Three can't-miss movies directed by women on the festival circuit

our continuing adventures at TIFF with a little NYFF thrown in.

This year I made a conscious effort to see films directed by women at the Toronto International Film Festival. Nearly half of the films I screened had women behind the camera! Even though a few of them were unsatisfying, a handful were gems so praise be to TIFF that there were so many to choose from. Other festivals haven't been as inclusive. We've already discussed the tragic romance of Mary Shelley, the visually stunning The Breadwinner, the what-were-they-thinking Kings, the confounding but admirably crafted Zama, the dramatic misfire of Euphoria, and Hungary's strange and totally involving Oscar submission On Body and Soul.

I saved the three best for last. If you get a chance to see Western (playing at NYFF September 30th and October 1st), the Austrian costume drama Mademoiselle Paradis, or a hard to describe miracle from Indonesia called The Seen and the Unseen please take it. Unfortunately none currently have US release dates (though Western does apparently have some sort of stateside distribution planned for 2018). We'll take them alphabetically after the jump...

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Cannes Days 7-8: "The Beguiled" and "Rodin"

Another day in May, more cheers and jeers for the competition films. Only five competition films are yet to screen: Fatih Akin's In the Fade (starring Diane Kruger), Good Time from the Safdie brothers, Sergei Loznita's A Gentle Creature, François Ozon's L'Amant Double  (with two of his favorites Marine Vacth and Jérémie Renier), and Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here (starring Joaquin Phoenix). 

Previously: Day 1, Days 2-4, and Days 5-6
And Don't Miss: Nicole in Cannes Pt 1 and Pt 2

So it looks like the frontrunners for the Palme d'Or, barring any of those five landing in a major way, are France's 120 Battements Par Minute, Sweden's The Square, or Russia's Loveless. But with Cannes and the mysteries of the group dynamics of juries, you never really know until the awards are announced. Pundits always forget that. People who assume that the Palme is a given for ___ are wrong nearly every year. That's half the fun.

Day 8 brings us one of the longshot possibilities for the Palme from the great Sofia Coppola...

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Today's 4: Auntie Mame, The Breakfast Club, In the Realm of the Senses, and Laika

Another day, another chance to boost your spirits by celebrating showbiz history whilst you go about your here and now. Only four today since we decided the fifth would be better off in a beauty break style post later today. 

May 18th Showbiz History

2018 Okay this is future history but Laika has claimed this date for their next movie. We don't know what it is yet but who cares, it's Laika!

In their honor today: Rank Laika's releases thus far in the comments. They are in chronological order Coraline (2009), Paranorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Blockbusters of 1985, Auntie Mame and more after the jump...

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OTD: Don Cheadle debuts, Mae West sentenced, Marie-Antoinette marries (sort of)

On this day (April 19th) in history as it relates to showbiz...

1770 Marie Antoinette married by proxy to Louis-Auguste. A month later she travels from Austria to the forest of Compiègne to meet her husband (essentially where Sofia Coppola's great 2006 film starring Kirsten Dunst begins) and the two soon have a ceremonial wedding.

1898 Silent screen star Constance Talmadge born (the year is disputed but around there!). One of many silent giants whose fame didn't transfer to "the talkies"...

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Mt Linkmore

THR Shin Godzilla wins really big at the Japanese Oscars while massive anime hit Your Name takes 3 prizes. A film called Her Love Boils Bathwater (????) took both of the actress awards. Gimme.
TFE ... ICYMI Shin Godzilla came in at #18 at the US box office in terms of foreign film success last year (just behind critical darlings The Handmaiden and Elle)
Two Dollar Cinema had a fun blog-a-thon called 'Mt Rushmore of Movies' in which bloggers could just any fourpart tribute - I only hear about blog-a-thons after the fact but I'm happy some people are still doing 'em. Entries include: four characters with great beards, best movie cameos, movies where romantic leads don't end up together, and more

Much more film & TV news, videos, and linkage as well as Barry Jenkins & Damien Chazelle's friendship after the jump because this is a super long post. It's impossible to keep up as of late!

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