Yes No Maybe So: "Belle" from Mamoru Hosoda

by Nathaniel  R

We recently debuted our first Oscar chart of the year for Best Animated Feature as well as an extensive overview of all the international animated films  which could be competing for the unofficial "foreign" spot in that particular Oscar race. Perhaps we underestimated Belle by Mirai director Mamoru Hosoda who we had the pleasure of interviewing a couple of years back. Here's the international trailer...

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74th Cannes. Un Certain Regard, Special Screenings, and More...

by Nathaniel R

Todd Haynes' first documentary is about the seminal band, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

We've already looked at the competition lineup so here are the other key sections. It's worth noting that though the press mostly focuses on the Competition films, sometimes the buzziest titles come from other sections. There are some juries that pull from multiple sections too like the Camera d'Or jury (which honors first films), as well as two unofficial but exciting competitions, the Queer Palm and the fan favourite the Palm Dog (which names the best dog in the festival... and it's often much more competitive than you'd think with some years offering multiple win-worthy candidates). Director's Fortnight and Critics Week lineups haven't been announced yet but here are the rest of them...

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74th Cannes. The Competition Lineup!

by Nathaniel R

The official lineup for the 74th Cannes Film Festival has been announced. It's always an exciting time for cinephiles, doubly so this year since the festival had to be cancelled last season due to COVID-19. This year four actors have multiple films in contention: Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Rampling, Anders Danielsen Lie, and the probably queen of the festival France's Léa Seydoux who has three films in the main competition and another in Un Certain Regard!  We already know that Spike Lee will be presiding over the jury, since he was supposed to do that last year (though we don't know who will be on the jury with him yet).

Cannes has been criticized for years for their lack of gender parity in direction. They're likedly to be criticized again with only 4 of the 24 competition films from female auteurs but that's actually a huge improvement for the world's most famous film festival. As per usual French and English language films dominate though there are actually only three films from the USA in competition this year (Flag Day, The French Dispatch, and Red Rocket) Anyway let's look at the official lineup. More to come since there are other sections, too.

24 Official Competition Films
Who will win the Palme D'Or, Director, and Acting prizes. Care to place any bets?

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Alida Valli @ 100: Star of The Third Man, Suspiria, and Hitchcock’s The Paradine Case

by Brent Calderwood

Alida Valli, who was born 100 years ago today in Pola, Italy (now part of Croatia), became a legend of Italian cinema in classics ranging in style from Luchino Visconti’s operatic epic Senso to Dario Argento’s supernatural slasher Suspiria. In a career that spanned 68 years, international directors were repeatedly drawn to her dark, inscrutable beauty and haunted green eyes. She's still admired by film lovers worldwide for three noir-tinged movies she made while abroad: The Third Man opposite Orson Welles (where she gets one of the most famous screen exits in history), Alfred Hitchcock’s The Paradine Case, and the French horror film Eyes Without a Face.  

In 1947, producer David O. Selznick invited Valli to Hollywood, hoping to repeat the success he’d had with two of his other European “discoveries,” Ingrid Bergman and Vivien Leigh. He gave her the full star treatment, even briefly abbreviating her name to the one-word “Valli” à la “Garbo” and having Hitchcock helm her first American picture...

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Animated Features of 2021... and first Oscar Predictions!

by Nathaniel R

This past year wasn't a particularly great one for animation but hope springs eternal and maybe we'll have a more competitive Oscar race next February? This will be the 21st year of the Best Animated Feature Oscar race. With 20 years of statistics we know what Oscar voters go for in this category and what they don't. They generally turn their noses up at sequels (unless they absolutely adored the first one). They will always honor at least one international title (but usually two) with a nomination, but they won't give them the win unless they absolutely have to. The animation studios Cartoon Saloon, Laika, and Aardman are widely respected by animators and will always be nominated if they're eligible... but it usually stops there as the wider voting body on the "win" defaults to big American studio animation and 70% of the time (literally) the wins go to the Mouse House for either Disney or Pixar titles. When it comes to animated titles from overseas they're a bit like they are with the Best International Feature category (even though it's different voters) in that they generally ignore Asian animation (with the exception of Studio Ghibli) and prefer European titles. 

With the recent announcement of the competitive line-up for the 2021 Annecy festival (one of the four most important animation events each year) we have a better sense of which international titles might crop up this year in the circles that love animated films. Surely at least some of these will submit to the Oscar race as well. So here's as many animated features as we could find that might delight animation-loving cinephiles this year

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