News

Better Things (premiering on FX September 8, 2016) gives Pamela Adlon titles few women are able to access individually, never mind altogether. “Yeah, I’m the writer, producer, actor.

Labor Day weekend is typically a slow one at the domestic box office, as Americans traditionally prefer to enjoy the last days of summer Sun to sitting in air conditioned movie theatres. This frame was no exception.

While festivalgoers are taken with the mundane business of premieres, red carpets, press conferences and generally binging on (and arguing about) films, the future of the art form is on view in a room tucked on the Casino mezzanine here. At least that’s what the Virtual Reality boosters would like you to think.

One of the most unique aspects of the Venice Film Festival is how intimate it feels, compared to similar grade AA events in the festival circuit. Maybe because it takes place on a resort island that exudes calm and relaxation, maybe because it's infused with warm Italian joy de vivre, Venice brings audiences and movies, stars and fans as close together as they can be without causing a conflagration.

The weekend arrives noisy and busy on the Lido. It's the ideal frame for parties, celebrations and assorted special events.

You could tell the first weekend was here by the loud music thumping from various Lido locales on Friday. On Day 3 the Venice Film Festival was definitely firing on all pistons with the competition featuring El Cristo Ciego by Chilean director Cristopher Murray, Frantz from French stalwart François Ozon, a disturbing documentary on big game hunting by Austrian Ulrich Seidl (Safari) and Tom Ford’s literary noir Nocturnal Animals  with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhall, Michael Shannon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

The Venice festival has been at the forefront of recognizing serialized fiction as an emerging and integral part of the film making landscape. Two years ago Golden Globe nominated HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge bowed at the Sala Darsena here, and this year the festival hosted the world premiere of the HBO/Canal+/Sky The Young Pope, directed by Golden Globe winning director Paolo Sorrentino, (La Grande  Bellezza, Best Foreign Film - 2013).

Yellow, color and nudes continue on track at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The trend is to be sedate and shocking simultaneously – oops did I forget my petticoat or did I really want to walk the red carpet in my undies with some very pretty net as a distraction? Yellow continued to be a choice – from muted gold to glimmering mustard and daisy fresh bright yellow, Jennifer Lopez’s Golden Globe statement has stayed.

As the stars turned out to chat with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,  the women showed how versatile black can be while the men embraced the move toward grey-blue. Of course if you are Jason Statham you can wear whatever the heck you want and make a fashion statement – or any other kind of statement he wants to.

The HFPA met with the lovely and ever charming Amy Adams following the screening of Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival in Venice. The actress is somewhat of the Lido Queen this year as she stars in two films, Arrival and Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals – not bad for a festival debut! Arrival was met with sustained applause in the Sala Grande and Amy told us it was an emotional moment for her.