Parasite's loot and other Palme d'Or winner returns

Let's marvel again at the success of Parasite in US release, but this time in the context of Palme d'Or winners. Parasite is just one notch away from being the 10 highest grossing Cannes winner of all time (at least as far as contemporary box office reporting goes). It's already the most successful Palme d'Or winner of all time among the non-English language winners. 

Box office figures aren't readily available before the 1970s so we started in 1970 -- there are a few winners since then with no US box office results which means they either weren't ever released in the US or were somehow not reported. It's also worth noting that these numbers are not adjusted for inflation so we're assuming that either MASH or Apocalypse Now which bookended the 1970s would actually top the list as the highest grossing Palme d'Or winner ever. Figures are only domestic (USA) totals.

TOP GROSSING PALME D'OR WINNERS IN THE U.S.
figures as of January 26th, 2020

1. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) $119.1
2. Pulp Fiction (1994) $107.9
3. Apocalypse Now (1979) $83.4
4. MASH (1970) $81.6...

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Doc Corner: DOC NYC - Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 11/9'

DOC NYC is currently underway in New York and one of the great things is that alongside all the world, American, and New York premieres, the festival includes significant documentary titles from throughout the year. We’re using this opportunity to catch up with the latest from Michael Moore, Fahrenheit 11/9, which screened at the fest and is still in limited release across America.

Love him or loathe him – or probably more likely, sit somewhere in the middle of the two emotions – it’s hard to overstate Michael Moore’s importance to American documentary filmmaking. It’s not often that documentaries become pop culture touchstones and he has several that have become just that. The film that this new title is theoretically a sequel to will likely remain the highest grossing documentary of all time for the foreseeable future of cinema. It is interesting to note, however, that the two biggest zeitgeist-hitting political documentaries of the new century – that would be Fahrenheit 9/11 and An Inconvenient Truth – have floundered at the box office with much-belated sequels. Are audiences simply too bombarded by news that the thought of going to see a two-hour movie about the horrors of modern politics is just too much to bear?

Moore's decision to make a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11 makes a lot of sense in theory, although watching the final product is a curious experience.

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Today's 5: Slim Shady and Bruce Almighty (among others)

Have you seen the newest picture of Mera (Amber Heard) from Aquaman? There it is to your left. This is remarkably colorful -- Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin level saturation on the color wheel -- though they'll surely fiddle with the color in post (sigh) since we can't have bright things. (Speaking of DC -- with Wonder Woman getting good advance buzz, should we be hopeful about Aquaman now?) 

Anyway, Amber Heard was on the brain as one of today's curated 'anniversaries to use as mood boosters'  today. Ready? Let's go... 

May 23rd Anniversaries

2016 Amber Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp one year ago today.

In honor of this event: Take a step toward getting out of that toxic situation / relationship / job / whatever that's no good for you. 

2004 The 57th annual Cannes Film Festival wraps up...

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Today's 5: Mother... Father... girl in the pit...

Five mood boosting assignments culled from showbiz anniversaries today. Try these exercizes at home won't you, and report back? Nobody does but I'm dying to hear stories on how it went!

May 22nd 

2011 The 64th Cannes Film Festival closed with Christopher Honore's sorta musical The Beloved starring Ludivine Sagnier and Catherine Deneuve. Terence Malick's The Tree of Life won the Palme d'Or, Nicolas Winding Refn was Best Director for Drive and Kristen Dunst took Best Actress for Melancholia, and Jean Dujardin won Best Actor for the Artist only to repeat the win at the Oscars several months later.

In The Tree of Life's honor today: perform a very monologue alone in nature about your mother and father. If you don't have nature near you, say it to a plant. 

More after the jump including a curious Nicole Kidman and a Bonded Grace Jones...

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Doc Corner: Revisiting 'Fahrenheit 9/11' and It's Cannes Influence

Glenn here. Each Tuesday we bring you reviews and features on documentaries from theatres, festivals, and on demand. In celebration of not just the Cannes Film Festival, which is underway right now, but also the release of my book Cannes Film Festival: 70 Years out now through Wilkinson Publishing, we're looking at only the second documentary to win the Palme d'Or. The book is a glossy trip through history, looking at the festival's beginnings, the films, the moviestars, the fashions and the controversies. You better believe I convinced my editors on a double-page Nicole Kidman spread!

Just earlier this year I said of Michael Moore’s most recent film, Where to Invade Next?, that it was “utterly disgraceful” and that it was bound to “truly be one of the year’s worst movies.” That film was on my mind as I sat down to rewatch the director’s 2004 Palme d’Or winning documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11. Would the impact of that initial viewing of Fahrenheit 9/11 remain all these years later now that my eyes and mind are much wider? It’s a little bit of yes and a little bit of no. ...more after the jump.

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