Movie News
Not exactly the opening weekend that dreams are made of.
Director John Krasinski’s “If,” a fantasy-comedy that promises your imaginary friends from childhood are real, fell slightly short of box office expectations with $35 million. Heading into the weekend, “If” was expected to bring in at least $40 million in its first weekend of release. Based on Friday’s turnout, it looked like “If” would open to $30 million but projections were revised up after Saturday’s strong showing. Ticket sales were enough for first place, but it’s a wobbly start for a PG family film that cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market. It collected an additional $20 million overseas for a global total of $55 million.
The good news for Paramount Pictures, which distributed “If,” is that audiences dug the film, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. Ideally, it’ll have staying power like recent original kid-friendly movies, including “Migration” and “Elemental,...
Director John Krasinski’s “If,” a fantasy-comedy that promises your imaginary friends from childhood are real, fell slightly short of box office expectations with $35 million. Heading into the weekend, “If” was expected to bring in at least $40 million in its first weekend of release. Based on Friday’s turnout, it looked like “If” would open to $30 million but projections were revised up after Saturday’s strong showing. Ticket sales were enough for first place, but it’s a wobbly start for a PG family film that cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market. It collected an additional $20 million overseas for a global total of $55 million.
The good news for Paramount Pictures, which distributed “If,” is that audiences dug the film, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. Ideally, it’ll have staying power like recent original kid-friendly movies, including “Migration” and “Elemental,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Yorgos Lanthimos can’t stop (won’t stop!) working with Oscar winner Emma Stone, casting the actress once again as leading lady for his next project “Bugonia.”
The drama will also star Jesse Plemons who, along with Stone, appears in Lanthimos’ forthcoming “Kinds of Kindness.” That three-chapter feature just premiered on Friday at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“Bugonia” follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The script is from heat-seeking “Succession” and “The Menu” writer Will Tracy.
Focus Features has won domestic rights to distribute the project. Universal Pictures will roll out the film in global territories, save Korea where “Parasite” producer Cj Enm will release. The latter is financing the film with Fremantle. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent brokered the rights deal.
This package is loaded with pedigree.
The drama will also star Jesse Plemons who, along with Stone, appears in Lanthimos’ forthcoming “Kinds of Kindness.” That three-chapter feature just premiered on Friday at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“Bugonia” follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The script is from heat-seeking “Succession” and “The Menu” writer Will Tracy.
Focus Features has won domestic rights to distribute the project. Universal Pictures will roll out the film in global territories, save Korea where “Parasite” producer Cj Enm will release. The latter is financing the film with Fremantle. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent brokered the rights deal.
This package is loaded with pedigree.
- 5/18/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Certainly the grossest, most way-out-there, and dare-you-to-lose-your-dinner film to debut in the Cannes competition so far, Coralie Fargeat’s “Revenge” follow-up “The Substance” premiered in the Palais Sunday night after a morning press screening that saw plenty of expected walkouts. Surely the same volume of repulsed exiters carried over to the premiere public screening, where Greta Gerwig’s jury got their first glimpse of the otherwise since-secretive film whose synopses and press notes tell you little. Mubi has distribution rights, which the company purchased just before the festival started. IndieWire’s David Ehrlich calls it an “instant classic.”
In this audacious, two-plus-hour feminist body horror, Demi Moore bares all to play a once-decorated actress quote-unquote past her prime named Elizabeth Sparkle, now resigned to Jane Fonda-esque fitness videos. But her time is finally up. She’s fired for being too old, sent packing home back to her sparse LA apartment,...
In this audacious, two-plus-hour feminist body horror, Demi Moore bares all to play a once-decorated actress quote-unquote past her prime named Elizabeth Sparkle, now resigned to Jane Fonda-esque fitness videos. But her time is finally up. She’s fired for being too old, sent packing home back to her sparse LA apartment,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Worldwide box office May 17-19 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes (Disney) $66.6m $237.5m $40.6m $136.3m 53 2. If (Paramount) $55m $59m $20m $24m 59 3. The Fall Guy (Universal) $15.6m $127.6m $7.2m $64.6m 82 4. The Strangers: Chapter 1 (Lionsgate) $13.7m $13.7m $1.7m $1.7m 14 5. The Garfield Movie (Sony) $10.3m $49m $10.3m $49m 27 6. Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In (various) $8m $77m $8m $77m 5 7. Tarot (Sony) $7m $29.9m $5m $14.5m 53 8. Un P’tit Truc En Plus (Pandis) $6.8m $25.9m $6.8m $25.9m 1 9. The Last Frenzy (various) $6.6m $78.4m $6.6m $78.4m 3 10. Hovering Blade (various) $5.6m $5.7m $5.6m $5.7m 2
Credit: Comscore.
Credit: Comscore.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
An immensely, unstoppably, ecstatically demented fairy tale about female self-hatred, Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” will stop at nothing — and I mean nothing — to explode the ruthless beauty standards that society has inflicted upon women for thousands of years, a burden this camp-adjacent instant classic aspires to cast off with some of the most spectacularly disgusting body horror this side of “The Fly” or the final minutes of “Akira.”
If the “Revenge” director’s immaculately crafted debut tried to dismantle male toxicity with a shotgun blast square to the balls, Fargeat’s Cannes-approved follow-up turns that same attention inwards, allowing her to take aim at both the pointlessness she’s been conditioned to feel as a forty-something woman, and also at the resentment she’s been conditioned to feel towards her younger self. Squelching with fury at how a woman’s “fuckability” is used as the ultimate measure of her worth,...
If the “Revenge” director’s immaculately crafted debut tried to dismantle male toxicity with a shotgun blast square to the balls, Fargeat’s Cannes-approved follow-up turns that same attention inwards, allowing her to take aim at both the pointlessness she’s been conditioned to feel as a forty-something woman, and also at the resentment she’s been conditioned to feel towards her younger self. Squelching with fury at how a woman’s “fuckability” is used as the ultimate measure of her worth,...
- 5/19/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
As far as the Marvel Cinematic Universe goes, "Moon Knight" occupies a strange place. Starring Oscar Isaac in the lead role, it involves a superhero with a personality disorder, with the whole show steeped in Egyptian lore. It's unique in and amongst the vast sea of other superhero stuff out there. That was made clear even from the show's opening moments, which see Ethan Hawke's villain Arthur Harrow pouring broken glass in his shoes before walking around in them somewhat casually. It was a twisted moment, particularly for the historically PG-13 MCU. It turns out this moment came from the mind of Hawke himself.
In a 2022 interview with Yahoo, the actor, known for his work in movies like "Training Day" and "Sinister," was asked about the moment in question. Hawke explained that it all stemmed from him trying to figure out the character. In the end, he ended up...
In a 2022 interview with Yahoo, the actor, known for his work in movies like "Training Day" and "Sinister," was asked about the moment in question. Hawke explained that it all stemmed from him trying to figure out the character. In the end, he ended up...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Costner writes, directs and stars alongside Sienna Miller and Sam Worthington in a big vain slog up familiar old west alleys
After three saddle-sore hours, Kevin Costner’s handsome-looking but oddly listless new western doesn’t get much done in the way of satisfying storytelling.
