74th Cannes. Official Poster and Index.

by Nathaniel R

Spike Lee is the cover subject of the new Cannes poster. Is this the first time a Jury President has also been the poster's star? It's a pity we aren't going to Cannes this year -- we've never been able to afford it *weeps* -- because we've been on the ball for coverage thus far. So here's an index to track. We've been updating the posts as new stills and information have emerged. 

• OFFICIAL COMPETITION LINEUP 

Jury: Writer/Director Spike Lee (US) and ???

• UN CERTAIN REGARD 

Jury: Writer Director Andrea Arnold (UK), Writer/Director Mounia Meddour (Algeria), Actress Elsa Zylberstein (France), Writer/Director Daniel Burman (Argentina), Director/Actor Michael Covino (US)

• CRITICS WEEK 

Jury: Writer/Director Cristian Mungiu (Romania) and ???

• DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT

Review: "In the Heights" sets the bar high for modern movie musicals

by Nathaniel R

A young man stares out of his bodega window, his favourite block coming alive in the reflection. This shot of Usnavi, our leading man and guide into the film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights is already beloved and with good reason. It gives you character (this man is something of a dreamer, caught between two places), world-building (the vibrant Latinx community of Washington Heights) and joyful genre specificity (the musical). It's not even the first clever moment in the movie at that, but something In the Heights builds up in its ever-escalating opening number after already providing you with gorgeous aerial shots romanticizing NYC as 'a city made of music', sounds from hoses, traffic, manhole covers, and alarm clocks as musical accompaniment, and introducing us to most of the main characters.

Above all else this visual beat as well as the larger song sequence that contains it, instills immediate confidence that the creative team, especially director Jon M. Chu (of Crazy Rich Asians fame) understand the oft-forgotten cinematic language of the film musical...

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Emmy FYC: The writing of "I May Destroy You"

by Cláudio Alves

If loving I May Destroy You was a party, I'd have arrived late, long after most people had left and only a few stragglers remained, sleepily fumbling their way through a dancefloor labyrinth of abandoned bottles and stale sweat. While most of the world was consuming Michaela Coel's staggering tour-de-force June and July last year, I focused my attention on movies and the Emmy-eligible TV for that particular season. Consequently, I only watched I May Destroy You when it came time to vote for the Independent Spirit Awards. I went into it with great expectations that I feared too massive to be met. In the end, I needn't have doubted the show's masterpiece-like quality, its searing power, or visceral confrontation. Even then, I don't think I was fully prepared for how awe-inspiring Coel's writing turned out to be…

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The Link Place

• Glamour Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) to become Titania, She-Hulk's arch-enemy in the forthcoming Disney+ Marvel sitcom
• Coming Soon Randomly enough April 8th, 2022 is already a theatrical battleground date. The Brad Pitt action flick Bullet Train, the all-star Viking picture The Northman, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, an untitled Disney film, and an untitled musical from Universal have all claimed the date!
• Deadline remember little Julia Butters stealing her scene in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood? She's just been cast in Steven Spielberg's loosely autobiographical film as his sister

News on the animated feature Belle, first visual (of sorts) from Thor Love and Thunder, a new Zoë Kravitz project, two animated series Human Resources and Centaurworld, and more after the jump...

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Lisa Banes (1955-2021)

Sad news to report. We mentioned a week ago that the stage and screen actress Lisa Banes was in critical condition after been hit by a scooter or motorbike of some kind on the upper west side (the driver has still not been found). She has now died at age 65 and is survived by her wife. You might not know Banes' name but chances are you've seen her since she's been working professionally for decades...

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