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Cannes 2013: Kristin Scott Thomas Shines In Sizzle Reel Footage From 'Only God Forgives'
12 hours ago
Finally from our roundup of tonight’s Weinstein Company 2013 preview reel (you can read about “The Immigrant” here and the rest of the movies teased here), and well, we’ve kind of saved the best for last. Or at least, the best received on the night. Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Only God Forgives” is without a doubt one of the most hotly anticipated movies playing at this Cannes Festival, promising to send a jolt of that amoral, violent, genre cool he does so well surging through a lineup that’s a little heavy on the “serious adult drama” side otherwise. And the scene selected to play, pretty much in its entirety tonight, entirely justified that hype, especially because it came from a slightly unexpected direction. It’s not Ryan Gosling handing out or receiving a beatdown, it’s not a neon-soaked street scene of gritty glamor, it’s actually a dinner scene, »
- Jessica Kiang
Cannes Review: Death Lingers & Lifts In Thoughtful 'Miele'
13 hours ago
If Michael Haneke's "Amour" presented death as a sobering inevitability, one that will test the bounds of our ability to love, actress Valeria Golino has a slightly more nuanced perspective in her directorial debut "Miele." While the subject of euthanasia is the entryway into the story, Golino wisely strays from turning her film into an Issues Movie, and instead opts to explore death both as a vessel for closure and a window into appreciating the life we have. The Noomi Rapace-esque Jasmine Trinca (all cropped hair, switchblade scowl and tomboy figure) leads the film as Irene, aka the titular Miele (meaning honey), her code name when she's on the job as an assisted suicide practitioner. But since it's illegal in Italy, it requires almost Lisbeth Salander-ish levels of covert maneuvers. She travels to Mexico once a month and smuggles back veterinary grade barbiturates which she uses as part of her procedures, »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Cannes 2013: 'The Immigrant' Footage Showcases Firecracker Turns From Joaquin Phoenix & Marion Cotillard
14 hours ago
A definite highlight of tonight’s Weinstein 2013 slate preview at Cannes, which we ran through in large part here, was a film that has been one of our most anticipated of this whole festival -- James Gray’s “The Immigrant.” With Gray uncharacteristically confident about the film in its unfinished form every time we’ve spoken to him, calling it “the best thing I’ve ever done,” our expectations are high. However one tiny niggling concern this writer has experienced has been about the lack of promotional material around Jeremy Renner, who plays the pivotal role of the magician who, as far as the synopsis tells us, seeks to rescue Cotillard’s Ewa from the clutches of the wicked Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix). Frankly, we’d bet the farm on Cotillard and Phoenix delivering phenomenal performances -- indeed Phoenix already has, three times over, for Gray. Renner however is somewhat more »
- Jessica Kiang
Cannes 2013: The Weinstein Sizzle Reel Showcases 'Grace Of Monaco,' 'Mandela' & More, Only Occasionally Sizzles
14 hours ago
In what has apparently become something of a tradition on the Croisette, this evening saw a select group of journalists forgo tempting Official Selection screenings to attend instead the starry, champagne-fuelled preview of The Weinstein Company’s forthcoming slate. Perhaps not quite as salivating a prospect as last year’s auteur-heavy, brand-new lineup, which included early glimpses of “Django Unchained,” “The Master,” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” it’s still a mark of TWC’s high standing on the awards circuit that what is essentially an invite-only marketing event got so many clamoring to attend. Well, that and the canapes (foie gras toastinis, breaded shrimp and mini eclairs, if you must know). Oh, and the presence of the legendary Harvey Weinstein. The evening kicked off with a few words from the more public “W” in TWC, with Weinstein taking to the stage to cue up the evening’s previews, but quickly, »
- Jessica Kiang
Marvel Phase 3 Updates: 'Inhumans' A Possibility, Joss Whedon Confirms Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch For 'Avengers 2' & Much More
15 hours ago
