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The ghosts did not take long to present themselves. Oliveira's seventh feature, Visita ou Memórias e Confissões, conveys a bevy of autobiographical musings on his family house and himself. Filmed in 1981 when he was 73, yet shelved voluntarily until after his death, Memories and Confessions has since become a kind of talisman for the director, an n+1 variable where the n is his 31-item back catalogue cut short last year. The first character introduced in the movie is a magnolia that blooms twice a year—first in "a rapid blossoming," then in the shape of "a rare star of maturity." Conveniently, the film's structure comprises just what the original title enumerates: a visit, some memories, a handful of confessions. The visitors in question are a man and a woman whom we do not get to see but whose voices we keep hearing off-screen. As they drop in at an empty house...

“Living is dying”—such are the words of advice Haewon’s mother offers her beautiful daughter before leaving. They have not seen each other for five years, and now Haewon’s mother is emigrating to Canada, where Haewon’s brother lives. Her father never appears on the screen, yet it is apparent that Haewon is left completely alone—she is nobody’s daughter now.

Hong Sang-soo’s fourteenth feature (his next one Our Sunhi is already finished and coming soon in Locarno competition) is an eponymous film. He rarely uses the names of the characters in his film titles, the only exceptions being Oki's Movie and Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (originally titled Oh! Soo-jung). Hong is one of those directors who like to explore human nature, and his pictures offer a lively collection of characters who are awkward, goofy and gawky the way only real people can be.

With the release of a second teaser trailer of Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" this morning, we got another look at one of the most anticipated films of the year. And with the picture already slated for an October 13th release, for some traveling film critics and fans, and those prepared to head to Italy, the Venice Film Festival could be where the film makes its world premiere, with artistic director Alberto Barbera suggesting a few weeks back that Anderson was heading to the Lido for the fest, which kicks off on August 29th.

With the announcement of the opening film due any day now -- it was on June 21st last year and today, the fest announced their lineup of rare and restored films that will unspool -- and "The Master" trailer reminding us that its one of the candidates, it seemed like a good opportunity to look...

Zhang Ziyi in Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmasters

For about a week now, Ioncinema has been counting down its "Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2012" — and they're almost there. As of this writing, after 99 individual entries filling us in on all that Eric Lavallee knows about the films he's looking forward to, the title that'll land in the #1 spot remains a mystery. I'll update when it appears, but for now, click the titles to see the files on the top 20 so far:

Update, 1/12: And we have a #1:

Carlos Reygadas's Post Tenebras Lux. Michael Haneke's Love. Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. Terrence Malick's The Burial (that title's likely to change). Olivier Assayas's Something in the Air. Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmasters. Abbas Kiarostami's Like Someone in Love. Antonio Campos's Simon Killer. Derek Cianfrance's Place Beyond the Plains. Jacques Audiard's Rust and Bone.