🎥 2025 RIFF this weekend
RIFF planning stages Nov Happy Friday everyone This morning we ve got a lot of news including that of the Miss Piggy persuasion so get ready I also find myself gearing up to head to the Rome Film Festival the next day where I ve got a scant exciting interviews lined up and plan on seeing as several movies as I can in between That ll be the start to a busy week for me so let s get right down to it Without further ado Action In light of Warner Bros Discovery s latest decision to put itself up for sale the California Department of Justice is cracking down against the idea of further consolidation in Hollywood calling the idea unlawful Guillermo del Toro s Frankenstein and Park Chan-wook s No Other Choice took home the Audience Awards at this year s SCAD Savannah Film Festival See the full list of winners here Jim Farmer in the past few days interviewed the director of the new documentary Natchez which opens in Atlanta this weekend Check that out here Tyler Perry has donated million to organizations supporting those who have lost SNAP benefits during the establishment shutdown The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has informed that its film figure scheme Star Wars and More Including the Music of John Williams will return to Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in May of next year The film nonprofit RE IMAGINE ATL is hosting an event to celebrate women in film media and other creative industries on Nov Diane Ladd a three-time Oscar nominee known for her roles in films like Wild at Heart and Alice Doesn t Live Here Anymore passed away earlier this week at the age of Grammy nominations are out at present with artists like Kendrick Lamar Lady Gaga and Sabrina Carpenter leading the charge See the full list of nominations here And eventually in the best news I ve heard all week Cole Escola is penning the script for a movie about the queen herself Miss Piggy Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone are set to produce We are so back This week s newsletter includes an interview with Hadestown tour choreographer T Oliver Reid as well as a rundown of the American Black Film Festival Pop Up coming through Atlanta this weekend We ve also got three movie reviews they truly never stop Yorgos Lanthimos Bugonia the sports biopic Christy and Nia DaCosta s Ibsen adaptation Hedda Plus what s at the movie theaters this weekend a new edition of Spotlight and various reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break Thanks for reading Sammie Green tokens used at farmers markets to double the value of SNAP EBT can be redeemed anytime at any WWG partner sector no matter when or where the tokens were purchased For a map of WWG partners click here SPONSOR MESSAGE Photo provided by ABFF American Black Film Festival Pop Up Tour comes to Atlanta The American Black Film Festival is making a stop in Atlanta this weekend The ABFF Pop Up Tour will be at AMC Madison Yards Nov - according to a press release This new initiative from the American Black Film Festival which is based in Miami Beach is meant to expand the festival s reach beyond its flagship event Other pop ups have taken and will take place in New York Dallas and Los Angeles Throughout the weekend the ABFF Pop Up Tour will feature screenings and conversations with industry figures about everything from screenwriting to working behind the camera Learn more about the event here Chamblee has it all this holiday season SPONSORED BY DISCOVER DEKALB Sports fans foodies and fun seekers Chamblee has something for you The rd Spot Watch Party Series transforms contest days into citywide celebrations From sizzling street bites to clinking glasses under string lights the scene is alive with passion and flavor After the match stroll through Chamblee s arts district or pop into one of its indie coffee spots This is where global civilization meets local charm where every event becomes an invitation to belong The heartbeat of Chamblee Connection celebration and area spirit Photo provided by Brave Population Relations Choreographer T Oliver Reid talks bringing Hadestown to Atlanta T Oliver Reid knows Hadestown better than the majority He was an original cast member and also served as the understudy for both Hermes and Hades before taking over as Hermes when Andr De Shields left in May of He later came on as associate choreographer for the Broadway production and at present serves as the choreographer for the touring production coming to the Fox Theatre in Atlanta Nov - Hadestown features music lyrics and a book by Ana s Mitchell and tells the story of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice In Hadestown won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical I spoke with Reid ahead of the show s run in Atlanta You can check out that conversation here Photo by Atsushi Nishijima Focus Features In Bugonia humans can destroy themselves all on their own WEEKLY FILM REVIEW Over the past sparse years a shorthand has emerged for Yorgos Lanthimos films is this a nasty Yorgos Or a nice Yorgos Bugonia is an absorbing mix of the two Lanthimos new film Bugonia based on the South Korean film Save the Green Planet stars Jesse Plemons as Teddy a beekeeper conspiracy theorist who believes that Michelle Fuller Emma Stone the CEO of the pharmaceutical company he works for is really part of an alien species called the Andromedans who have invaded Earth and forced human beings into subservience He convinces his neurodivergent cousin Don Aidan Delbis to help him kidnap Michelle so they can force her to make her overlords go back where they came from While Bugonia is funny caustic and violent in all the typical Lanthimos approaches it also might be one of his preponderance somber films to date For as silly as Bugonia can be it is also a deeply sad exploration of one man s conspiracy-filled journey to right a great wrong But Teddy is looking for the villain to his story in all the wrong places Insisting that aliens are the reason for all the world s ills is far easier than reckoning with the fact that humans including Teddy himself don t need outside help when it comes to total destruction Check out my full review here Photo provided by Black Bear Pictures Christy lacks the depth the story deserves WEEKLY FILM REVIEW Christy Salters life feels like it should be a movie Her status as one of the greater part central figures in the early years of women s boxing might have been enough But Christy s life outside of the ring has all the earmarks of the type of story that biopics love to tell it s a narrative focused on a woman who definitively came to terms with her sexuality and who overcame a terrible relationship with her coach-turned-husband At over years her senior he was emotionally financially and physically abusive throughout their marriage before he eventually attempted to murder her in Christy the new film directed by David Mich d and co-written by Mich d and Mirrah Foulkes rests on the inherent high drama of Christy s story refusing to engage with her beyond the expected which leads to fairly surface-level performances Boxing is a performative sport to an extent and the moments that play off that performativity in the ring can be enthralling But it s in the film s quieter moments that it loses any sense of depth Read my full review here Photo provided by Amazon MGM Studios Hedda is a delicious power trip WEEKLY FILM REVIEW Toward the beginning of Hedda we find our titular heroine Tessa Thompson standing alone atop her vast estate wielding a pistol Down below Judge Roland Brack Nicholas Pinnock makes his way across the grass He s arrived early for Hedda s party thrown in celebration of her marriage to George Tesman Tom Bateman Hedda admonishes Brack for his earliness Shall I punish you she drawls pointing the gun at Brack She suddenly aims wide and fires chuckling at Brack s horrified reaction She wins this round Hedda written and directed by Nia DaCosta and adapted from Henrik Ibsen s play Hedda Gabler is all about punishment and power centering around the woman on top of the parapet who s as likely to turn her gun on herself as anyone else Hedda is a whirling dervish of power struggles featuring a powerhouse performance from Thompson at the eye of the hurricane Setting the story in the s DaCosta beautifully updates Ibsen s play to explore questions of sexuality and race within one woman s quest to find even an ounce of control Read my full review here