It's a good time to be Kevin Feige. The producer is responsible for the output of Marvel Studios, and if the third-biggest-film-in-history success of "The Avengers" wasn't enough, "Iron Man 3" looks like it'll come close to equalling it, having just crossed the billion-dollar mark at the box office, and still on track to take much, much more. It's about as strong a start to the Phase Two of Marvel movies as Feige could hope for, and bodes well for the rest of the company slate leading up to "The Avengers 2" -- namely "Thor: The Dark World," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Guardians Of The Galaxy." But already Feige is looking to the future, and he sat down with EW to discuss what might be included in the company's Phase Three plans, which will follow "The Avengers 2" in the summer of 2015. The only confirmed picture, and hitting »
- Oliver Lyttelton
A Dozen New Photos Of Brit Marling, Ellen Page & Alexander Skarsgard In 'The East'
15 hours ago
It’s a testament to the talents of Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling -- the writer/director and lead star of the Sundance hit, "The Sound of My Voice" -- that their indie thriller doesn’t look too out of place with its competition, especially during the crowded months of summer. The stylish thriller hits theaters at the end of the month, and a dozen new photos have arrived online via Fox Searchlight. Directed by Batmanglij and co-written with Marling once again, the film follows a private intelligence firm operative who infiltrates an anarchist organization led by Alexander Skarsgard, only to find that things are more complicated than they seem. Our review from Sundance called it “stylish and sincere” and that it was “a terrific companion piece for anyone who enjoyed 'Sound Of My Voice.' " You’ll be able to check out the film for yourself when it opens »
- Cain Rodriguez
What Are You Seeing This Weekend? The 'Star Trek' Franchise Faces Off Against Indies 'Frances Ha' & 'Erased'
16 hours ago
We haven't hit Memorial Day Weekend yet, but it's official: Summer Blockbuster Season is underway. Between comic books, Michael Bay's latest flick, a Tom Cruise vehicle, and summer dalliances in the Hamptons, the second installment of the rebooted "Star Trek" franchise almost seems superfluous. Almost. Still, there's plenty of other delightful fare at the cinemas: another "Taken" imitation, a New-York-set coming-of-late-20s-ager, a B-horror movie set in Maine, a Korean thriller that may or may not feature Oedipal urges, and plenty of engaging documentaries. So enjoy the early onset of summer, faithful readers! And tell us what you want to see to celebrate it in the comments below! "Star Trek Into Darkness" opened Thursday. Directed by J.J. Abrams. Starring Chris Pine, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Anton Yelchin. Our review: "For the first hour or so, it's just as enjoyable as the original, »
- Emma Bernstein
Acclaimed Horror 'We Are What We Are' Gets A Prequel, A Sequel And A New Clip
16 hours ago
Earlier this week we shared a few clips from Jim Mickel’s well-regarded horror remake “We Are What We Are,” which is currently having a showing at this year’s Cannes. Today brings another clip to us by way of Deadline and some surprising news about the future of this festival favorite. “We Are What We Are” explores the dynamics of a family of cannibals as they try and band together after being struck by tragedy. The clip, which you can watch below, presents a quiet moment between sisters Iris and Rose Parker. While the film delves into the dark world of cannibalism, the clip presented here highlights some of the more relatable family drama. And while we wait to see how the film is received at Cannes, Memento Film International seems to have a lot of faith in the project, revealing to Screen Daily that they had launched sales »
- Jason McDonald
New Poster & Images From Joe Swanberg's 'Drinking Buddies' With Anna Kendrick & Olivia Wilde
17 hours ago
Joe Swanberg may have directed over a dozen films in the past eight years, but none of them have ever really gotten as much mainstream attention as his latest. “Drinking Buddies” premiered at SXSW this spring and it showcased Swanberg’s ability to make a more mainstream film with a starrier cast that recalls the most recent works of his mumblecore contemporaries, such as Lynn Shelton and the Duplass Brothers. Magnolia Pictures picked the film up for distribution shortly afterward and now we have a couple of new images as well as the first official poster for the film. Entertainment Weekly was first to showcase the new poster, which proudly displays the film’s cast which includes Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, and Ron Livingston. Wilde and Johnson play Kate and Luke, two coworkers at a Chicago brewery who spend the majority of their days drinking and flirting. They have the perfect chemistry, »
- Ken Guidry
'Iron Man 3' Crosses The $1B Mark, But What Are The Best & Worst Movies In The Billion-Dollar Club?
