Christina Newland, Author at The Playlist

‘Babyteeth’ Is A Gentle, Affecting Tearjerker From Director Shannon Murphy [Venice Review]

September 4, 2019 12:45 pm

Australian director Shannon Murphy’s debut feature, "Babyteeth," is a gentle, affecting tearjerker that hits so many of the right notes and a few jarring ones. Eliza Scanlen is Milla, the teenage daughter of a ...

‘The King’: Timothée Chalamet Is Absolutely Regal In David Michôd’s Shakespearean Epic [Venice Review]

Christina Newland

September 3, 2019 9:55 am

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

It’s really no great stretch to imagine Timothée Chalamet in a historical setting. With his finely angular thinness and flop of dark hair, you can see him as a sickly 19th-century aristocrat, or maybe even…. so...

‘Wasp Network’: The Cuban Five Spy For Castro In Filmmaker Olivier Assayas’ Uneven Espionage Thriller [Venice Review]

Christina Newland

September 1, 2019 5:40 pm

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

Oliver Assayas’ "Wasp Network" is an intriguing caper-style political drama, featuring a starry ensemble cast and some compelling material, which, unfortunately, outstays its welcome in a major way. Focusing on...

Haifaa Al-Mansour’s ‘The Perfect Candidate’ shines at Venice.

‘The Perfect Candidate’: Haifaa Al-Mansour Gently Marries Family Tradition & Equality [Venice Review]

Christina Newland

August 31, 2019 1:13 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

In "The Perfect Candidate," the fourth feature film from Haifaa al-Mansour, Maryam (Mila Al Zahrani), a plucky young Saudi Arabian doctor, makes an impulsive decision to run for her local municipal council seat...

‘An Officer And A Spy’: Polanski’s Controversial Film Is A Well-Crafted, But Middling, Historical Drama [Venice Review]

Christina Newland

August 30, 2019 11:05 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Roman Polanski’s latest film, "An Officer and a Spy," tells the real-life story of the infamous Dreyfus affair that rocked France in the 1890s. When espionage was discovered within the ranks of the French milit...

Author Christina Newland