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'Behind the Candelabra' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
1 hour ago
If Steven Soderbergh is truly done with feature films we should be thankful he left us with three great films, one after another, before his departure. With Magic Mike, Side Effects and now Behind the Candelabra that's three films in a row that most directors could not achieve the likes of over the course of a career, let alone the rest of Soderbergh's oeuvre from Sex, Lies, and Videotape to Traffic. Behind the Candelabra says as much about us as a society as it does about its two protagonists in a story that's surprisingly dark at times, just as it is emotionally rewarding, entertaining and even humorous. Tracing events from 1977-1986, the story follows the life of Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) as he goes from being a Hollywood animal handler to the dazzling lifestyle and palatial estate of famed Las Vegas entertainer Liberace (Michael Douglas). Growing up an orphan, moving from house to house, »
- Brad Brevet
Two New 'Wolverine' Posters Feature Yukio and Viper
12 hours ago
Tomorrow, at 6 Am Pst, Fox will premiere a new trailer for The Wolverine and I'm not sure I'll be around to post it since I expect I'll be seeing Claire Denis' The Bastards at that time. Either way, you can click here around that time and watch it on the film's official YouTube site and I'll get it online as soon as I can. Other than that, two new posters for the film have arrived featuring Rila Fukushima's Yukio and Svetlana Khodchenkova's Viper. Check them both out below. The Wolverine hits theaters on July 26. Based on the celebrated comic book arc, The Wolverine finds Logan (Hugh Jackman), the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel will clash with adamantium claw as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed. »
- Brad Brevet
Zod and Jor-El Featured in Four New 'Man of Steel' Posters
13 hours ago
Warner Bros. has released four new posters from Man of Steel as they are now getting into character poster mode. Above you see the banner featuring Henry Cavill as Superman and below you'll find a similar banner featuring Michael Shannon as the film's villain General Zod, a second poster featuring Zod and a third poster featuring Russell Crowe as Superman's father, Jor-El. With a story from Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) and a script from David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), Man of Steel aims to reinvent the Superman story for a new generation and I've been telling people in Cannes this is probably my most anticipated blockbuster of the summer now. At first I had my doubts, but some of the little things I'm hearing have converted me and I sure hope it all works out. I'd welcome the opportunity to be excited about another superhero franchise the way »
- Brad Brevet
'As I Lay Dying' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
13 hours ago
James Franco's As I Lay Dying is a film to be respected more for its filmmaking vision rather than its resulting narrative. In adapting William Faulkner's 1930 novel Franco has managed to capture the nuts and bolts of the story, utilizing split-screen to add more information to almost every scene. But as the film rolls along, and the curiosity in function goes away and the story is doing very little to entertain or engage, you can't help but ask yourself, "Why am I watching this?" The story follows the Bundren family in the aftermath of the death of Addie (Beth Grant), the family matriarch. Her wish is to be laid to rest in Jefferson, Mississippi and her family obliges in their own selfish and misunderstood ways, but the path to Jefferson with Addie stowed in a coffin on the back of a horse-drawn wagon proves treacherous to say the least. »
- Brad Brevet
'Shield of Straw' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
16 hours ago
Ninagawa (Yamazaki Tsutomu), a grandfather in his waning years, puts a one billion yen (about $9.75 million) bounty on Kunihide Kiyomaru (Tatsuya Fujiwara), the man that killed his 7-year-old granddaughter three months earlier. The bounty causes a frenzy among the citizens of Japan and even members of the police force. Attempting to save himself (I guess), Kiyomaru turns himself in to gain police protection, and as bad movie tropes would have it, he must be transported to Tokyo for sentencing. Of course he must! Takashi Miike's Shield of Straw (Wara No Tate) is an embarrassment of D-grade action movie tropes in which a villain must be transported from Point A to Point B and we all know there will be obstacles in the way to prevent that from happening. We saw something similar earlier this year in the Arnold Schwarzenegger dud The Last Stand, but at least The Last Stand »
- Brad Brevet
Cannes Podcast #2: Talking 'Inside Llewyn Davis', 'Monsoon Shootout', 'Seduced and Abandoned' and 'Jimmy P.'
