đż44: A Chiara
This week we're sharing the best games for film fans and Cillian Murphy's Batman audition tape đŚ
âThe greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.â
~ The Usual Suspects, 1995
Game onâŚ
If youâre anything like us, youâll love putting your obscure film knowledge to the test â or simply proving how clever you are â with games like Framed, which gives you six âframesâ while you have to guess what film theyâre from. If youâve not played it before, itâs a lot of fun.
On the other hand, if Framed has become a part of your daily routine (as it has ours), then youâll be glad to know there are some more Wordle-inspired movie games:
Posterdle - Here, a film poster will slowly un-pixelate itself and youâve got to guess what the poster is in the shortest time.
Moviedle - With this one, the whole film is condensed into a one-second montage and youâve got to guess what it is. If you canât youâll get a slightly longer two-second montage, and so on.
The only caveat is that, unlike Framed, these games donât seem to save your stats and progress unless youâve got a LikeWiseTV account. That might not be a bad thing though as it looks like a pretty good platform to browse multiple streaming services and get tailored recommendations, that are hopefully better than Netflix recommendations.
Have fun and let us know how you get on - and no, this intro hasnât been sponsored.
Now for the headlines:
A poster for Christopher Nolanâs Oppenheimer has been released and it looks like we can expect the film to reach the big screen on 23 July 2023. Read more.
The trailer for Guillermo del Toroâs Pinocchio just dropped, and it looks great. Watch the trailer here.
When Ti Westâs porn-shoot-gone-wrong horror, X, was released earlier this year, I donât think anyone was expecting it to get a prequel. But thatâs exactly whatâs happened. Watch the trailer here.
San Sebastian Festival unveils the 13 films from first and second-time directors that will compete for the 2022 Kutxabank-New Directors Award. Read more.
Salty Popcorn is 100% free, but if you enjoy SP, please consider buying us a cinema ticket for just ÂŁ5 per month - or a bunch of tickets for just ÂŁ30 per year. Thank you!
Upcoming Releases
Funny Pages
UK: 16 September // USA: 26 August
In this coming-of-age comedy, teenage cartoonist Robert (Daniel Zolghadri) rejects the comforts of his suburban life in a misguided quest for something more soulful. As strange as this film may look, A24 films rarely disappoint.
She Said
UK: 18 November // USA: 18 November
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star as Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, the journalists that published the report that exposed Harvey Weinstein and kickstarted the #MeToo movement.
Fact of the week
Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy have worked together on a number of films, including Inception, Dunkirk and The Dark Knight trilogy, but Oppenheimer will be Murphyâs first lead role in a Nolan film.
However, that almost wasnât the case as Murphy did a screen test (in costume) for the role(s) of Batman and Bruce Wayne. I found a lot of this behind-the-scenes interesting, but you can click here to skip to Murphyâs screen test.
Review: A Chiara
Star rating:
3.5 (out of 5)
Where to watch:Â
USA: Amazon Prime ($5.99)
UK: In Select Cinemas (hits Mubi on 26th August)
Runtime:
2hr 01m
Director:
Jonas Carpignano
Blurb:Â
In this arthouse coming-of-age drama, 15-year-old Chiara (Swamy Rotolo) and her family are abandoned by her father when he suddenly becomes a fugitive. As his reasons for disappearing become clearer, Chiara must deal with the consequences of her familyâs criminal ties.
The review (NO spoilers):
A Chiara is a refreshing take on a subject thatâs been saturated in cinema since The Godfather, but this is not a gangster film. Its focus isnât on crime or justice - itâs on Chiara (Swamy Rotolo), a young girl trying to cope as the world she knows falls apart. In some ways, itâs a triumph, but the trailer promises more grit than the film delivers and I found it hard to move past that disappointment.
As a fan of âgangsterâ films, I was excited to see something so familiar through the eyes of someone whose perspective has never, to my knowledge, made it to the big screen. Perhaps the praise itâs received from critics, and its impressive 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes, lifted my expectations too high.
However, whatâs particularly interesting about A Chiara is that no member of the central cast is a professional actor. Theyâre simply residents of Calabria, where the first two films (Mediterranea and A Cambria) of this loose trilogy were filmed and set, a fact that makes their performances really quite impressive.
This may be as much a testament to director Jonas Carpignano as the cast itself, as he revealed very little to his actors about the events that would unfold in each scene. A technique that he felt would allow them to react more naturally - and it works.
Of course, the focus here is very much on Chiara, the hard-faced teenager whoâs desperate to be taken seriously by her family. Rotolo just about manages to shine through the near-constant expression of discontent and moodiness (aka. âresting-bitch-faceâ) that she wears throughout the film. Half the time sheâs a petulant teenager, the other half sheâs an intimidating young adult â youâll know what I mean when you see her stare â but at times, it feels like thereâs something deeper running beneath the surface of her performance. Whatever it is, itâs incredibly captivating.
Unfortunately, the same canât be said for the film itself as there were moments in the third act where I was checking my watch. It would be unfair to say that the film runs out of steam, as this isnât quite the case. All the excitement takes place during the first half when the premise of the story is being set up and weâre getting to know the characters. Towards the end, however, it feels as though weâre waiting for something to happen, which ultimately doesnât.
Scroll down to see whatâs in the next issue.
If you liked A ChiaraâŚ
A Ciambra
2017 | UK: Amazon Prime (ÂŁ1.99) // USA: Amazon Prime ($2.99)
If youâve seen A Chiara, youâll be interested to know that Chiara (Swamy Rotolo) had a minor role in this 2017 film by Jonas Carpignano. Again, Carpignano cast local, non-professional actors from Calabria and again it focuses on a teenager desperate to grow up and surrounded by criminality.
In the next issue:
Thirteen Lives
UK: 29 July // USA: 29 July |Â Watch the Trailer
Nolan used to be one of my favorite directors, but Tenet (and everything surrounding it) was such a disappointment that the announcement of a new movie doesnât even excite me as much anymore... hope it proves me and everybody else wrong!