Admittedly, this is supposed to be just the first of a multi-part saga for which Costner is director, co-writer and star. But it somehow doesn’t establish anything exciting for its various unresolved storylines, and doesn’t leave us suspensefully hanging for anything else.
In fact, the ploddingly paced epic ends by suddenly accelerating into a very peculiar preview montage of part two, with Costner speeding around punching people we’ve never seen before – as if someone had accidentally leant on the fast-forward button and we got to watch the whole of the second section in 25 seconds.
It certainly starts at a gallop. The various plot strands in Montana,...
After three saddle-sore hours, Kevin Costner’s handsome-looking but oddly listless new western doesn’t get much done in the way of satisfying storytelling.
Admittedly, this is supposed to be just the first of a multi-part saga for which Costner is director, co-writer and star. But it somehow doesn’t establish anything exciting for its various unresolved storylines, and doesn’t leave us suspensefully hanging for anything else.
In fact, the ploddingly paced epic ends by suddenly accelerating into a very peculiar preview montage of part two, with Costner speeding around punching people we’ve never seen before – as if someone had accidentally leant on the fast-forward button and we got to watch the whole of the second section in 25 seconds.
It certainly starts at a gallop. The various plot strands in Montana,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw in Cannes
- The Guardian - Film News
This weekend, the 49th season of "Saturday Night Live" came to an end. Typically, the season finale is chock full of guest stars, and usually a big name or former beloved cast member takes the stage in Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for hosting duties. This time, it was the former, with "Road House" remake star Jake Gyllenhaal returning for his third time hosting the late night sketch series.
For those keeping track, Gyllenhaal's hosting duties have Taylor Swift fans buzzing, because the musical guest was "Girl Meets World" star Sabrina Carpenter, who has been opening for Swift on the international part of her Eras Tour (now available to watch on Disney+), and there's that whole drama between Gyllenhaal and Swift that resulted in a 10-minute hit song. Speaking of musical guests, Gyllenhaal got musical in his own right as he sang a Boyz II Men cover about the honor...
For those keeping track, Gyllenhaal's hosting duties have Taylor Swift fans buzzing, because the musical guest was "Girl Meets World" star Sabrina Carpenter, who has been opening for Swift on the international part of her Eras Tour (now available to watch on Disney+), and there's that whole drama between Gyllenhaal and Swift that resulted in a 10-minute hit song. Speaking of musical guests, Gyllenhaal got musical in his own right as he sang a Boyz II Men cover about the honor...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ethan Anderton
- Slash Film
Does the Academy hate horror? "Hate" is probably a strong word, but it's not unfair to say the Academy has at least an aversion to the genre. With the notable exception of Jonathan Demme's "The Silence of the Lambs," which swept the Oscars and won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay, the Oscars tend to overlook or ignore horror movies altogether. For (recent) example: many people thought Toni Collette should've at least nabbed a nomination for her incredible work in Ari Aster's "Hereditary," but that didn't happen.
Stephen King knows a thing or two about horror movies, especially since most of his books have been adapted to the screen. When it comes to King's movie adaptations, only one has achieved Oscar glory: "Misery," which earned Kathy Bates a Best Actress Oscar. But if King had his way, another one of his movies would've been recognized by the Academy,...
Stephen King knows a thing or two about horror movies, especially since most of his books have been adapted to the screen. When it comes to King's movie adaptations, only one has achieved Oscar glory: "Misery," which earned Kathy Bates a Best Actress Oscar. But if King had his way, another one of his movies would've been recognized by the Academy,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Atoms & Void, the Netherlands-based production and sales company run by Sergei Loznitsa and Maria Choustova, has closed a French sale on Loznitsa’s most recent feature documentary “The Invasion,” which premiered on Thursday as a Special Screening in Cannes. Potemkine Films has taken all rights for France, while the film’s French co-producer Arte France maintains its exclusive TV/VOD window.
“The Invasion” arrives 10 years after the release of Sergei Loznitsa’s epic “Maidan,” which chronicled the Ukrainian uprising.
In his latest feature documentary, Loznitsa returns to Ukraine to chronicle his country’s struggle against the Russian invasion. Shot over a two-year period, the film portrays the life of the civilian population all over Ukraine – from Lviv and Odessa to Kyiv and Dnipro – and presents a statement of Ukrainian resilience in the face of a barbaric invasion. In the second part of his Ukrainian diptych, Loznitsa paints a monumental...
“The Invasion” arrives 10 years after the release of Sergei Loznitsa’s epic “Maidan,” which chronicled the Ukrainian uprising.
In his latest feature documentary, Loznitsa returns to Ukraine to chronicle his country’s struggle against the Russian invasion. Shot over a two-year period, the film portrays the life of the civilian population all over Ukraine – from Lviv and Odessa to Kyiv and Dnipro – and presents a statement of Ukrainian resilience in the face of a barbaric invasion. In the second part of his Ukrainian diptych, Loznitsa paints a monumental...
- 5/19/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
Disney and 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” conquered the international box office again with $40.6 million in its second weekend of release.
So far, the fourth chapter in the “Apes” reboot franchise has generated $136 million overseas and $237 million globally. It currently stands as the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year, behind “Kung Fu Panda 4” ($533 million), “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” ($561 million) and “Dune: Part Two” ($710 million).
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” cost $160 million to produce so it needs to keep swinging at the box office to justify its price tag. International ticket sales will be key in turning a profit in its theatrical run. Top overseas markets include China with $20.4 million, France with $13.8 million, Mexico with $12 million and the United Kingdom with $10 million.
In a distant second place, Paramount and director John Krasinski‘s “If,” a fantasy-comedy aimed at young kids, collected $20 million from 58 markets.
So far, the fourth chapter in the “Apes” reboot franchise has generated $136 million overseas and $237 million globally. It currently stands as the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year, behind “Kung Fu Panda 4” ($533 million), “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” ($561 million) and “Dune: Part Two” ($710 million).
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” cost $160 million to produce so it needs to keep swinging at the box office to justify its price tag. International ticket sales will be key in turning a profit in its theatrical run. Top overseas markets include China with $20.4 million, France with $13.8 million, Mexico with $12 million and the United Kingdom with $10 million.
In a distant second place, Paramount and director John Krasinski‘s “If,” a fantasy-comedy aimed at young kids, collected $20 million from 58 markets.
- 5/19/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety - Film News
A24 is closing an eight-figure deal to acquire the U.S. rights to Ruben Östlund’s “The Entertainment System Is Down,” Variety has confirmed.
The deal was struck between A24 and Paris-based Co-Production Office, which launched international sales for the project at the Cannes Film Market.
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Brühl, Nicholas Braun and Samantha Morton, “The Entertainment System Is Down” takes place on a long-haul flight where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored.
During a Cannes event hosted by Sweden’s Film i Väst on Saturday, two-time Palme d’Or winner Östlund unveiled more details about “The Entertainment System Is Down,” including that he and his producer, Erik Hemmendorff, purchased a real-life Boeing 747 for the film.
”We wanted to have a real airplane because very often, when you watch an airplane movie, characters are put in a corner,...
The deal was struck between A24 and Paris-based Co-Production Office, which launched international sales for the project at the Cannes Film Market.
