Posts Tagged ‘cannes’

  • 22 May

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    The Most Unsurprising News of the Week…

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    Mallick takes home the big prize. Meanwhile, racing in with the antithesis to the title of this post, Kirsten Dunst takes best actress. Von Trier must’ve done something right.

    The winner circle at Cannes:

    Palme d’Or:
    The Tree of Life (dir. Terrence Malick)

    Best Director:
    Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive

    Best Screenplay:
    Joseph Cedar for Footnote

    Jury Prize:
    Polisse

    Camera d’Or:
    Las acacias (dir. Pablo Giorgelli)

    Best Actress:
    Kirsten Dunst for Melacholia (dir. Lars von Trier)

    Best Actor:
    Jean Dujardin for The Artist (dir. Michel Hazanavicius)

    Grand Prix: TIE
    The Kid with a Bike (dirs. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
    Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadoulu’da) (dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

    Short Film Palme d’Or:
    Cross-Country (dir. Maryna Vroda)

     

  • 20 May

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    Cinecast Episode 213 – Broadening Your Horizons by Telling You Something You Already Know

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    We still have not figured out that it is the ‘summer blockbuster’ season, so instead Kurt and Andrew decide to dig into one of the big Canadian films, (nominated for best foreign language Oscar) Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies (which we keep very light on *Spoilers*). An epic ‘what we watched’ section follows. Along the way, tangents on Lars von Trier and Cannes, the two fantasy epic mini-series on cable, Tree of Life, and Jodie Foster’s Beaver. There are lots of good DVD and Netflix picks to round out the show.

    As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!

     
     

    Cinecast Episode 213 [ 2:59:47 | 102.87 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

     

    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
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    Full show notes are under the seats…
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  • 19 May

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    Cannes says Lars Von Trier “Can’t” and bans him from the Festival

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    After watching the hilariously awkward press conference for Lars von Trier’s Cannes competition film, Melancholia (all 38 minutes are here), one can see the awkward position the festival is in. One one had, the Cannes festival is one of the last bastions of unfettered free speech slash freedom of expression. Despite this clearly it is the case of an awkward auteur who had no interest in engaging with the world press (of whom, other than Bruce Kirkland, did not seem to ask much of anything of interest considering the prestige of the festival.) On the other hand, the world is still very sensitive to jokes made about the state of Israel, Hitler, and the Nazi parties final solution of WWII, which von Trier fumblingly delivered during the press conference (and this after announcing, tongue in cheek, that his next film will be a 3 hour porn film starring his Melancholia leads, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kristen Dunst) before realizing how deep he dug himself and pleading, “How do I get myself out of this sentence?”

    So, Cannes has taken the hammer approach and booted Lars von Trier out of the festival (his film gets to stay in competition) whilst declaring him a persona non grata, despite his apology after the fact. Outside his films (and many would argue within his films) the crazy Dane has always been a bull in a china shop. Why bag on the man for being who he is? Clearly he isn’t as serious as the world would have him be. For the record, I am a big fan of the director’s particular brand of cinema, and all the controversy, infamy and bluntness he brings to the table. I know that festivals need their dog and pony shows, but discriminating cinephiles are (hopefully) wise enough to let the films speak for themselves, and find these types of press conferences about as vulgar as explaining-in-detail a good joke. A joke that the worlds largest and most prestigious festival just supplied an even bigger punchline too. Censoring their own position on freedom of expression while purporting an adherence to those principles. Who is the Nazi now?

    Either way, well played Mr. Trier for keeping Cannes amusing to those of us (by making an ass of yourself in public for our entertainment) thousands of miles away.

  • 28 Apr

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    Things are going backwards for Hong Sang Soo – The Day He Arrives

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    South Korean director Hong Sang Soo is a bit of an acquired taste (one that I’ve certainly acquired anyway over the past five years of festival screenings.) His relationship-and-drinking dramas (or quiet tragicomedies) are not big on plot, but live or die on body language and observation. Watching the trailer for the Cannes bound The Day He Arrives, it took me a few seconds to even realize that everything is going in reverse. The effect makes the dissipation of a social group look more like a gathering Kind of effect of memory or nostalgia. Am I keen on seeing this film? Yes.

    Sang-Joon is a professor in the film department at a provincial university. He goes to Seoul to meet his senior Young-Ho who works as a film critic. Sang-Joon stays in a northern village in Seoul for 3 days.

    The trailer is tucked under the seat.

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  • 15 Jul

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    A “Biutiful” Trailer

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    Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful, starring Javier Bardem, has yet to get a North American distribution deal but word out of Cannes was quite positive and I imagine it won’t be long before we’re able to see this potential masterpiece on this side of the pond.

