Richard Linklater is up there with the best filmmakers of his era. His filmography is as original and diverse as they come: “Dazed and Confused,” “Waking Life,” “The School of Rock,” “Boyhood” and the ‘Before’ trilogy, among many more.
Linklater’s last film was “Apollo 10 1/2,” available to stream on Netflix. It’s the most personal and heartfelt movie of his career - A rotoscope-infused dream that sucks you back into 1960s Texas.
I briefly mentioned a few weeks ago that rumors are starting to brew about his new film, “Hitman,” having been selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Just rumors, for now.
It’s also around this time of the year that some American titles, with Cannes aspirations, start to test-screen, for studios to know exactly what they have. “Hitman” is one of them, it test-screened at The Grove last night in Los Angeles.
The film stars Glenn Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) as Gary Johnson, a staff investigator who plays the role of a hit man to catch individuals ordering a hit. The film is being billed as an action-comedy.
Linklater is coming off the critical acclaim he received for “Apollo 10 1/2” in France. The reception there was much better than in the US, where it still received positive reviews. Hell, even Cahiers du Cinema put it in their top ten films list for 2022.
The last time Linklater was at Cannes was in 2006, when he brought two films there: “Fast Food Nation” and “A Scanner Darkly.” Otherwise, he’s been known to premiere his other films at SXSW, Sundance, and Berlin.
Thatcher shows up on-screen for, at most, 10 seconds. She looks remarkably like Thatcher and comes off as almost too polished, non-human like. Further clues are pointing at AI.