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Brühl, Nicholas Braun and Samantha Morton, “The Entertainment System Is Down” takes place on a long-haul flight where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored.
During a Cannes event hosted by Sweden’s Film i Väst on Saturday, two-time Palme d’Or winner Östlund unveiled more details about “The Entertainment System Is Down,” including that he and his producer, Erik Hemmendorff, purchased a real-life Boeing 747 for the film.
”We wanted to have a real airplane because very often, when you watch an airplane movie, characters are put in a corner,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety - Film News
Is it fair to say that "Tombstone" is one of the best Westerns ever made? At the very least, it's definitely one of the best modern Westerns. Directed by George P. Cosmatos, the stylish, violent saga tells the story of Wyatt Earp and the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Kurt Russell and his glorious mustache stars as Earp, with Val Kilmer stealing the entire movie as Earp's sickly buddy, Doc Holliday. The stacked cast also includes Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Dana Delany, Michael Rooker, Billy Zane, Charlton Heston, and a voice cameo from Robert Mitchum.
When you make a Western, certain accoutrements are baked into the material. We're talking pistols, cowboy boots, big ol' hats, and of course, horses. Kurt Russell sat down with Esquire for a career-spanning interview, and during the course of the conversation, the actor fondly recalled his time working with his horse on "Tombstone.
When you make a Western, certain accoutrements are baked into the material. We're talking pistols, cowboy boots, big ol' hats, and of course, horses. Kurt Russell sat down with Esquire for a career-spanning interview, and during the course of the conversation, the actor fondly recalled his time working with his horse on "Tombstone.
- 5/19/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
The 50th Annual Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) wrapped up on Sunday and announced the winners of the 2024 Golden Space Needle Audience and Juried Competition Awards.
The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the feature films were created by first or second-time filmmakers; 43% were created by women or nonbinary filmmakers; 35% of filmmakers identify as a Bipoc director; and nearly 60% are currently without U.S. distribution and may not screen commercially in the United States,” according to Siff.
Siff holds two categories of competition: juried and audience based. Juried competitions include five feature subcategories including the Official Competition, New American Cinema Competition, New Directors Competition, Ibero-American Competition and Documentary Competition. Short film categories include live action, animation and documentary.
In addition, over 32,000 ballots were submitted for the Golden Space Needle Awards (Gsna). Films judged through the GSNAs are selected by audience members through post-screening ballots. The categories include best film,...
The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the feature films were created by first or second-time filmmakers; 43% were created by women or nonbinary filmmakers; 35% of filmmakers identify as a Bipoc director; and nearly 60% are currently without U.S. distribution and may not screen commercially in the United States,” according to Siff.
Siff holds two categories of competition: juried and audience based. Juried competitions include five feature subcategories including the Official Competition, New American Cinema Competition, New Directors Competition, Ibero-American Competition and Documentary Competition. Short film categories include live action, animation and documentary.
In addition, over 32,000 ballots were submitted for the Golden Space Needle Awards (Gsna). Films judged through the GSNAs are selected by audience members through post-screening ballots. The categories include best film,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Lexi Carson
- Variety - Film News
Cannes 2024 Sales: A24 Acquires Rights to Ruben Öslund’s New Film ‘The Entertainment System Is Down’
For those keeping score, and we know Neon is, it’s four Palme d’Or victories for Neon, who bought “Anatomy of a Fall” out of last year’s Cannes Film Festival. The boutique shingle didn’t stop there, and also acquired “Robot Dreams” and “Perfect Days” as well. Netflix plunked down $11 million for “May December,” and the festival produced sales for other buzzy titles like “Jeanne du Barry” and “The Taste of Things.” All that, and with the specter of the writers strike hanging over it.
So what will sell big this year? Many of the titles in competition as part of this year’s Official Selection are up for grabs, even as Neon, A24, Mubi, and Searchlight are all arriving with at least one contender in the main race. We’ll be tracking everything that gets bought below throughout the festival and beyond.
Films Acquired During the Festival...
So what will sell big this year? Many of the titles in competition as part of this year’s Official Selection are up for grabs, even as Neon, A24, Mubi, and Searchlight are all arriving with at least one contender in the main race. We’ll be tracking everything that gets bought below throughout the festival and beyond.
Films Acquired During the Festival...
- 5/19/2024
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
“Horizon: An American Saga,” Kevin Costner’s risk-it-all Western epic, rode into Cannes on Sunday, earning a seven-minute standing ovation.
Costner was visibly emotional as the film received huge applause and chants of “Kevin! Kevin! Kevin!” During his speech, Costner thanked the audience and promised “three more” installments of the “Horizon” franchise, which is already due to get a sequel in August.
“I’m sorry you had to clap that long for me to understand that I should speak,” Costner said to laughter. “Such good people. Such a good moment, not just for me, but for the actors that came with me, for people who believed in me who continued to work. It’s a funny business, and I’m so glad I found it. There’s no place like here. I’ll never forget this — either will my children.”
Kevin Costner gets teary-eyed during the standing ovation for his...
Costner was visibly emotional as the film received huge applause and chants of “Kevin! Kevin! Kevin!” During his speech, Costner thanked the audience and promised “three more” installments of the “Horizon” franchise, which is already due to get a sequel in August.
“I’m sorry you had to clap that long for me to understand that I should speak,” Costner said to laughter. “Such good people. Such a good moment, not just for me, but for the actors that came with me, for people who believed in me who continued to work. It’s a funny business, and I’m so glad I found it. There’s no place like here. I’ll never forget this — either will my children.”
Kevin Costner gets teary-eyed during the standing ovation for his...
- 5/19/2024
- by Tatiana Siegel and Brent Lang
- Variety - Film News
In these trying times, “Saturday Night Live” wants character actors of all stripes to be extra careful when walking around New York City — but Jon Hamm can relax.
10 days after Steve Buscemi was hospitalized after being unexpectedly punched in the face, NBC’s late-night show mocked the situation with a lighthearted sketch about protecting our actors who are recognizable but not necessarily household names. Host Jake Gyllenhaal appeared as an NYPD officer urging actors to stay safe while briefing reporters about the issue.
“Just this week, national treasure Steve Buscemi was punched while walking through Kips Bay,” he said. “These types of attacks cannot and will not be tolerated. So to everyone watching, I have one important message: Stop punching character actors in the face.”
Gyllenhaal went on to explain that he believes Buscemi’s attack could be the start of a larger wave of crimes against character actors. He...
10 days after Steve Buscemi was hospitalized after being unexpectedly punched in the face, NBC’s late-night show mocked the situation with a lighthearted sketch about protecting our actors who are recognizable but not necessarily household names. Host Jake Gyllenhaal appeared as an NYPD officer urging actors to stay safe while briefing reporters about the issue.
“Just this week, national treasure Steve Buscemi was punched while walking through Kips Bay,” he said. “These types of attacks cannot and will not be tolerated. So to everyone watching, I have one important message: Stop punching character actors in the face.”
Gyllenhaal went on to explain that he believes Buscemi’s attack could be the start of a larger wave of crimes against character actors. He...
