The last 12 days at Cannes have left me missing a few notable press screenings, most importantly, at least for commercial reasons, would be Guy Ritchie’s “Aladdin,” which is not being treated very kindly by critics. However, the biggest surprise for me with these reviews is how most critics actually don’t mind Will Smith’s Genie and that the bigger problems lie elsewhere in Ritchie’s live-action remake. Regardless, the early score for Aladdin is at 58% and this seems to be another Will Smith bomb. How many more chances is this guy going to be given?
Read more‘Matthias & Maxime' Review: Xavier Dolan's Return to Quebec Cinema Misses the Mark — Cannes
30-year-old Xavier Dolan, returns to his native Quebec for “Matthias & Maxime.”
Read more‘Terminator: Dark Fate' Official Poster
People are underestimating the potential of Tim Miller’s upcoming Terminator movie, a sort of back-to-the-basics approach by producer James Cameron and Miller to bring the franchise back to its glory days (the first two films). Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton are back. What more do you need? Also, don’t, for a second, think Cameron is the mastermind behind the whole film; Yes, Miller is credited as director but you very much need to see this film as a directorial duet. Cameron and Miller are the co-directors.
Read moreChristopher Nolan’s New Film Is Titled ‘Tenet'
As per Variety:
“Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Kenneth Branagh will appear in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, “Tenet.”
“Clémence Poésy, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine are also joining the cast that includes John David Washington, Elizabeth Debicki, and Robert Pattinson.”
“Tenet,” which is being filmed on location across seven countries, is an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage.”
“Nolan is directing from his own original screenplay and will use a mix of Imax and 70mm film to bring the story to the big screen.”
“Nolan’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Hoyte van Hoytema, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Jennifer Lame, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, and visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson. The score is being composed by Ludwig Göransson.”
‘Young Ahmed' Review: The Dardennes' Latest Is A Minimalist Stunner — Cannes
In the latest Dardenne brothers movie, a young Arabic boy gets indoctrinated by a local Imam's teachings and tries to commit a heinous act.
Read more‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood' Review: Tarantino's Latest is Brilliant, Ambitious and Personal Filmmaking —Cannes
Quentin Tarantino was just 6 years old and living in Los Angeles when Charles Manson sent his gang of toxified flower children to murder Tate and four others at the home she shared with husband Roman Polanski. At the time of her death, she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. There is absolutely no chance that Tarantino doesn’t remember that time, even at a young age. The Manson murders are credited as changing the landscape of American society and culture.
Read moreFox Searchlight Lands Terrence Malick’s World War II Drama ‘A Hidden Life' for $14M — Cannes
Fox Searchlight has just nabbed the rights to distribute Terrence Malick's "A Hidden Life," a film so perplexing that even at the "high-brow" Cannes Film Festival there were hundreds of walkouts at the initial press screening on Monday afternoon. Don’t believe me? I was there. The film itself is incredibly problematic — you can read my review of it here. Regardless, this shows Fox must be in don’t-give-a-damn mode when it comes to buying, a now-or-never attitude towards nabbing a few Oscars before they are officially Disney property next year. However, Malick's latest film might not do it for them.
‘Portrait of A Lady on Fire' Review: Celine Sciamma's Triumph — Cannes
Sexual self-discovery is at the rendezvous in Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of A Lady on Fire,” a sumptuously made 121 minute triumph which simmers with slow-burn until it breaks your heart tenth fold. It is, as we speak, the leading contender to win the Palme D’or next weekend in what has been a Cannes filled with Good movies, but not great ones.
Read moreNew Roman Polanski Film Gets Secret Presentation, U.S. Buyers Don't Show Up — Cannes
Shame on whoever didn’t send me an email invitation which read "Confidential" in the subject line today.
Read moreQuentin Tarantino Writes Open Letter to Cannes Journalists Asking Not to Reveal ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ Plot Details
Consider this very good news. The fact that Quentin Tarantino has asked Cannes journos to refrain from revealing key plot points for tomorrow’s big premiere “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” is, essentially, proving my theory that the trailer gave absolutely none of the key plot away.
Read more‘Lux Aeterna' Review: Gaspar Noe's 51-Minute Movie-Within-A-Movie [Review]
I will give Gaspar Noe’s “Lux Aeterna” a decent amount of ink here despite its out-of-competition slot and the fact that it is only 51 minutes in length. The man is no doubt a provocateur, but an immensely talented one at that.
