Cinema News: Movies Update: Venice Film Festival and More

September 2, 2022

By Stephanie Goodman

Film Editor

Hi, movie fans!

We're just heading into Labor Day weekend, but the fall festival season is officially here. Venice kicked off on Wednesday with the premiere of "White Noise," Noah Baumbach's adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel. Our columnist Kyle Buchanan reports that the film's end-credits dance scene is the talk of the festival. The sequence, which plays to a new LCD Soundsystem song, is set in a supermarket and features just about every character in the movie. I can't wait to see it even if the reviews so far have been pretty mixed. (Our review will be timed to the film's commercial release, at the end of the year.)

Speaking of mixed reactions in Venice, there's a brewing debate over the new Alejandro G. Iñarritu film, "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths." Is it Oscar catnip or a film that tries the patience of moviegoers? Here's a look at that argument.

In the United States, organizers of the Telluride Film Festival have unveiled their lineup, which features several highly anticipated titles, including "Armageddon Time" from James Gray, "Bones and All," the cannibal romance from Luca Guadagnino, and "Bardo." Our critic A.O. Scott is on hand for that festival, which starts today, and I'm looking forward to finding out where he stands in the debate.

As for films you can watch now, "The Cathedral," a family drama from the writer-director Ricky D'Ambrose, is a Critic's Pick for Manohla Dargis, who says this "quiet, tender movie" is "filled with restrained feeling and shimmers of beauty."

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

Tim Barber for The New York Times

With 'Tár,' Todd Field Returns to Directing. Where Has He Been?

Sixteen years after "In the Bedroom" and "Little Children" made waves, he's nervous about stepping back into the limelight with a hot-button story.

By Kyle Buchanan

Nathan Bajar for The New York Times

Michael Schultz Broke the Mold for Black Directors. He's Not Done Yet.

At 83, the filmmaker behind "Cooley High" and "Car Wash" may be the longest-working Black director in history. His own story is a Hollywood epic.

By Reggie Ugwu

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CRITICS' PICKS

Mubi	Critic's Pick 'The Cathedral' Review: A Boy, a Home, a World In this striking, formally rigorous drama, the director Ricky D'Ambrose revisits his Long Island childhood with restraint and tenderness. By Manohla Dargis

Steve Swisher/Focus Features

Critic's Pick

'Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.' Review: Resurrecting a Megachurch

Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown star in this satire about a fallen megachurch pastor and his first lady praying and angling for a comeback.

By Lisa Kennedy

SUMMER HITMAKERS

Glen Wilson/Universal Pictures

Summer Hitmakers

Jordan Peele Says There May Be More 'Nope' Stories to Come

We asked the writer-director about that standing shoe, a character called Nobody and fan theories about his flying-saucer movie. This is what he told us.

By Mekado Murphy

Allyson Riggs

Summer Hitmakers

Where Did Those Hot Dog Fingers Come From? Daniels Explain

The directors of "Everything Everywhere All at Once" have found the reaction to their film "humbling and inspiring and confusing."

By Robert Ito

Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures

Summer Hitmakers

How Did 'Top Gun: Maverick' Get Those Dogfight Scenes? Joseph Kosinski Explains.

The director behind the biggest movie of 2022 so far discusses trying to make a movie that can't be traced to any particular year and the meaning of Dad Cinema.

By Julie Bloom

MOVIE REVIEWS

Anne Marie Fox/Roadside Attractions

'Gigi & Nate' Review: A Tender Bond

A young man with quadriplegia and his helper monkey pair up in this overstuffed feel-good drama.

By Devika Girish

Strand Releasing

'Peter Von Kant' Review: Fassbinder and Friends

The prolific French director François Ozon puts a metatextual spin on "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant," the classic German tale of amour fou.

By Beatrice Loayza

Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/TNS/Alamy Live News

'Kaepernick & America' Review: A Narrative

A documentary examines race in football via Colin Kaepernick's career.

By Glenn Kenny

Blue Fox

'Waiting for Bojangles' Review: Endless Love

Set in Paris in the 1960s, the film tells the story of two irrepressible lovers, and their young son, whose tale turns tragic.

By Calum Marsh

AELTC/Michael Cole

'McEnroe' Review: Regrets, He's Had a Few

In this documentary about his life and career, the tennis player John McEnroe, known for his temper, doesn't bother trying to apologize for his behavior.

By Glenn Kenny

IFC Midnight

'Burial' Review: Corpse Ride

The film, about a Russian intelligence officer's covert mission at the end of World War II, begins on a suspenseful note, but the tension soon dissipates.

By Ben Kenigsberg