- 5/19/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Cannes – There is nothing wrong with a three-hour movie. There have been absolute masterworks longer than 180 minutes. It sorta helps, however, if the film is, well, a movie. After watching Kevin Costner’s 181-minute-long “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1,” we can’t argue its classification as a film, artist’s prerogative, but we’re still not sure it should be constituted as one by anyone else. And that’s for a multitude of reasons.
Continue reading ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Review: Kevin Costner’s Sprawling Western With No End In Sight [Cannes] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Review: Kevin Costner’s Sprawling Western With No End In Sight [Cannes] at The Playlist.
- 5/19/2024
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
1993 was a huge year for Steven Spielberg. Ever the workaholic, Spielberg had two major movies hit theaters in '93. The first was "Jurassic Park," which roared into multiplexes in June of that year. Then, in December, came "Schindler's List," Spielberg's Holocaust drama that finally won him a Best Director Oscar. Spielberg loves to work, and he would have other years where he released two films. But making two massive movies like "Jurassic Park" and "Schindler's List" was not an easy feat. The productions ended up overlapping, and the jarring nature of the two projects — one the ultimate popcorn blockbuster, the other a brutal and serious portrait of the Holocaust — ended up taking a toll on the acclaimed director.
After Spielberg finished principal photography on "Jurassic Park," he headed to Poland to shoot "Schindler's List." In Spielberg's mind, the main work on "Jurassic Park" was done. Except, of course, it wasn't.
After Spielberg finished principal photography on "Jurassic Park," he headed to Poland to shoot "Schindler's List." In Spielberg's mind, the main work on "Jurassic Park" was done. Except, of course, it wasn't.
- 5/19/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
In this edition of Screen’s Cannes Close-Up series of interviews, Spanish filmmaker Elena López Riera explains how the festival allows her open doors with international producers, and reveals which director she saw proposing at a party.
López Riera’s short film Pueblo and follow-up feature El Agua both premiered at Directors’ Fortnight, whilst her latest, The Southern Brides, is playing at Critics’ Week this year.
“It’s a documentary about the sexuality of older women and also about my relationship with my inheritance as a woman from the south of Spain,” says López Riera of the project.
“My producer...
López Riera’s short film Pueblo and follow-up feature El Agua both premiered at Directors’ Fortnight, whilst her latest, The Southern Brides, is playing at Critics’ Week this year.
“It’s a documentary about the sexuality of older women and also about my relationship with my inheritance as a woman from the south of Spain,” says López Riera of the project.
“My producer...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cannes – Eduard Limonov was a complicated man. He was a poet, a novelist, and a political activist; at one point, a Russian dissident who lived in New York and Paris, he returned to his homeland to lead a fascist party that supported a return to an ideology closer to that of the former Soviet Union. His story is so expansive it could likely be chronicled in a 10-hour mini-series and still miss out on an outlandish or surprising period in his life.
Continue reading ‘Limonov. The Ballad’: Ben Whishaw Channels The Controversial Punk Russian Poet [Cannes] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Limonov. The Ballad’: Ben Whishaw Channels The Controversial Punk Russian Poet [Cannes] at The Playlist.
- 5/19/2024
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Imagine a film where Cate Blanchett plays a version of Angela Merkel. And Charles Dance is a Joe Biden parody in full British accent. Now add Denis Ménochet as a boisterous French president carried around a damp forest in a wheelbarrow and Alicia Vikander as a beautiful diplomat who tells tales of the end of the world in frenzied Swedish. A feel more pinches of insanity and you would have “Rumours,” the newest by Canadian maverick trio Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson.
Continue reading ‘Rumours’ Review: Guy Maddin’s Bonkers Political Satire With Cate Blanchett Loses Steam Midway Through [Cannes] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Rumours’ Review: Guy Maddin’s Bonkers Political Satire With Cate Blanchett Loses Steam Midway Through [Cannes] at The Playlist.
- 5/19/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- The Playlist
Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of “The Artist,” makes a first foray into animation with “The Most Precious of Cargoes” which world premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on May 24. Adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is the first animated feature to vie for a Palme d’Or since Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008; and it will be the last movie watched by the competition jury, presided over by Greta Gerwig, before the closing ceremony.
Hazanavicius developed the project for years and wrote the script with Grumberg, as well as created the drawings. Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat created the original score. The drama intertwines the fate of a Jewish family, including newborn twins, deported to Auschwitz, with that of a poor and childless woodcutter couple living deep in a Polish forest. On the train to the death camp, the young father wraps...
Hazanavicius developed the project for years and wrote the script with Grumberg, as well as created the drawings. Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat created the original score. The drama intertwines the fate of a Jewish family, including newborn twins, deported to Auschwitz, with that of a poor and childless woodcutter couple living deep in a Polish forest. On the train to the death camp, the young father wraps...
- 5/19/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety - Film News
The "Star Wars" prequels constitute one of the biggest and most controversial set of movies of all time. Incredibly successful, both during its original theatrical run and in subsequent re-releases, "The Phantom Menace" was hugely anticipated by the summer of 1999, driving impossible-to-meet expectations. When the film was released, it made lots of money, but left some audiences cold. Over time, the image of "The Phantom Menace" as the beginning of the end for the franchise far, far away was cemented.
Except, that was 25 years ago. In the time since, kids who grew up on the prequels and additional material like "The Clone Wars" expanding the story and the characters have become more vocal online. It also helped that disappointment over the sequel trilogy has driven fans back to the prequels and George Lucas' unique and clear vision.
Rewatching "The Phantom Menace" during its 25th anniversary theatrical re-release, the movie's flaws are even more glaring,...
Except, that was 25 years ago. In the time since, kids who grew up on the prequels and additional material like "The Clone Wars" expanding the story and the characters have become more vocal online. It also helped that disappointment over the sequel trilogy has driven fans back to the prequels and George Lucas' unique and clear vision.
Rewatching "The Phantom Menace" during its 25th anniversary theatrical re-release, the movie's flaws are even more glaring,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
“If” (Paramount) may have fallen short of its anticipated $40 million opening, but the glass is at least half-full. Preview and initial numbers suggested it could end up around $28 million; instead, its initial estimate is $35 million.
That improvement, along with its A Cinemascore, suggests a film that could stick around. It would be a real boost for the cause of original non-franchise production. Domestic on “If” is better than foreign, which stands at $24 million, $20 million from this weekend. That puts it at $59 million worldwide.
The full weekend is projected to hit $99 million. If that becomes $100 million, it would mark the first time since Easter. By comparison, 2023 saw every weekend from April 7 through mid-August hit that level. In 2019, with significantly lower ticket prices, that was the case from post-Super Bowl through Labor Day.
‘The Fall Guy’©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
Any positive news is welcome. We are three weeks into summer playtime...
That improvement, along with its A Cinemascore, suggests a film that could stick around. It would be a real boost for the cause of original non-franchise production. Domestic on “If” is better than foreign, which stands at $24 million, $20 million from this weekend. That puts it at $59 million worldwide.
The full weekend is projected to hit $99 million. If that becomes $100 million, it would mark the first time since Easter. By comparison, 2023 saw every weekend from April 7 through mid-August hit that level. In 2019, with significantly lower ticket prices, that was the case from post-Super Bowl through Labor Day.