18 hours ago
Welcome to the second podcast from the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where my only guest for this one is Kevin Jagernauth from The Playlist as the two of us stood outside the Bazin theater before seeing Blood Ties and discussed Monsoon Shootout, Inside Llewyn Davis (read my review here), Seduced and Abandoned (read my review here) and Jimmy P. (read my review here). What I hoped to deliver with these was to give you a taste of some of the random conversations we tend to have after seeing the movies as we work out our own thoughts and take in the thoughts of others. That said, there are spoilers and it's not a traditional review format as we discuss the films with one another as if anyone listening has already seen them. I hope you enjoy. I have included the synopsis for each film discussed below as well as the timestamps where they are discussed. »
- Brad Brevet
'Before Sunrise' Location Map - Celine and Jesse in Vienna
19 hours ago
In 1995, Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan's screenplay for Before Sunrise came to life with Ethan Hawke playing Jesse, a young American in Europe who just happens across Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train bound for Vienna. A German couple arguing on the train gives the two enough reason to begin a conversation and now, 28 years later, it's time to take a look back at how the couple we first met in 1995, and would meet again in 2004's Before Sunset, got to where they are in life and on a family trip in Greece in 2013's Before Midnight. Below is an interactive Google Map that pinpoints all the locations from the film, accompanied by images from the film, information on some of the locations and a few clips here and there. This is the first in a trio of maps I will be featuring this week. Tomorrow we'll follow Celine »
- Brad Brevet
Three New 'Only God Forgives' Clips
19 hours ago
Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives is screening her in Cannes on Wednesday morning at 8:30 Am and Radius is doing their best to make sure it remains part of the Cannes conversation until that point as they've released another three clips from the film (watch the first three here) for you to chew on. So far I've only watched two of the clips from this film, the first below and the second one right here, both of which feature Kristin Scott Thomas in what looks like a performance/character for the ages. The second clip below features Thomas opposite Ryan Gosling who plays her son Julien in the film, whom she calls on to avenge the death of his brother, who died at the hands of a man named Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), who is featured opposite Gosling in the third clip below. This is the second straight film »
- Brad Brevet
Sean Penn Reportedly Circling Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Inherent Vice'
20 hours ago
I've started reading Thomas Pynchon's "Inherent Vice" while here in Cannes and unfortunately have had only enough time to get about 35 pages into it so far, but hope to have it finished by the time I get home as sleep won't be a priority on the flight home as it was on the way here. As for the film adaptation directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, it already has Joaquin Phoenix aboard, playing stoner P.I. Larry "Doc" Sportello who is hired by an ex-girlfriend to investigate the disappearance of her wealthy lover. Already lined up to join Phoenix are Benicio del Toro, Kevin J. O'Connor, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone and Martin Short and now Sean Penn is reportedly circling the role of loan shark Adrian Prussia in the film according to Cigarettes and Red Vines. The Paul Thomas Anderson fansite is well connected and I expect this is »
- Brad Brevet
'Blood Ties' International Trailer and Poster
21 hours ago
I can't help but feel disappointed Blood Ties didn't live up to expectations. A film directed by Guillaume Canet who co-wrote the film with James Gray with a cast that includes Billy Crudup, Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, James Caan, Noah Emmerich and Matthias Schoenaerts should have been a lot better than it was and actually could have been had it been about 90 minutes longer or about 30 minutes shorter. With how many characters and plot threads the film had it just didn't work. As I wrote in my review from Cannes, "At only two-and-a-half hours he doesn't have enough time to give them room to breathe." It's a shame, really, because had it turned out better it really could have put Canet on a much larger global map, but as it is, Blood Ties is likely to end up in the hands of Magnolia or IFC and »
- Brad Brevet
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