Cannes Diary: "Limonov: The Ballad"

by Elisa Giudici

LIMONOV - THE BALLAD © Cannes Film Festival

A final surprise, though not a good one. With the exception of a fully committed star turn by Ben Whishaw, I would never have thought I'd use the adjectives "timid" and "indecisive" to describe Liminov: The Ballad on my Cannes festival bingo card. Not when the film is  helmed by someone as bold in his views and choices as Kirill Serebrennikov. Yet here we are...

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Nicole Kidman Tribute: To Die For (1995)

by Christopher James

The year 1995 is a pivotal moment in the definition of Nicole Kidman. Both of her films released this year paint different paths her career could go. As Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever, Nicole Kidman pursues mainstream success, hoping to align her name with a big franchise full of stars. Though she eventually returns to the superhero genre (hello, Aquaman), we get the first real glimpse at the prestige actress we know and love today with her seismic turn in Gus Van Sant’s To Die For. At that point, Kidman was best known as Mrs. Tom Cruise, having already starred in Days of Thunder and Far & Away with her husband. In redefining her image as a real actress, Kidman first had to lean into the stereotypes that people saw in her.

Her Suzanne Stone Maretto is a ditzy social climber whose quest for fame greatly exceeds her talent at wielding it. Kidman mined every negative aspect of Suzanne for comedy and, in doing so, created a horribly relatable character we couldn’t get enough of...

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Cannes Diary: Palme d'Or winner "Anora"

by Elisa Giudici

Sean Baker takes the Palme d'Or for "Anora" © Sameer Al Doumy / AFP

“I've been working towards this goal for thirty years.” So says Sean Baker as he leaps from his seat in the Lumière theater upon hearing the announcement of his Palme d’Or victory. He thanks Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg, dedicates his film to sex workers, and champions indie cinema meant to be experienced in theaters -- the best experience, he says, “despite what some tech multinationals want us to believe.”

He knows his life as a filmmaker is about to change. The victory of Anora is the culmination of a long journey for a filmmaker who has merged a vibrant, funny, commercial approach with serious themes and auteur rigor. From his speech—one of the best ever delivered by a Palme winner—it’s clear that he is a great storyteller first and foremost...

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Cannes Diary: Guy Maddin's "Rumors" and Jia Zhangke's "Caught by the Tides"

by Elisa Giudici

Cannes is over but we continue with a few more reviews! Here are my takes on two disappointing new features from famous auteurs.

RUMORS by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
The G7 leaders gather for their annual meeting, but a mysterious fog envelops the garden where they are dining, leaving them alone with strange creatures inhabiting the surrounding forest. They must navigate the forest in search of answers while drafting the resolution of a meeting that never truly began...

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Nicole Kidman Tribute: Malice (1993)

by Mark Brinkerhoff

The early ‘90s were a peculiar period in the ascendant career of young Nicole Kidman. Hot off her breakthrough in Dead Calm (1989), Hollywood poached her quickly, (mis)casting her in a series of prominent but mostly forgettable, largely thankless roles—from Days of Thunder (1990) and Billy Bathgate (1991) to Far and Away (1992) and My Life (1993). In between, her real claim to fame (for a time) was bagging Hollywood’s biggest star, not necessarily popping on screen. Or at least that’s how I viewed her in the fall of 1993, when the Harold Becker-directed, Aaron Sorkin-penned Malice was released in theaters…

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