‘The Fall Guy’©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
Any positive news is welcome. We are three weeks into summer playtime...
- 5/19/2024
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
When it was released in January of 2001, Richard Kelly's bleak time-travel psychological drama "Donnie Darko" caused a notable stir. The title character, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a teen struggling with schizophrenia in 1988, a time when Reagan's great Conservative revolution was drawing to a close and adults clung to suburban conformity as it crumbled under them. Donnie is obsessed with time-travel and regularly hallucinates a vicious, strange anthropomorphic rabbit monster named Frank (all while attempting to socialize at school and foster a romance with a classmate played by Jena Malone). Patrick Swayze appears as a cheesy self-self guru, Drew Barrymore plays one of Donnie's teachers, and Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Donnie's sister.
By turns psychedelic and weirdly moving (in a Goth sort of way), "Donnie Darko" quickly became a cult hit and rotated directly into the local midnight movie circuit, attracting a wide swath of misfits and night people.
By turns psychedelic and weirdly moving (in a Goth sort of way), "Donnie Darko" quickly became a cult hit and rotated directly into the local midnight movie circuit, attracting a wide swath of misfits and night people.
- 5/19/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Urban Sales has closed a raft of deals on the upcoming animated feature “Into the Wonderwoods” ahead of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Special Screenings section.
The film, which bows with a special screening May 22 at the prestigious French fest, has sold to 45 territories, the Paris-based sales outfit announced during the Cannes Market. Pic has sold to Volga for the Cis territories and the Baltics; Selim Ramia & Co. for the Mena region; Skyline for Vietnam; New Horizons for Poland; Ascot Elite for Switzerland; Movies Inspired for Italy; Vercine for Spain; and Pris Audiovisuais for Portugal.
The family animation next travels to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to compete in the main competition for the prestigious Cristal award. Le Pacte will be releasing the film in France on Oct. 23. Advanced negotiations are ongoing for Benelux, China, Germany, Turkey, Latin America and North America.
“Into the Wonderwoods...
The film, which bows with a special screening May 22 at the prestigious French fest, has sold to 45 territories, the Paris-based sales outfit announced during the Cannes Market. Pic has sold to Volga for the Cis territories and the Baltics; Selim Ramia & Co. for the Mena region; Skyline for Vietnam; New Horizons for Poland; Ascot Elite for Switzerland; Movies Inspired for Italy; Vercine for Spain; and Pris Audiovisuais for Portugal.
The family animation next travels to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to compete in the main competition for the prestigious Cristal award. Le Pacte will be releasing the film in France on Oct. 23. Advanced negotiations are ongoing for Benelux, China, Germany, Turkey, Latin America and North America.
“Into the Wonderwoods...
- 5/19/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety - Film News
There are plenty of North American filmmakers influenced by the giants of international cinema. These filmmakers import stylistic references, different tones and rhythms, perhaps key collaborators, such as a cinematographer, to films that nonetheless are born of their own local filmmaking cultures. For his second feature, following the anarchic political satire of his The Twentieth Century, Canadian director Matthew Rankin has imagined a different approach. His formally precise and very funny Universal Language, a Cannes’s Directors Fortnight discovery this year, is not only influenced by the Iranian cinema of Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi, among others, but considers a Winnipeg […]
The post “We Wanted to Film These Beige Structures the Way Terrence Malick Films a Sunset”: Director Matthew Rankin on the Canadian/Iranian Interzone of his Cannes-Premiering Universal Language first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Wanted to Film These Beige Structures the Way Terrence Malick Films a Sunset”: Director Matthew Rankin on the Canadian/Iranian Interzone of his Cannes-Premiering Universal Language first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/19/2024
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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Director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" films are incredible feats of adaptation, bringing a vibrancy and modern sheen of tactility to Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel. The world-building is jaw-dropping, whether it's in the orange-tinged Harkonnen anti-gravity attack of "Dune: Part Two," or the deranged character choices of the film's villains; everything we see feels like it belongs in this universe, and the world feels so fully realized that it's easy to imagine ravenous fans spending hours taking deep dives into the films' expansive lore.
Case in point: The relatively short scene involving Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) entering the Maker's Temple and meeting the Maker Keeper (Alison Halstead), who lures a baby sandworm into her waiting arms ... only to drown it in order to extract the Water of Life from its corpse. The film tells you just enough so you can understand what's happening,...
Director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" films are incredible feats of adaptation, bringing a vibrancy and modern sheen of tactility to Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel. The world-building is jaw-dropping, whether it's in the orange-tinged Harkonnen anti-gravity attack of "Dune: Part Two," or the deranged character choices of the film's villains; everything we see feels like it belongs in this universe, and the world feels so fully realized that it's easy to imagine ravenous fans spending hours taking deep dives into the films' expansive lore.
Case in point: The relatively short scene involving Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) entering the Maker's Temple and meeting the Maker Keeper (Alison Halstead), who lures a baby sandworm into her waiting arms ... only to drown it in order to extract the Water of Life from its corpse. The film tells you just enough so you can understand what's happening,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
Some films prioritize a strident political cause, others set out to terrify or thrill. This touching and simple story from Japanese filmmaker Hiroshi Okuyama, premiering in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, is a gentler affair, with modest ambitions that it realizes effectively. Set on a small Japanese island, the film’s slight but sweet narrative follows a quartet of characters — young hockey player Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama), proficient skater Sakura (Kiara Nakanishi), figure-skating tutor Arakawa (Sōsuke Ikematsu) and his boyfriend (Ryûya Wakaba) — as they navigate subtly shifting interpersonal dynamics while a cold but beautiful winter waxes and wanes around them.
Every scene is set up with a very deliberate aesthetic sense. A snowy icing-sugar landscape, a baseball field tinged with pale turquoise light, an indoor ice-rink shimmering in a golden haze: Nothing feels haphazard or anything less than picture-perfect. This is the result of a fruitful collaboration between director and Dp,...
Every scene is set up with a very deliberate aesthetic sense. A snowy icing-sugar landscape, a baseball field tinged with pale turquoise light, an indoor ice-rink shimmering in a golden haze: Nothing feels haphazard or anything less than picture-perfect. This is the result of a fruitful collaboration between director and Dp,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety - Film News
The first significant deal at last year’s Marché du Film was Neon’s acquisition of Pablo Berger’s eventual Oscar nominee, “Robot Dreams.” Whether or not another Spanish animated film can have that kind of impact in 2024 remains to be seen, but there is a long list of contenders to consider.
Perhaps the buzziest Spanish title at this year’s market is adult animation auteur Alberto Vázquez’s “Decorado,” sold by French powerhouse Le Pacte. Like his previous titles, “Decorado” is based on a Vázquez short adapted from one of his graphic novels. Uniko, Abano Producións, The Glow Animation Studio and Sardinha em Lata produce.
“Girl and Wolf” marks the feature debut of animator and graphic novelist Roc Espinet, touted as Spain’s next adult animation auteur. Produced by Hampa Studio, Sygnatia and Alesa Films, the Latido-sold film will certainly look an appealing prospect to distributors of indie animation.