17 hours ago
We tend not to weigh in on box-office so much bar our weekly rundown on Sunday afternoons, but every so often a significant milestone comes up, and today is such a day; various sources report that some time yesterday, Marvel's "Iron Man 3" crossed the billion dollar mark at the box office (while also managing to cross $300 million domestically, making it the first film of 2013 to do so). The film managed it just under three weeks after opening internationally, leaving it slightly behind the pace of "The Avengers," but we're sure Disney and Marvel will be delighted, with the film still on course to possibly crack the all-time top 5 if it keeps up this pace. And we're just happy that the man who made "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," Shane Black, is suddenly such a box office behemoth... But it got us thinking, as we head into the weekend: what's the »
- Oliver Lyttelton
Watch: J.J. Abrams Gets Notes On 'Star Wars Episode VII' From Billy Dee Williams & William Shatner
17 hours ago
The Star Wars prequels weren’t exactly well-received by fans of the franchise, with many irked by a variety of plot points in those first three episodes. Well Jimmy Kimmel has a great idea for how J.J. Abrams can avoid that problem this time around – take ideas directly from the fans. Now we’d suggest that if he’s going to take fan ideas, Abrams should go look no further than one Patton Oswalt. But sadly with Patton not around, Kimmel instead pointed J.J. in the direction of his studio audience. One man dressed up as a jedi would like there to be a part in the new movie where Luke Skywalker fights someone with a lightsaber, and “also Princess Leia and Chewbacca should totally do it.” Okay, so these audience members were comic plants, but we did particularly enjoy the thoughts of one audience plant. “The next Star Wars. »
- Joe Cunningham
Watch: Trailers For Cannes Films 'Jimmy P' With Benicio Del Toro & 'A Touch Of Sin'
18 hours ago
The Cannes Film Festival is currently in full swing and while the rest of us wait at home to hear the news and see the reviews of the films currently playing, we do have two treats to share with you. First is the trailer for director Arnaud Desplechin’s “Jimmy P.” which stars Benicio Del Toro as Jimmy Picard, a Native American WWII vet who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. When his diagnosis is called into question, French psychoanalyst George Devereux (Mathieu Amalric) is brought in to assess the situation. This film will mark Desplechin’s first feature length project since 2008's "A Christmas Tale." The second trailer is for “A Touch of Sin” which is playing in competition for the Palme d’Or at Cannes. This is the highest award that can be given at Cannes and is presented to the director of the best feature film in competition. “A »
- Jason McDonald
Colin Firth To Star In & Produce Spy Flick 'A Foreign Country'
18 hours ago
Not content with signing for Matthew Vaughn's “The Secret Service” (guess what it's about), Colin Firth has just been cast in another spy flick, “A Foreign Country”, based on Charles Cumming's so-named novel and produced by Silver Reel and Raindog (who are also behind another of Firth's upcoming pictures, “The Railway Man”). Handily, Raindog is Firth's own company, run with former Sony exec Ged Doherty. So that probably explains how he got the part... This is all coming off the back of Firth's turn as one part of an astonishing ensemble in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”, Tomas Alfredson's elegant and absorbing version of the John Le Carre novel. “A Foreign Country” offers a lot of similar elements: an agent returning to British intelligence for the spying equivalent of a heist movie's “one last job”, the rooting out of a conspiracy within the service itself, a Mediterranean episode (Tunisia and Egypt, »
- Ben Brock
Francis Ford Coppola's 'Twixt' Finally Coming To Blu-Ray & DVD In The U.S.
19 hours ago
After a long, long absence from filmmaking, legendary "The Godfather" helmer Francis Ford Coppola resurfaced a few years back with some of his most impressive works since the early 1980s. We didn't wholeheartedly adore either "Youth Without Youth" or "Tetro," but there was still much to admire, and furthermore, they felt like Coppola had returned to filmmaking with the vigor and energy of a young man, suggesting much more to come. His next film, "Twixt," continued that approach; an experimental, partly 3D horror film starring Val Kilmer and Elle Fanning, which Coppola planned to take on the road, remixing the film live with an iPad. It was an impressively forward-thinking approach for the veteran filmmaker, even if, according to most of the reviews, including our own, it worked better in theory than in practice. The film never had a real release, though it did pop up on one screen on the West Coast in August, »
- Oliver Lyttelton
Vin Diesel Says 'Fast & Furious 7' Will Take Place In L.A, Tokyo & The Middle East
19 hours ago
Who ever thought from its modest beginnings that the “Fast & Furious” franchise would ever reach the point where they have villains to face off against in each entry, with each requiring them to jet off to a variety of new and exotic locations. It was Rio for “Fast Five,” and in the most recent entry, “Furious 6,” the crew spent the majority of their time in London and Spain. Dominic Toretto’s practically James Bond by this point, right? Wrong, but he is racking up a similar amount of air miles, and that doesn’t look set to stop even with director Justin Lin moving on to pastures new. If all goes to plan we could have a seventh entry in theatres as early as next year, in which Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and co would be facing off against a new villain introduced in a Furious 6 mid-credits sting. And no, »
