Reel world: Venice
Stars, premieres light up film festival
MOVIES
One obvious plus for the Venice Film Festival, the world's oldest, is its ideal position to kick off the annual awards season with tomorrow's world premiere of “Downsizing.”
While Venice, now in its 74th iteration, leads the way, it is quickly followed by film festivals in Telluride, Colo., Toronto and New York City, each eager to have bragging rights with world premieres and starry lineups.
On that score, Venice has little competition, having premiered future Oscar nominees “La La Land,” “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Spotlight.”
Two-time Oscar winner Alexander Payne's “Downsizing” shrinks its stars Matt Damon and Kirsten Wiig in a sci-fi satire.
Damon does double duty, starring in George Clooney's home invasion thriller “Suburbicon,” another world premiere, opposite Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac.
The festival ends Sept. 9 and will include the 3-D world premiere — after years of legal wrangling — of John Landis' “Michael Jackson’s Thriller” music video.
Guillermo del Toro's “The Shape of Water” won't open stateside until December, but this dark period fairy tale is here with the filmmaker, Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer.
Robert Redford and Jane Fonda have teamed for the fourth time with Netflix's “Our Souls at Night” and receive lifetime achievement Golden Lions Friday at their film's premiere.
Jennifer Lawrence and Darren Aronofsky are here for “Mother!” while Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland are here for “The Leisure Seeker,” which won't
open until January.
Judi Dench and Stephen Frears revisit the actress' star-making role of Queen Victoria in “Mrs. Brown” with a 20-years-later reprise, “Victoria and Abdul,” which is also the occasion for Venice to honor Frears with a Golden Lion.
Frances McDormand arrives in Venice with Oscar buzz and co-stars Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell for the intriguingly titled comedic thriller “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” a movie that's bound to generate interest in a town few could have been familiar with.
Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried join auteur Paul Schrader for the very dark “First Reformed.” Kirsten Dunst is present with Pilou Asbaek (“Game of Thrones”) in the hallucinatory, druggie film debut of Rodarte fashion siblings Laura and Kate Mulleavy's
“Woodshock.” Sienna Miller flies in from London, where she's onstage in the hit revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” to join auteur James Toback for “The Private Life of a Modern Woman.”
Javier Bardem co-stars with wife Penelope Cruz as drug lord Pablo Escobar in
“Loving Pablo,” and Vince Vaughn deals with the dangers of “Brawl in Cell Block 99.”
Befitting its international status, Venice also touts films from Japan, France, Taiwan, Italy (of course!) and Germany.