Perhaps the buzziest Spanish title at this year’s market is adult animation auteur Alberto Vázquez’s “Decorado,” sold by French powerhouse Le Pacte. Like his previous titles, “Decorado” is based on a Vázquez short adapted from one of his graphic novels. Uniko, Abano Producións, The Glow Animation Studio and Sardinha em Lata produce.
“Girl and Wolf” marks the feature debut of animator and graphic novelist Roc Espinet, touted as Spain’s next adult animation auteur. Produced by Hampa Studio, Sygnatia and Alesa Films, the Latido-sold film will certainly look an appealing prospect to distributors of indie animation.
- 5/19/2024
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety - Film News
Charles Portis' novel "True Grit" has been brought to life on the big screen several times, but Henry Hathaway's 1969 John Wayne-starring adaptation is perhaps the most popular. Wayne's rendition of Rooster Cogburn is one of his most-recognized late-period roles, and it also earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor — an accolade that feels thoroughly deserving due to the actor's ability to seamlessly inhabit the plucky, one-eyed U.S. Marshal. Portis' "True Grit" is told from the perspective of the adolescent Mattie Ross, whose deadpan, no-nonsense demeanor is our portal to the treacherous grown-ups around her, and her bond with the tough-as-nails marshal soon emerges as the heart of the drama. Wayne expertly balances Rooster's more vicious sensibilities with the hidden vulnerabilities that emerge when he helps Mattie exact revenge and looks endlessly cool while charging toward armed dudes with dual guns on horseback.
Although no one can...
Although no one can...
- 5/19/2024
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
Cineart, Lucky Red, Together Films and Film Constellation execs are gathering at the UK pavilion on Monday (May 20) to dig into the issues and opportunities facing UK films looking to travel globally.
“British film talent is the UK’s crown jewel, with a history of delivering award-winning films,” said Fabien Westerhoff, CEO at London and Paris-based Film Constellation, who is taking part in the panel. ”It is one of the largest pools of new acting talent globally, and has consistently delivered strong new directorial voices over the last decade, from Georgia Oakley, to Charlotte Wells, Rose Glass, William Oldroyd, Francis Lee,...
“British film talent is the UK’s crown jewel, with a history of delivering award-winning films,” said Fabien Westerhoff, CEO at London and Paris-based Film Constellation, who is taking part in the panel. ”It is one of the largest pools of new acting talent globally, and has consistently delivered strong new directorial voices over the last decade, from Georgia Oakley, to Charlotte Wells, Rose Glass, William Oldroyd, Francis Lee,...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons are hungry, wolfing down sandwiches at the start of our “Kinds of Kindness” interview. They’re in Cannes to promote the singular three-part anthology film, which has been well-received. They laugh a lot. She’s a Yorgos Lanthimos veteran, and just won her second Oscar embodying the free-spirited Bella Baxter in “Poor Things.” After that, it seems, nothing will phase her and she’ll do anything for her soulmate director. Announced at Cannes: Their next movie to be shot this summer, “Bugonia” (Focus Features), a remake of a Korean thriller, co-starring Plemons.
The 36-year-old one-time child actor is the new kid in town, joining such familiar faces as Stone, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe in the Lanthimos ensemble. When the “Fargo” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” star got the call from his agent, even before he read the “Kinds of Kindness” script, he said,...
The 36-year-old one-time child actor is the new kid in town, joining such familiar faces as Stone, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe in the Lanthimos ensemble. When the “Fargo” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” star got the call from his agent, even before he read the “Kinds of Kindness” script, he said,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
"Saturday Night Live" might be a late-night show in New York, but since it airs before 10 p.m. in some regions it has to abide by the FCC's quirky rules on "indecent and profane" content. Swearing is a capital crime; in 1981, Charles Rocket was fired immediately after he accidentally dropped an F-bomb on air. Sex and nudity are also big danger zones; the 1988 sketch "Nude Beach" with Matthew Broderick, in which the word "penis" is uttered dozens of times, was permitted to air following a fierce debate within NBC's Broadcast Standard Department, and resulted in 46,000 complaints and the loss of multiple sponsors.
Fortunately for this "SNL" season 49 finale sketch, which stars guest host Jake Gyllenhaal as Fred in a twisted spin on "Scooby-Doo," violence on TV is basically a blood-soaked free-for-all with almost no limits.
Musical guest Sabrina Carpenter co-stars as Daphne, with regular cast members Mikey Day...
Fortunately for this "SNL" season 49 finale sketch, which stars guest host Jake Gyllenhaal as Fred in a twisted spin on "Scooby-Doo," violence on TV is basically a blood-soaked free-for-all with almost no limits.
Musical guest Sabrina Carpenter co-stars as Daphne, with regular cast members Mikey Day...
- 5/19/2024
- by Hannah Shaw-Williams
- Slash Film
Saturday saw the premiere of the first bona fide competition hit with “Emilia Pérez,” Jacques Audiard’s queer musical fantasia about a Mexican trans woman’s (breakout star Karla Sofía Gascón) empowerment and liberation.
Audiard, who won the 2015 Palme d’Or from a jury led by the Coens for “Dheepan,” is working in a mode not far-flung from the grit of crime dramas like Grand Prix winner “A Prophet” or 2012 Palme contender “Rust and Bone.” But here, he weds those elements to an emotional story spanning Mexico City and trans identity that’s further outside his comfort zone. Selena Gomez co-stars in this wide-swinging musical as the wife of cartel crime lord Manitas, who with the help of a lawyer played by Zoe Saldana, undergoes gender confirmation surgery. Gascón stars as Pérez in a performance already getting best actress buzz. The movie careens from genre thriller to comedy and musical and queer redemption story,...
Audiard, who won the 2015 Palme d’Or from a jury led by the Coens for “Dheepan,” is working in a mode not far-flung from the grit of crime dramas like Grand Prix winner “A Prophet” or 2012 Palme contender “Rust and Bone.” But here, he weds those elements to an emotional story spanning Mexico City and trans identity that’s further outside his comfort zone. Selena Gomez co-stars in this wide-swinging musical as the wife of cartel crime lord Manitas, who with the help of a lawyer played by Zoe Saldana, undergoes gender confirmation surgery. Gascón stars as Pérez in a performance already getting best actress buzz. The movie careens from genre thriller to comedy and musical and queer redemption story,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
French distribution company UFO has secured the rights to American filmmaker Ryan J. Sloan’s New psychological thriller “Gazer,” which will world premiere at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight on May 22.
Set in New Jersey and starring Sloan’s partner Ariella Mastroianni, “Gazer” is the story of a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria. The disease causes her to struggle to perceive time, which makes holding down a steady job nearly impossible. So, when a mysterious woman offers her a risky job, she takes it, unaware of the dark consequences of her decision.
According to UFO CEO Stéphane Auclaire, “We loved following the lead character Frankie, played by the hypnotic Ariella Mastroianni, through the twists and turns of this paranoid thriller that reminded us of Cronenberg and the Safdie brothers. The sound and music, framing and lighting cohere in an ‘analog obsession’, through which director Ryan J.
Set in New Jersey and starring Sloan’s partner Ariella Mastroianni, “Gazer” is the story of a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria. The disease causes her to struggle to perceive time, which makes holding down a steady job nearly impossible. So, when a mysterious woman offers her a risky job, she takes it, unaware of the dark consequences of her decision.