- Joe Cunningham
David O. Russell To Direct JFK Conspiracy Movie 'Legacy Of Secrecy' For Leonardo DiCaprio
20 hours ago
With the 50th anniversary coming up this November, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas in November 1963 is clearly capturing the attention of filmmakers again, more than twenty years after the release of Oliver Stone's "JFK." Tom Hanks is producing the ensemble drama "Parkland," set on the day of the assassination, and only a few days back, it was announced that Cate Blanchett would star in David Mamet's "Blackbird," a contemporary thriller about a woman who discovers her father may have had a part in the conspiracy. But they appear to have some serious competition. A few years back, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio was developing "Legacy Of Secrecy," based on the book by Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann, which posits the theory that Mafia godfather Carlos Marcello told FBI informant Jack van Laningham that he was behind the assassination. Now the film (a passion »
- Oliver Lyttelton
Watch: First Clip From James Gray's Cannes Competitor 'The Immigrant' With Marion Cotillard & Jeremy Renner
20 hours ago
We were only just talking about Playlist favorite James Gray, and his new secret sci-fi project, earlier this morning, and there's clearly something in the water, because the first tantalizing, albeit brief, clip from the "We Own The Night" director's new film, "The Immigrant," has arrived. Premiering in competition at Cannes next week, the film is a 1920-set tale starring Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner and Joaquin Phoenix. The first two feature in the clip, which runs less than thirty seconds, but provides a promising glimpse into what might be our most anticipated premiere on the Croisette this year. Remind yourself of the synopsis, and watch the clip, below, and stay tuned for our review of "The Immigrant" in the second half of next week. 1920. In search of a new start and the American dream, Ewa Cybulski (Marion Cotillard) and her sister Magda sail to New York from their native Poland. »
- Oliver Lyttelton
Listen To An Exclusive Track From Fall On Your Sword's Score To Wikileaks Doc 'We Steal Secrets'
21 hours ago
We've had our ears on composer duo Fall On Your Sword for a while now. The duo have become some of the most in-demand musicians in the indie world over the last few years, thanks to the works on "Another Earth," "Nobody Walks," "Lola Versus" and "28 Hotel Rooms," among others, and we named them as one of our 5 Composers On The Rise earlier this year. Which means that we're delighted to this morning be exclusively debuting a new track from the pair's score to "We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks," the latest film Oscar-winning "Taxi To The Dark Side" director Alex Gibney. The film, which sees Gibney delve into the story of Julian Assange, and his principal source Bradley Manning, won rave reviews at Sundance, and is hitting theaters on Friday May 24th, while Fall On The Sword's soundtrack is released the Tuesday before, on May 21st. If the track below, »
- Oliver Lyttelton
Cannes Review: 'Fruitvale Station' Recounts A Tragic True-Life Story With Good Performances & Intentions, But Little Subtlety
21 hours ago
There are now a few stories surrounding Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station,” which screened in Cannes yesterday. There’s the “Fruitvale Station” as a debut passion-project feature from an untested filmmaker, plucked from obscurity, championed, notably by Forest Whitaker, and put into production. There’s the “Fruitvale Station” that went from a standing start to become the runaway success story of Sundance, netting two of the biggest awards in the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Prize. There’s the “Fruitvale Station” that launched a distribution bidding war, and catapulted its director and star to the top of everyone’s “ones to watch” list. And there’s the Fruitvale Station which is a stop on a Bart line at which in the small hours of New Year’s Day 2009, 22-year old father of one, Oscar Grant was shot by a transit cop, dying later from his wound. There is the film, »
- Jessica Kiang
Sylvester Stallone Confirms Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes & Mickey Rourke For 'The Expendables 3,' Wants To Use 'The Raid' Cast Too
21 hours ago
“The Expendables” franchise seems like both a blessing and a bit of a curse for Sylvester Stallone and his team of aging action stars. While the franchise itself has proven to be a hit, it hasn’t exactly been a career re-launcher for guys like Stallone and Schwarzengger whose films “Bullet to the Head” and “The Last Stand” proved to be unsuccessful in the box office this year. Still, at least they all have a franchise to fall back on and it’s fun to see what kind of a cast Stallone can conjure up for the next “Expendables” film. Speaking of which, Stallone has recently taken to Twitter to tease us all about who might show up for “Expendables 3.” Stallone wrote a series of tweets a few nights ago dropping a few casting tidbits. He has confirmed that Wesley Snipes and Mickey Rourke will be in the third film, »
- Ken Guidry
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