    Iñárritu’s previous films have all done well critically including this little nook of the movie nets. Also, with the recent success of Javier Bardem as he gains American favor and recognition (No Country for Old Men, Vicky Christina Barcelona) and a best actor win from Cannes this year, I see no reason why the film can’t do very well over here.

    Here’s hoping the picture as a whole is as quality in story and excitement as it is biutiful. We previously found a few clips and behind the scenes stuff, but now the international trailer has arrived. Aside from the overly heavy narration (though the words do sell well), check me off the registrar’s list; I’m there.
     

    The Trailer is tucked under the seat.

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  • 28 May

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    A Foreign Language Trailer Roundup! REC2. I Saw The Devil. Love Ranch. Uncle Boonme.

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    It has been a busy week, hot as stink and I’ve been fighting some sort of wasting disease that has caused serious hibernation in the evenings. All of this meant a slow week of postings in the Row Three pages by yours truly. But with the weekend here, and against all odds, the health-meter getting better, I thought I would combine a few of the trailers that dropped online recently but were not posted here.

    First off is the Cannes Palm d’Or winner from Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s lengthily titled Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives. One of the commenters over at Twitch quipped that it was like if David Lynch made Picnic At Hanging Rock. And I cannot put it more succinctly than that!

    Trailer and More After the Break
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  • 19 May

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    Promo Trailer for Iñárritu’s “Biutiful

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    Here’s hoping our own David Brook can get to a screening for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Cannes entry Biutiful during the few days he’ll be attending the festival. The critical reception I’ve read so far has been very much all over the place. Some loving it, some hating on it quite a bit and many in the middle talking about how well it’s shot and the actors’ performances are terrific, but also a little bit on the boring side and some have even suggested “pointless.” Ouch. So it’d be nice to have one of our own give us some insight. But either way, after his pretty terrific death trilogy and some early Oscar talk for star, Javier Bardem, I’d say I’m on board no matter what whenever a wider release hits the states; probably later this year.

    The film stars Javier Bardem as Uxbal, a former drug addict living on the fringes of Barcelona, Spain, who has cancer and only two months to live. Amplifying his problems are his two kids, a part-time prostitute ex-wife who suffers from bipolar disorder, African immigrants, gay Chinese lovers who supply his bootleg goods and his touchy relationship with a crooked cop. [playlist]

    Cannes released the following promo trailer with some bits from the film as well as shots of Iñárritu directing his cast and crew.

     

  • 19 May

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    Bookmarks for May 17-19

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    • Stephen Frears and ‘Tamara Drewe’ eschews English fixation on class system
      Stephen Frears banters and spars with the Cannes International Media: “Well, I’ll defend ambiguity til I die … and if I said I were in favor of telling the truth, I’d be lying.” And so the bantering went back and forth.
    • Ridley Me This: Why Isn’t Sir Scott as Great as You Tell Me He Is?
      “I saw Ridley Scott’s tired Robin Hood this past weekend and I was underwhelmed. It’s not a bad movie. Scott rarely makes bad films, just frequently uninspired ones.”
    • Top 10 Underrated Sci-Fi Stories Before 1864
      “The science fiction genre developed over the latter half of the 19th century with the works of Jules Verne and, subsequently, H.G. Wells. For the sake of a clear cut off date for this list, however, we shall say the cut off date for novels not to be influenced by these fathers of the genre is 1864, the year in which Verne published “A Journey to the Center of the Earth.” These are the classic science fiction novels that preceded the fathers of the genre that are commonly overlooked by modern audiences.”
    • The Secrets of Marienbad
      “Everyone is of course familiar with Alain Resnais’s cult film, written by Alain Robbe-Grillet and made just fifty years ago, L’Année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad). It happened that a young actress named Françoise Spira was on the set during the shooting of the film. She didn’t play the lead role … She didn’t even have one of these real supporting roles that leave you with the memory of a few unforgettable scenes. But in any case, she was there from the beginning of the shoot to the end, with her Super 8 without sound, and she filmed the film, capturing its most magical instants — Resnais’s youthful laughter, Seyrig’s delightful caprices, the somber and childlike charm of Albertazzi. In short, off in her little corner and without shouting from the rooftops, she produced the “making of” of the most formal, glacial and, actually, unerring, unwavering film in the history of contemporary cinema. But Françoise Spira committed suicide. Her ‘making of’ was lost with her.”
    • A Roger Ebert Tribute
      “I guess the biggest criticism I have of Roger is that his reviews are often too easy on films, except for my films of course–he could never be too easy on them–but, the guy loves films so much that it’s almost contagious. He’s open, he’s smart, he’s thoughtful, he’s always very clear, and he’s got a really good heart and–like I said–he’s really funny, which is hard to do as a writer. He manages to make you think critically without making it seem like homework. God knows the world needs more people thinking critically these days about a lot of things. ”
    • Malick, Coppola could lead strong crop at Venice (or Toronto) for 2010
      Here is hoping for Tree of Life for Tiff, but ather potentials on the fall festival circuit include Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Anton Corbijn’s The American, Julian Schnabel’s Miral, Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole, Bruce Robinson’s The Rum Diary, Robert Rodriguez’s Machete and Julie Taymor’s The Tempest. Screendaily mentions many, many more.

