selection we're curious about is "Tár," with Cate Blanchett as a music conductor. It's directed by Todd Field, who made a splash in the early aughts with "In the Bedroom" and "Little Children," then didn't release a film for 16 years.

There are many other movies we're excited about, and we'll have critics and reporters on hand at all the festivals (Telluride starts a few days after Venice, and Toronto the following week.) In the meantime, if you're looking for a new release to watch, Manohla Dargis called the coming-of-age tale "Funny Pages" a "terrific, tonally flawless feature debut" from Owen Kline. And Elisabeth Vincentelli described "Alienoid," a sci-fi-action epic from South Korea, as "the rare film that makes going off the plot rails wildly entertaining."

Whatever you decide to watch, have fun at the movies!

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures, via Associated Press

'Three Thousand Years of Longing' Review: Desire, Once Upon a Time

George Miller directs a visually sumptuous, grown-up fairy tale with Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. It jumps across time but too often just stumbles.

By Manohla Dargis

Roku

More Than 'Weird': Roku Embraces Original Programming

The streaming media device company wants to attract more viewers and advertisers to its channel. A coming biopic of "Weird Al" Yankovic is its most ambitious project to date.

By Nicole Sperling

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CRITICS' PICKS

A24	Critic's Pick 'Funny Pages' Review: Ordinary Life, Complex Stuff Owen Kline's wonderful feature debut about an aspiring comic-book creator delves into a buzzingly alive, if anxious, world of cartooning. By Manohla Dargis

Well Go USA

Critic's Pick

'Alienoid' Review: Sorcerers, Alien Prisoners and Much, Much More

This bonkers Korean movie could not pick just one cinematic genre, so it went for half a dozen of them at once.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

MOVIE REVIEWS

Saeed Adyani/Netflix

'Me Time' Review: In Search of Lost Dad Jokes

Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg star in this boys' night out comedy that fails to find its laughs.

By Teo Bugbee

MGM/Amazon Studios

'Samaritan' Review: Taking Out the Trash

In this action film from Julius Avery, Sylvester Stallone stars as a sanitation worker who may be a superhero.

By Amy Nicholson

Song Kyungsub/Netflix

'Seoul Vibe' Review: Grinding Gears

Set in 1988, this Korean action comedy follows a blithe driving team that goes undercover with holdovers from the old military leadership.

By Nicolas Rapold

Kino Lorber

'Private Desert' Review: Into the Valley of Repression

This L.G.B.T.Q. drama from Brazil follows a distraught police academy instructor with a history of violence as he searches for his mysterious online girlfriend.

By Beatrice Loayza

Bleecker Street

'Breaking' Review: A Bank Holdup by an Ex-Marine, for Benefits

John Boyega plays a veteran at the end of his rope in this fact-based story of grievance and hostage-taking.

By Glenn Kenny

Film Movement

'Adieu Godard' Review: A Poor Imitation

This limp satire about an Indian villager's encounter with the movies of Jean-Luc Godard rehashes regressive stereotypes and squanders a potent premise.

By Devika Girish

Quiver Distribution

'Out of the Blue' Review: The Spider and the Fly

An unhappy wife leads her younger lover down a dangerous path in this sexy, yet predictable drama from Neil LaBute.

By Jeannette Catsoulis

Cohen Media Group

'The Good Boss' Review: Company Man

As the titular boss of this dark comedy from Spain, Javier Bardem engages in underhanded tactics to win an award for business excellence.

By Ben Kenigsberg

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NEWS & FEATURES

Netflix, via Everett Collection

Foreign Films, English Titles and the Dilemma Distributors Face

Leave as is? Translate? Change altogether? A movie's success doesn't depend entirely on what we call it, but it can have a big effect.

By Nicolas Rapold

Charlotte Hadden for The New York Times

Upstart

Can a Start-Up Help the Film and TV Industry Reduce Their Carbon Footprint?

The global entertainment industry generates millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. A Spanish director has set up a company to try to cut that number substantially.

By Farah Nayeri