Whatever 82 year old Paul Verhoeven is up to with his latest film Benedetta he surely has created an intriguing narrative in this true story of a 17th century nun that falls in love with Bartolomea, played by Belgian actors Virginie Efira and Daphne Patakia. Verhoeven throws in some amazing and contemporary twists in the film with Sister Benedetta as a transgender who takes on the guards of the Nuncio (Lambert Wilson) and the plague linked to homophob...

(Charlotte Rampling, © Lindsay Bellinger 2019)   By LINDSAY R. BELLINGER   Ms. Charlotte Rampling was beyond charming during her talk with Peter Cowie and while answering at least a dozen questions from a mixed bag of audience members. The audience was treated to a number of memorable scenes from her eclectic and impressive array of films. The first scene was the moment from Stardust Memories when Woody Allen's director character approaches Rampling's chara...

The Sense of an Ending, Review by Siraj Syed: Sensible transition from novel to film Many a times, tragic-romantic novels that get made into films tend to be laboured and over ‘textualised’. Not so the The Sense of an Ending. Indian director Ritesh Batra keeps this British film largely simple and lets his actors carry it forward, which works well. A simple story with a tragic and profound undercurrent of regret, the film does not have too much to offer, but gets its basics right. ...

45 Years, Review: 95 minutes of great cinema A tender and touching British film waits you in the shape of 45 Years. If you have had enough of mass destructive action, comic superheroes and animation, try this slice of life that challenges you to find artificiality in either the narrative or in the performances. No action at all, no heroes, no animation, very little comedy, a few dies of subtle humour, and the sex quotient is a lesson in bedroom manners. The film takes place across six days, ...

MFF 17, by Jio-MAMI, Festival Diary, V Long festivals and so many films to watch, besides the regular weekly releases to see and review—not unexpectedly, festival diaries go into several parts, and even get interrupted by another festival that follows on the heels of the earlier one. MFF17 was followed by IFFI. But there still so much to day about MFF, so here’s one more instalment of the Diary. Thithi is a two-hour long Kannada film set in rural Karnataka. It has earned rave rev...