According to UFO CEO Stéphane Auclaire, “We loved following the lead character Frankie, played by the hypnotic Ariella Mastroianni, through the twists and turns of this paranoid thriller that reminded us of Cronenberg and the Safdie brothers. The sound and music, framing and lighting cohere in an ‘analog obsession’, through which director Ryan J.
- 5/19/2024
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety - Film News
Not exactly the opening weekend that dreams are made of.
Director John Krasinski’s “If,” a fantasy-comedy that promises your imaginary friends from childhood are real, fell slightly short of box office expectations with $35 million. Heading into the weekend, “If” was expected to bring in at least $40 million in its first weekend of release. Based on Friday’s turnout, it looked like “If” would open to $30 million but projections were revised up after Saturday’s strong showing. Ticket sales were enough for first place — and decent for an original PG family film — but it’s a wobbly start for a movie that cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market. It collected an additional $20 million overseas for a global total of $55 million.
The good news for Paramount Pictures, which distributed “If,” is that audiences dug the film, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. Ideally, it’ll have staying power like recent original kid-friendly movies,...
Director John Krasinski’s “If,” a fantasy-comedy that promises your imaginary friends from childhood are real, fell slightly short of box office expectations with $35 million. Heading into the weekend, “If” was expected to bring in at least $40 million in its first weekend of release. Based on Friday’s turnout, it looked like “If” would open to $30 million but projections were revised up after Saturday’s strong showing. Ticket sales were enough for first place — and decent for an original PG family film — but it’s a wobbly start for a movie that cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market. It collected an additional $20 million overseas for a global total of $55 million.
The good news for Paramount Pictures, which distributed “If,” is that audiences dug the film, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. Ideally, it’ll have staying power like recent original kid-friendly movies,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety - Film News
The history of television is fascinating because you can trace lines between almost any modern show and one of the classics, as crews move from one show to another, bringing their past work and their influences with them. This applies to both live-action and animation. In the latter, many animators who start as writers or storyboard artists in one show end up creating their own series years later, bringing colleagues along with them, who then go on to create their own shows in return. Take "Dexter's Laboratory" launching the career of not just Genndy Tartakovsky, but also Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti, Butch Hartman, and Seth MacFarlane, each going on to make a popular show.
What "Dexter's Laboratory" did in the '90s, "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack" did in the late 2000s. This is a show that helped launch several animation careers, with plenty of writers and storyboard artists...
What "Dexter's Laboratory" did in the '90s, "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack" did in the late 2000s. This is a show that helped launch several animation careers, with plenty of writers and storyboard artists...
- 5/19/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
That the name Limonov is pronounced Lee-mwah-nov is one of two main things that Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov: The Ballad” teaches us about Eduard Limonov, the Russian radical, poet, dissident, emigré, returnee, detainee, bête noire and cause célèbre who in 1993 co-founded the ultra-nationalist National Bolshevik Party. The second is that, as imagined in this adaptation of Emmanuel Carrère’s 2015 fictionalized biography, for all the shifting identities and attitudes he assumed over the course of his controversial life, his persona as an aggravatingly self-aggrandizing solipsist never wavered.
A sharper film could have excavated his contradictions to illuminating effect — the rise of populist, crypto-fascist political movements and their self-ordained maverick leaders being a not-irrelevant phenomenon these days. But Serebrennikov, in love with the posture of the rebel that Limonov adopted without being terribly interested in what, at any given moment, he claimed to be rebelling against, mistakes the trappings for the substance...
A sharper film could have excavated his contradictions to illuminating effect — the rise of populist, crypto-fascist political movements and their self-ordained maverick leaders being a not-irrelevant phenomenon these days. But Serebrennikov, in love with the posture of the rebel that Limonov adopted without being terribly interested in what, at any given moment, he claimed to be rebelling against, mistakes the trappings for the substance...
- 5/19/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety - Film News
Sex is politics and politics is sex in Kirill Serebrennikov’s recklessly beautiful, wildly entertaining English-language debut “Limonov: The Ballad.” This punk rock epic moves at the pace of a train coming off its tracks across Moscow, New York, Paris, and back to Russia again, starring Ben Whishaw in a career-crowning lead performance as the self-styled alternative poet and political dissident Eduard Limonov (who died in 2020). Based on French writer and journalist Emmanuel Carrère’s biographical novel, “Limonov” spans the 1960s to near present-day Siberia to tell with orgiastic excess the life story of the eventual founder of the National Bolshevik Party, which married a far-left youth movement to far-right fascist ideology. But while Limonov’s politics are inextricable from the libertine hedonist he was, Serebrennikov’s film is more a purely pleasurable romantic odyssey than political deep dive, radiating a countercultural energy that smacks of freewheeling ‘70s cinema more...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
In the latest instalment of Screen’s Cannes Close-Up interview series, Ed Guiney, Co-CEO and founder of Element Pictures, talks about his best Cannes memory and discovering a brilliant fish restaurant.
Guiney has three films in official selection this year, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness in competition, and Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl and Ariane Labed’s September Says, both in Un Certain Regard.
In the interview, Guiney discusses his approach to working at Cannes, and why he’s “way happier sitting in a theatre than having a maybe not so fruitful meeting”.
Watch the full interview above.
Guiney has three films in official selection this year, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness in competition, and Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl and Ariane Labed’s September Says, both in Un Certain Regard.
In the interview, Guiney discusses his approach to working at Cannes, and why he’s “way happier sitting in a theatre than having a maybe not so fruitful meeting”.
Watch the full interview above.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cannes film festival
Eduard Limonov’s bizarre career, from rebel émigré writer in New York to leader of a fascistic, militaristic political group, is told with gusto by Kirill Serebrennikov
Fascism, punk, euphoria and despair … it’s all here, or mostly, in this hilarious biopic of Eduard Limonov, the rock’n’roll émigré Russian writer and patriot-dissident who wound up poverty-stricken in New York at about the same time as Sid Vicious. Limonov became an angry bohemian, a sexual outlaw, a celebrated adulte terrible in French literary circles in the 80s, railing against the prissy liberals and mincing hypocrites. Then he returned to Russia and became the leader of a violent group called the National Bolshevik Party. Tactfully, nobody here points out the similarity to “national socialist party”. It was if someone had given Michel Houellebecq a machine gun.
Ben Whishaw gives a glorious performance as Limonov - funny, dour,...
Eduard Limonov’s bizarre career, from rebel émigré writer in New York to leader of a fascistic, militaristic political group, is told with gusto by Kirill Serebrennikov
Fascism, punk, euphoria and despair … it’s all here, or mostly, in this hilarious biopic of Eduard Limonov, the rock’n’roll émigré Russian writer and patriot-dissident who wound up poverty-stricken in New York at about the same time as Sid Vicious. Limonov became an angry bohemian, a sexual outlaw, a celebrated adulte terrible in French literary circles in the 80s, railing against the prissy liberals and mincing hypocrites. Then he returned to Russia and became the leader of a violent group called the National Bolshevik Party. Tactfully, nobody here points out the similarity to “national socialist party”. It was if someone had given Michel Houellebecq a machine gun.