     

    You can now take a look at RowThree’s bookmarks at any time of your choosing simply by clicking the “delicious” button in the upper right of the page. It looks remarkably similar to this:

  • 14 Apr

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    The Return of Vincent Gallo? [Rumor]

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    Just last week I managed to finally connect with Vincent Gallo’s low budget, break-out indie film from 1998., Buffalo ’66. Pleasantly surprised by the artfullness on display and the goofy but heartfelt drama appearing on screen, I remarked that it was strange that he only made one more film after this one (The Brown Bunny) and then all but disappeared from the director’s realm of movie making. Then with some research found that The Brown Bunny was pretty universally panned. So what might’ve seemed like simple discouragement brings about a total give-up, was actually apparently just a long hiatus to “gather himself.”

    Apparently Gallo is back in the writer/director chair and has entered his latest film into this year’s Cannes Film Fest. This newest effort, Promises Written in Water tells the story of “a terminally ill girl that has decided that instead of seeking medical treatment, to kill herself after she begins experiencing the pain of her disease. She wants to be cremated, and asks a young photographer to ensure this. He begins working at a funeral home so he can cremate her himself when she dies.”

    The very minimal Wiki page claims that Sage Stallone makes an appearance in the film and also originally said this was a “snuff” film. But in the last day or so, the word “snuff” has been removed from that description.

    Whether the film will actually be in contention for awards at the Film Fest remains to be seen and is probably unlikely. But either way, given the infamy of his last two pictures, there will no doubt be plenty of buzz surrounding this latest picture. The fact that was all filmed in black and white, 16mm film stock intrigues me a great deal and I plan on catching The Brown Bunny asap, so’s that I know what all of the fuss is about before eventually sinking into Promises Written in Water.

     

  • 11 Feb

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    Cinecast Episode 154 – Dissertation

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    Episode 154:
     
    SPOILERS ALERT!
    And we are back! After a brief hiatus we have, in this lengthy show all sorts of goodness for you, including: A top ten(+) list of our most anticipated films of 2010; reviews of both Frozen and The White Ribbon; as well as a plethora of other viewings over the past week and change. This week was a bit on the lighter side in terms of DVD releases, but we managed to find a few “MAN-ly” choices and spend some time talking about the designer-made minimalists posters that have been plastered over the internets over the past several months. There is talk of an upcoming giveaway of one of these posters as well. All this and the proverbial more are discussed casually over red wine. Enjoy.

     
     
     
     
     

    Thanks for listening and be sure to leave your own thoughts/lists in the comment section below!

    Click the Audio Icon below to listen in:

    Cinecast Episode 154 [ 2:35:58 | 107.09 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup


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    http://www.rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_10/episode_154.mp3

     

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  • 03 Nov

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    So Called “Oscar Season” at The End of a Decade

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    Well, it’s here: not just the final two months of 2009, but the end of another decade. Not that these films are necessarily Oscar contenders, but November and December are notorious for launching all the high profile, “good” movies of the year. While we’ve seen some great stuff over the past 10 months, here is a smattering of pictures being released wide in the final two months of the decade that we’re really looking forward to and anticipate much critical love for; including making several top ten lists. Sure there are more than just these titles that are anticipated, and we’d love you to mention them in the comment section, but there are enough here to keep you busy and these are probably the “must sees” for these final 60 days of the year…


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    NOVEMBER:

    antichrist_poster02Anti-Christ
    Lars Von Trier
    RowThree review
    Trailer
    The more I think about this film and the more times I see the trailer the more and more I absolutely love it and little by little it keeps climbing notches on my ten best of the year list. If Charlotte Gainsbourg isn’t nominated for a best actress statue then there is positively no justice in the world. Obviously not for everyone as the film is fantastically brutal and psychologically traumatic. But it is also gorgeous in every way a film can be gorgeous before punching you in the face with tennis racket made of lead.

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  • 21 Oct

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    Jolie Does ‘Gucci’

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    Angelina-Jolie-in-Cannes--001

    With a whopping 14 projects “in development” including a highly anticipated “Alien” prequel in pre-production, latest news of Ridley Scott is that of benevolent Bombshell, Angelina Jolie signing on to play the role of murderous femme fatale, Patrizia Reggiano in his biopic of fashion dynasty, Gucci in the 70′s and 80′s. » Read the rest of the entry..

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