Sony Classics Brings Us Eleanor Coppola's "Paris..."

One of the films we've been hearing positive word of mouth out of the glut of TIFF is Eleanor Coppola's Paris Can Wait. Eleanor famously documented her husband Francis Ford Coppola's literal hell shooting Apocalypse Now with Hearts of Darkness, and followed with more behind the scenes documentaries after. Paris is her first narrative film and Sony Pictures Classics just picked it up for distribution. At 80 years old, this first feature from the director will be something to celebrate!

If not TIFF Oscar bait, the film sounds like a lighthearted, mouth watering trip across France: Diane Lane stars as a dispassionately married woman who takes a French road trip with a business associate of her husband to reinvigorate her life. Alec Baldwin and Arnaud Viard are her costars, but we hear the cuisine brings the real romance. Food porn and Diane Lane in Europe sounds like exactly the thing we'll need to cleanse our Oscar palette come spring!

While we, ahem, Wait, what's your favorite food porn or European trip on film?

Instagram Battles: Orlando, Jeff, or Goldie?

Would you rather

...spar with Orlando Bloom 
...read a comic with Jeff Goldblum
...or stop to smell the roses with Goldie Hawn?

he's a shaolin master imma have to practice lots to keep up 👊🏻

A video posted by orlandobloom (@orlandobloom) on Sep 18, 2016 at 6:04am PDT

I'm nothing if not conscientious. #thorragnarok #thor3 #thegrandmaster #marvel #marvelcomics

A photo posted by Jeff Goldblum (@jeffgoldblum) on Sep 9, 2016 at 11:58am PDT

I am grateful today for the sweet scent of the rose. #stopandsmelltheroses

A photo posted by Goldie Hawn (@officialgoldiehawn) on Sep 10, 2016 at 10:55am PDT

Miscellania: Hugh, Tori, Sarah, and Angela Lansbury

I've been gone for two weeks and festivals are quite a bubble. What did I miss? Besides the impending apocalypse (when I left everyone said Hillary was a done deal and when I returned everyone was acting like Trump has already won).

Here are some happier things I discovered today whilst perusing the web...

Click to read more ...

Emmy Afterglow. What's Your Take Away?

My go to caption for all photos of impossibly lovely groups of fierce women is "You can't sit with us!".  But that wouldn't be appropriate here because look how warm and inviting this photo of Marcia Clark, Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett is after the Emmys!

A day after the Emmys what's your biggest takeaway and favorite win?

Click to read more ...

"Land of Mine" to compete for Foreign Oscar. (Plus Chart Updates)

Though I just gushed love all over Thomas Vinterberg's Oscar submission finalist The Commune yesterday, today brings news that Denmark went with another title for their submission. The committee unanimously chose Land of Mine, a World War II drama. The film looks at a little told story about German POWs in Denmark forced to dig up land mines. The film will be released in the US by Sony Pictures Classics, dates TBA. It's worth noting that the film is also up for the Nordic Film Prize on November 1st, a prize which has other Oscar submission finalists in the running:

Nordic Council Film Prize Nominees
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Finland's Oscar submission)
The Here After (Sweden - Reviewed last year at TIFF)
Land of Mine (Denmark's Oscar submission)
Louder Than Bombs (Norway's English Language Joachim von Trier film)
Sparrows (Iceland's Oscar submission finalist - they have not announced yet)

If you haven't checked out the Foreign Film Submission Charts they've had multiple updates recently with 55 films announced thus far (the number of contenders generally falls somewhere between 75-80 when all is said and done). New announcements include Apprentice from Singapore (reviewed), Jonas Cuarón's Desierto from Mexico (opening next month in the US starring Gael García Bernal, a mainstay of this category), Asgar Farhadi's Arthur Miller inspired Salesman from Iran, Karma from Thailand, and more. You can read about the films on the charts

Submission Charts
Afghanistan to Finland - 20 submissions thus far
George to Morocco - 13 submissions thus far
Nepal to Venezuela - 23 submissions thus far 

Current Predictions 
Here are 15 hunches, alphabetically, of films that have a good shot at the 9-wide finals. In red is the only film you could argue is locked up for the finalist list.
Barakah Meets Barakah (Saudi Arabia)
Desierto (Mexico)
Happiest Day in the Life... (Finland)
Julieta (Spain)
The King's Choice (Norway)
Land of Mine (Denmark)
Letters From War (Portugal)
A Man Called Ove (Sweden)
Neruda (Chile)
Salesman (Iran)
Sieranevada (Romania)
Tanna (Australia)
Toni Erdmann (Germany) 
Train Drivers Diary (Serbia) 
"Whatever France Submits" (TBA)