Ben Whishaw gives a glorious performance as Limonov - funny, dour,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
In 1994, you couldn't escape "Forrest Gump." The Robert Zemeckis-directed comedy-drama starring Tom Hanks was huge — it hauled in $678.2 million at the worldwide box office, which made it the second-highest-grossing film of '94 (the first-highest grossing film was "The Lion King"). From there, "Forrest Gump" would go on to Oscar glory, winning six Academy Awards — Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing for Arthur Schmidt. It was a cultural phenomenon, and TV reruns would eventually make it even more ubiquitous.
The story follows Forrest Gump, a man with an Iq of 75 who somehow stumbles through several major events in American history throughout the 1960s and 70s. This concept allowed Zemeckis to use what was then cutting-edge visual effects that would drop Hanks into historical footage and have him "interacting" with real-life prominent...
The story follows Forrest Gump, a man with an Iq of 75 who somehow stumbles through several major events in American history throughout the 1960s and 70s. This concept allowed Zemeckis to use what was then cutting-edge visual effects that would drop Hanks into historical footage and have him "interacting" with real-life prominent...
- 5/19/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Oscar-, BAFTA-, Golden Globe- and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman has unveiled music documentary “Headhunting to Beatboxing” at the Cannes Film Festival.
Directed by Rohit Gupta, the documentary follows the Naga tribe in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, once engulfed in the depths of violence and bloodshed, that resurrects itself through the healing power of music and emerges through a musical renaissance.
Rahman was always intrigued by the music of India’s northeast and he visited the region for the first time when he was invited to the annual Hornbill Festival, a cultural celebration of all the ethnic groups of Nagaland.
“I was blown away, the whole story, that we’ve been hearing for years, decades, and suddenly the transformation of young people taking to music and they’re all out in the streets,” Rahman told Variety. “It was like a dreamland for me. I said, ‘Oh, my God, this...
Directed by Rohit Gupta, the documentary follows the Naga tribe in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, once engulfed in the depths of violence and bloodshed, that resurrects itself through the healing power of music and emerges through a musical renaissance.
Rahman was always intrigued by the music of India’s northeast and he visited the region for the first time when he was invited to the annual Hornbill Festival, a cultural celebration of all the ethnic groups of Nagaland.
“I was blown away, the whole story, that we’ve been hearing for years, decades, and suddenly the transformation of young people taking to music and they’re all out in the streets,” Rahman told Variety. “It was like a dreamland for me. I said, ‘Oh, my God, this...
- 5/19/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
In the latest instalment of Screen’s Cannes Close-Up interview series, Ed Guiney, Co-CEO and founder of Element Pictures, talks about his best Cannes memory and discovering a brilliant fish restaurant.
Guiney has three films in official selection this year, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness in competition, and Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl and Ariane Labed’s September Says, both in Un Certain Regard.
In the interview, Guiney discusses his approach to working at Cannes, and why he’s “way happier sitting in a theatre than having a maybe not so fruitful meeting”.
Watch the full interview above.
Guiney has three films in official selection this year, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness in competition, and Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl and Ariane Labed’s September Says, both in Un Certain Regard.
In the interview, Guiney discusses his approach to working at Cannes, and why he’s “way happier sitting in a theatre than having a maybe not so fruitful meeting”.
Watch the full interview above.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
The "Star Wars" prequel trilogy kicked off 25 years ago with the release of "The Phantom Menace," aka Episode I. At the time, hype was off the charts for George Lucas' first new movie in a galaxy far, far away in more than a decade. Despite being a massive financial success, the movie's reputation, and the prequel trilogy's reputation for that matter, are complicated. Many people hated the movies in their day. While the narrative has changed a lot, Lucas had people warning him that the story he planned to tell of a young Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader might ruin the franchise. He just didn't care to listen.
In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone around the time that "Revenge of the Sith" was hitting theaters, Lucas explained that those around him at Lucasfilm were nervous about his plans for the prequels. Darth Vader had a scary mystique around him as...
In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone around the time that "Revenge of the Sith" was hitting theaters, Lucas explained that those around him at Lucasfilm were nervous about his plans for the prequels. Darth Vader had a scary mystique around him as...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
If you've ever watched any behind-the-scenes footage from "The Shining," you might remember Jack Nicholson working himself up into a frenzy prior to shooting the famous "Here's Johnny" scene. As poor Shelly Duvall quietly finds her way into the bathroom, Jack can be seen seething as he descends into the deranged mental space required for the scene. No wonder "The Shining" changed Shelly Duvall forever.
But while Nicholson's process for journeying to the outer edges of sanity involved jumping in place, repeating the words, "Come on!," and almost accidentally giving the Pa a concussion with a prop axe, not all actors follow that same method. We all know the punishing physical lengths to which Christian Bale goes in order to truly feel like the characters he portrays. As the actor told The Guardian, "I try to get as distant as possible. Otherwise, I can't do it. It's helpful not to look like yourself.
But while Nicholson's process for journeying to the outer edges of sanity involved jumping in place, repeating the words, "Come on!," and almost accidentally giving the Pa a concussion with a prop axe, not all actors follow that same method. We all know the punishing physical lengths to which Christian Bale goes in order to truly feel like the characters he portrays. As the actor told The Guardian, "I try to get as distant as possible. Otherwise, I can't do it. It's helpful not to look like yourself.
- 5/19/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Blue Sun Palace, Constance Tsang’s first feature, is a migrant story that’s vividly attuned to the temporal and emotional dislocation of those stranded far away from home. Set in Flushing, Queens—where the director grew up—the film follows three transplants as they forge new ties in the borough’s Chinese community, which Tsang depicts as a bubble suspended in time and space. Save for the occasional, blink-it-and-you-miss-it glimpses of road signs and billboards, there’d be no way of identifying this as a corner of New York City; Blue Sun Palace unfurls for the most part inside crammed apartments and massage parlors, where […]
The post “It’s Very Important, When You’re Choosing Actors, To Make Sure They Possess Something That Remains Almost Unknown”: Director Constance Tsang on Her Cannes-Premiering Blue Sun Palace first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “It’s Very Important, When You’re Choosing Actors, To Make Sure They Possess Something That Remains Almost Unknown”: Director Constance Tsang on Her Cannes-Premiering Blue Sun Palace first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/19/2024
- by Leonardo Goi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“Please stop me if any of the terms don’t make sense.” A few days before his feature debut, Eephus, will premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight, Carson Lund is sitting on a rooftop terrace in Cannes and worrying I may not catch all the jargon. Understandably. A chronicle of the last baseball game played at Soldiers Field in Douglas, Ma before the grounds will be paved over and replaced by a middle school, the chat’s testing my—admittedly limited—knowledge of the sport. Yet how you’ll respond to Lund’s wistful film won’t depend on your level of inside baseball. It will depend on […]
The post “I’ve Always Been Interested in Making My Own Version of Goodbye Dragon Inn: Director Carson Lund on His Cannes-Premiering Eephus first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I’ve Always Been Interested in Making My Own Version of Goodbye Dragon Inn: Director Carson Lund on His Cannes-Premiering Eephus first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/19/2024
- by Leonardo Goi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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