Telluride Review: Will Smith In ‘King Richard’

Warner Bros’ King Richard, the Will Smith-starring drama about Serena and Venus Williams’ father and how he raised a pair of tennis champions, will close AFI Fest this fall. Organizer American Film Institute said Wednesday that the pic, which world premiered earlier this month at the Telluride Film Festival, will wrap up the annual fest November 14 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorWill Smith starrer “King Richard” will close the AFI Fest on Nov. 14 at the TCL Chinese Theatre, the American Film Institute announced Wednesday.Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the film follows Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, and his life raising the champion athletes.

Will Smith’s “King Richard,” in which he plays the father of tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams, will close the 2021 AFI Fest, it was announced on Wednesday.The Closing Night screening will take place on Nov. 14 at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

If an alien came to Earth and wanted to know what the deal is with all these big, wet things crisscrossing the land, then Jennifer Peedom’s new documentary “River” would surely be of assistance. Its seventy-four minutes float by with the hazy ambiance that compels critics to dust off the time-honored descriptor of “tone poem,” the camera content to gaze at the magnificence of the natural world.

Alexandre Moratto’s “7 Prisoners” opens on a happy family dinner in rural Brazil. Mateus (Christian Malheiros) is leaving home for a work opportunity in São Paulo.

notable films coming out this fall:Sept. 9“Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali” (Netflix): A documentary chronicling the friendship between the boxing legend and the civil rights leader.Sept.

TELLURIDE – For those of us lucky enough to attend Cannes, there was a genuine sense of euphoria about returning to an in-person film festival following the pandemic forced cancellation in 2020. Returning to Telluride, which only featured a historic “Nomadland” outdoor screening last year, due to said pandemic, warmed the heart.

The story of the Williams sisters’ dad is getting a boost from Beyoncé.

TELLURIDE – If you’re a cat lover, as I admittedly am, it almost goes without saying that a feline-themed film should pique your interest. And when it comes to a prestige biopic about influential artist Louis Wain, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Andrea Riseborough, and Toby Jones? Well, in theory, those elements should combine into a delectable portion of cinephile catnip.

Beyoncé has written and recorded a song for Will Smith’s forthcoming film King Richard, titled ‘Be Alive’.The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival earlier this month.

Directors mining their lives for a story is nothing new, but it’s always exciting to see that premise connect with viewers beyond its maker. Such were the audience reactions to Kenneth Branagh’s stirring revisit to the Belfast of his childhood: there were sobs, gasps, and so much laughter.

In the form-expanding documentaries of Robert Greene, the artifice of performance clears a path with higher emotional truth waiting at its summit. Still, the distance between the two has varied.

Swaddled in the vastness of the mountainous American West, two young women command the terrain and their own destinies in Emelie Mahdavian’s picturesque documentary “Bitterbrush.” The sturdy duo at the helm, Hollyn Patterson and Colie Moline, are, despite their youthful age, veteran hired farmhands heading on a four-month commitment in a remote area to herd cattle.

TELLURIDE – Since it first debuted in 1897, Edmond Rostand’s original play “Cyrano de Bergerac” has been staged all over the world, adapted into numerous films, and seen its ingenious narrative used in almost every form of modern media. For a new version to triumph, it needs to equal or, hopefully, transcend what came before.

Clayton Davis Reinaldo Marcus Green’s sports drama “King Richard” is shaping up to have the same advantage that propelled “The Blind Side” to a best actress Oscar for Sandra Bullock. Its centerpiece is Will Smith, who’s now at the forefront of what is going to be a cutthroat best actor race.

This week many people will head to the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York, to attend matches of the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

As its short declarative title implies, Janet Tobias and John Hoffman’s documentary “Fauci” is single-minded in its pursuit of exploring and humanizing the now (in)famous director of the National Institutes of Health.

Explorer, inventor, activist, and oceanographic popularizer, Jacques-Yves Cousteau introduced millions to the glories of the ocean through his popular movies.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticThe vast majority of sports movies are about exceptional talent. “King Richard” is about exceptional belief: the conviction of one man, Richard Williams, to turn his daughters Venus and Serena into the world’s greatest tennis players.