brightlight Archives

Aug312025 by cineverseNo Comments

Preparation for the Next Life’ Review: A Bittersweet Immigrant Love Story Thrives on Two Terrific Performances

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By Carlos Aguilar According To The variety The spark between two soon-to-be lovers ignites inside a Latin nightclub in New York City, as the pair dance with clumsy playfulness to the Spanish romantic ballad “Un Velero Llamado Libertad” (A Sailboat Named Freedom). Their origins and struggles couldn’t be more disparate: She is an undocumented immigrant who’s part of China’s persecuted Uyghur ethnic minority; he’s a white Army veteran with no clear direction and a chronic case of PTSD. Holding on their comforting stares and unspoken exchanges with only Emile Mosseri’s sonic drizzle of a score as company, filmmaker Bing Liu (best known for his Oscar-nominated documentary “Minding the Gap”) delicately traces their blossoming and improbable romance in his first foray into fiction...

Aug302025 by cineverseNo Comments

Hamnet’ Sets the Oscar Bar High at Telluride With Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal’s Heartbreaking Turns

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By Clayton Davis According To The variety In a quaint theater in the Colorado mountains where we lay our scene, a clear Oscar contender emerges. Before Chloé Zhao’s anticipated drama “Hamnet” held its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday, the director took the stage with her two stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal to lead the audience in a meditation before they took in her heartbreaking story. With a room that included some of her peers like “Sinners” director Ryan Coogler and actor-turned-director Harris Dickinson, the immaculate adaptation unspooled before the sold out crowd and captivated the audience. The moving and fictionalized portrait of grief and loss that inspired one of history’s most treasured playwrights held its grip...

Aug302025 by cineverseNo Comments

Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence’ About Italy’s First Female Film Director Acquired by First Hand Films Ahead of Venice Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

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By Nick Vivarelli According To The variety Switzerland-based distributor First Hand Films has taken world sales on “Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence,” which reconstructs the overlooked story of Italy’s first female director, ahead of the documentary’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The doc, which is directed by Valerio Ciriaci and launches in the Venice Classics section, blends rare films and photographs from Italy’s Cineteca Nazionale film archives and the Cineteca di Bologna, known globally as a prime film preservation entity, with the voices of contemporary artists and academics. Between 1906 and 1930, Notari created more than 60 feature films that blended melodrama with raw depictions of Naples’ street life. These pioneering works captivated audi...

Aug272025 by cineverseNo Comments

John Williams Says He ‘Never Liked Film Music Very Much’

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By Andrew McGowan According To The variety John Williams is one of the most prolific film composers of all time, having created some of the most iconic scores of the past 60 years, winning five Oscars and becoming the gold standard of movie musicians. Ironically, though, the 93-year-old maestro recently admitted to his indifference and criticism of film music as a genre, telling a biographer “I never liked film music very much.” In this Guardian interview with author Tim Grieving about Grieving’s upcoming biography of the composer, Williams broke down the craft that he’s contributed so much to. “Film music, however good it can be – and it usually isn’t, other than maybe an eight-minute stretch here and there,” he said, “I just think the music isn’t there.” He contin...

Aug272025 by cineverseNo Comments

Papua New Guinea Makes First-Ever Oscar Submission With ‘Papa Buka’ (EXCLUSIVE)

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By Naman Ramachandran According To The variety Papua New Guinea has selected “Papa Buka” as its inaugural submission to the Academy Awards, marking the first time the Pacific nation has entered the international feature film category at the Oscars. Directed by internationally acclaimed Indian filmmaker Bijukumar Damodaran (Shanghai winner “Trees Under the Sun”), “Papa Buka” follows aging war veteran Papa Buka as he guides two Indian historians uncovering untold WWII stories connecting India and Papua New Guinea through shared sacrifice and humanity. The timing proves particularly symbolic, coinciding with Papua New Guinea’s 50th year of independence. The milestone announcement was made by Belden Norman Namah, Papua New Guinea Minister for Tourism Art and Cultur...

Aug262025 by cineverseNo Comments

Frank Price, Former Universal and Columbia Studio Head, Dies at 95

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By Richard Natale According To The variety Veteran motion picture and television executive Frank Price, who had more than one go-round at both MCA/Universal and Columbia Pictures, died Monday in Santa Monica. He was 95. His son Roy Price, former president of Amazon Studios, reported his death, posting on X, “My father, Frank Price, passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning at 95. He lived a full life and we will miss him deeply.” One of the few journeymen writer-producers to rise through the ranks to head both television and film production divisions, Price headed MCA’s TV division in the 1970s, a period of great prosperity for the company, with such series as “Kojak,” “Baretta” and “The Rockford Files.” He moved on to become president of Columbia Pictures in 1978...

Aug262025 by cineverseNo Comments

David Spade Considered Using a Gun to Scare Off Five Men Who Followed Him Home to Get His Autograph to Sell: ‘Get the F— Out of Here… It’s Not Fans. It’s a Business’

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By Zack Sharf According To The variety David Spade revealed on the latest episode of his “Fly on the Wall” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that he considered using a gun to scare off professional autograph seekers who recently followed the actor back to his house after a comedy show. Spade explained it was not fans behind the scary ordeal, but people seeking his autograph so they can make a profit off selling Spade-signed merchandise. “I have a little road that goes up to my [house],” Spade said. “I’m going up this crummy little street, which is pretty skinny, and there’s two cars behind me. I don’t even notice. They’re kind of on my ass. I’m like, ‘Oh shit.’ It’s pitch-black up there. It’s a perfect place for carjacking [or a] robbery.”“They pull up next to me and stopp...