Read more‘A Hidden Life' Review: Terrence Malick's Comeback Will Have to Wait— Cannes
I had hoped that Terrence Malick‘s “A Hidden Life” would finally be the movie to bring the auteur back into tip-top shape, after a trio of bad movies (“To the Wonder,” “Knight of Cups,” “Song to Song”), however, alas,that is not the case. The story of Franz Jagerstatter (August Diehl), the Austrian farmer that refused to fight for the Germans during World War II, is fascinating one, but Malick decides to self-indulge yet again; Clocking in at close to three hours, the film is an hour too long. Someone really needs to tell him to hire an actual editor,
Read more‘Rainy Day In New York’ Trailer Surfaces
Elle Fanning is currently on Jury duty at Cannes, but we do need to be reminded that she is the lead in Woody Allen‘s “A Rainy Day in New York.” The film, which has been in post-production hell due to bogus #MeToo allegations resurfacing on the director, finally has a trailer, then again in lo-fi quality, was it leaked? It will almost certainly debut at the Venice Film Festival, following that premiere it is set to be released in France, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, South Korea, South America, Italy, with many more territories to come.
‘Little Joe' Review: An Allegory to Our Prozac Nation Falls Flat — Cannes
I would love to go into detail about Jessica Hausner's "Little Joe," but here I am, it's 3 in the morning, I just saw a screening of Stanley Kubrick's restored "The Shining," in 4K no less. Alfonso Cuaron was there to present it alongside Kubrick's daughter Vivian and his second in hand Leon Vitality.
Read morePattinson the New Batman?
Reviews of “Rocketman” and “Little Joe” up shortly. I am also going to a screening of Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory,” and maybe, just maybe, will not be too tired to go catch Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” presented by Alfonso Cuaron.
Now, although I am mostly covering Cannes at the moment, I do need to mention this:
Variety‘s Justin Kroll reporting that Robert Pattinson is in negotiations to play Batman in Matt Reeves’ The Batman is a WTF kinda thing. No surprise, fan backlash has happened.
Of course, it isn’t a done deal, but “the top choice and [the deal] is expected to close shortly”sccording to Kroll. Reeves and Pattinson would start shooting this summer.
I have absolutely no problem with that. RPatz is more than fine in my books.
The film is supposed to open on 6.25.21.
‘Atlantics' Review: Ghosts Are All Over This Senegalese Feature — Cannes
After a successful jaunt in acting and directing short films, french actress-writer-director Mati Diop returns to Senegal for her first feature-length movie “Atlantics.” Coincidentally, this is also the first film directed by a black woman to compete in Cannes' main competition. Maybe that’s why the reviews have been positive for this middling movie, a complete and utter slog.
Read more‘Sorry We Missed You' Review: Ken Loach's Greatest Hits — Cannes
Bless Ken Loach’s heart. The man is relentless in his refusal to stop depicting working-class stories. After all, even his closest competitor, Mike Leigh, has dabbled outside his comfort zone in the past; not Loach, though, who was once retired but is back to tell the tales. Good on him. I will freely admit that his latest, “Sorry We Missed You,” got to me for its first hour or so, but it eventually got tiresome in its attempts to hammer on its anti-capitalist message. The miseries kept piling up, so much so that it felt like overload.
Read moreJohn Carpenter Ready to End his 10 year Directing Hiatus — Cannes
John Carpenter was honored by the Quinzaine yesterday. A special screening of his 1982 body-horror masterpiece “The Thing” was followed by a Q&A with the horror director.
Read more‘Bacurau' Review: A Perplexing Mix of Magical Surrealism and Grindhouse — Cannes
Kleber Mendonça Filho triumphed at Cannes in 2016 with the best movie of his careerm "Aquarius." That film was led by a mesmerizing performance from Sonia Braga and dealt with his native Brazil being invaded by gentrification. Filho’s latest, "Bacurau," is a whole other beast, an exercise in B-movie trappings which feels a little too facile, at least on surface and when compared to Mendoza's previous works.
Read more‘Les Miserables' Review: A French ‘Training Day' With Added Political Resonance— Cannes
The fringes of France are about to blow up in Les Misérables, the feature-length directorial debut from 39-year-old Ladj Ly. The film expands on Ly’s documentary and César-nominated 2017 shortof the same name, which also starred this feature’s three leads.
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