Today on FilmWeek, Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Christy Lemire, Tim Cogshell and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases. We also share our favorite films of 2019 so far and check in with The Frame host John Horn at the Telluride Film Festival.
FilmWeek: ‘Don't Let Go,’ ‘Give Me Liberty,’ ‘Official Secrets' and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Christy Lemire, Tim Cogshell and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases:
“ Don't Let Go ” in wide release
“ Give Me Liberty ” at the Laemmle's Ahrya Fine Arts, Monica Film Center, Playhouse & Town Center
“ Official Secrets ” at the ArcLight Hollywood & The Landmark
The film’s director Gavin Hood was interviewed on “The Frame” this week. You can listen to that interview here .
“ Untouchable ” on Hulu
“ Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool ” at The Landmark
“ Before You Know It ” at The Landmark
“ Friedkin Uncut “ at Laemmle’s Music Hall
“ The Fanatic ” at the Arena Cinelounge
“ Ne Zha ” at the Regal Edwards Alhambra, AMC Santa Anita (Arcadia) & TCL Chinese Theatres
“ Vita & Virginia “ at the Nuart Theater and on VOD
“ Spider In The Web ” at Laemmle’s Music Hall
CRITICS' HITS:
Christy: "Give Me Liberty", "Before You Know It" & "Official Secrets"
Tim: "Don't Let Go", "Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool", "Friedkin Uncut" & "Untouchable"
MIXED FEELINGS:
Christy: "The Fanatic"
Charles: "Ne Zha"
Guests:
Christy Lemire , film critic for KPCC, RogerEbert.com and co-host of the ‘ Breakfast All Day ’ podcast; she tweets
Tim Cogshell , film critic for KPCC, Alt-Film Guide and CineGods.com ; he tweets
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
A Check In From The Telluride Film Festival, Plus KPCC’s FilmWeek Critics Share Their Favorite Films of 2019 So Far
The quiet mountain town of Telluride, Colorado will triple in population this weekend when the Telluride Film Festival gets underway, according to the festival’s website. About 5,000 will descend on the town for the festival’s 46th annual running. Seven out of the last ten best picture winners at the Oscars were screened at Telluride, so it would seem that the festival has a penchant for tapping into films that the Academy likes to consider. This year, it’s dedicated to legendary French filmmaker Agnès Varda, who passed away in March.
Among the highly-anticipated films to be screened at Telluride include “ Judy ,” a biopic about Judy Garland starring Renée Zellweger, “ Ford v. Ferrari ,” starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale in the story of how Ford built a revolutionary race car to try and compete with Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966, a divorce drama from director Noah Baumbach called “ Marriage Story ” starring Scarlett Johannson, Adam Driver and Laura Dern, and acclaimed British filmmaker Asif Kapadia’s new documentary “ Diego Maradona ,” about the controversial former Argentinian soccer star.
Plus, the summer movie season has officially passed us by, and with the arrival of high-profile film festivals like Telluride, Toronto, it can only mean that we’re starting to head down the final stretch of the 2019 movie season.
This year, films like “Avengers: End Game,” “The Farewell,” “Once Upon A Time...in Hollywood” have garnered early praise as awards contenders from the first half of the year, but there are still a handful of movies still to release this year that could give the aforementioned features a run for their money.
Martin Scorsese’s latest project “ The Irishman ” has yet to release, as does the Fred Rogers biopic “ A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood ,” starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers. And this week’s release of the final trailer for Warner Bros. highly-anticipated film “ Joker ” starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Harlequin of Hate is sure to send comic book fans into a frenzy of anticipation for the long-awaited origin story of Batman’s archnemesis.
For more information on Telluride and the films that will be showing, click here .
Guests:
John Horn , host of KPCC’s “ The Frame ” who is attending the 2019 Telluride Film Festival; he tweets
Christy Lemire , film critic for KPCC, RogerEbert.com and co-host of the ‘ Breakfast All Day ’ podcast; she tweets
Tim Cogshell , film critic for KPCC, Alt-Film Guide and CineGods.com ; he tweets
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine