The Film Stage

Michael Mann’s research into and hands-on approach to his work would make even the most committed artist blush. God knows how deep the cabinets and shelves on each project––especially the ones that never got made––truly run, and it’s the nature...

Stanley Kubrick’s final film opened 25 years ago today to largely befuddled disinterest. Even in more recent years its champions (Martin Scorsese most notable among them) seemed quixotic claiming it would someday receive appreciation à la 2001, Barry Lyndon, or...

While it’s still up in the air if his Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice will ever see the light of day in the U.S. before this November’s election, Sebastian Stan’s other major 2024 film will be arriving this fall. Aaron...

In the realm of “adult animation” there are few peers for René Laloux, whose reputation could rest almost entirely on Fantastic Planet. Making notable the 4K restoration of The Time Masters, his superbly entertaining 1982 sci-fi feature based on the...

Parting from the brother with whom you could make literally any film either wishes, only to both end up directing sports biopics for A24––a tale as old as time. While Benny Safdie works with an unrecognizable Dwayne Johnson on The...

Likely that Gummo‘s most often been seen on a DVD passed among friends like cinematic contraband. Though I doubt that legacy will ever quite die (maybe now it’s MKV files), that history makes all the more notable a 4K upgrade...

In one of the most pleasant surprises of the year, Sean Baker picked up the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his latest feature Anora, marking the first American film to do so since Terrence Malick’s The Tree...

Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur is a rare sort these days. Here is a director who has built a successful, decades-long career making solid, genre-heavy programmers (see Contraband, 2 Guns, Adrift, Beast) while often returning to Iceland to put in solid...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here. The Animal Kingdom (Thomas Cailley) In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp...

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about the best Chris...