Cannes Day 1: The Netflix Battle and "Ishmael's Ghost"

by Nathaniel R

Maren Ade, Will Smith, Agnes Jaoui, and Pedro Almodóvar at the Jury Press Conference today

Though we aren't in the South of France we'll try to keep an eye on the proceedings across the pond there these next two weeks. If you're relatively new to movie obsessing (We keep hoping more young people will tune in to TFE. We used to attract baby cinephiles... not sure where they congregate now!) Vox has a terrific heavily expository overview of why Cannes is so important, how to pronounce it ("can" not "cans" or "cahn"), why so many famous people go, why everyone is so dressed up, and some other myths and mysteries that surround the festival.

Jury Press Conference & the Netflix Divide
Because juicy click-bait headlines drive traffic most websites are framing the Jury Press Conference as a bloody war between the president Pedro Almodóvar and his most famous juror Will Smith. They may well eventually come to artistic blows in jury deliberations (who knows) but this is already grossly overstated. They merely have different feelings about Netflix, a famous "disruptor" as a company. Will Smith is very pro Netflix (basically because he has kids who like it). Almodóvar is very pro theatrical exhibition, because you know, he's a filmmaker who cares about movies. That's about the extent of the "war"...

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Tweetweek: Pink Typography and Tough Pizza

Tweets of the Week. If we couldn't joke about movies the current political climate would be enough to drive us all off the ledge wouldn't it? So here are two tweets that most helped me get through the week by LOL'ing instead of crying.

congrats to france for electing a not crazy president but you still let anne hathaway die a penniless prostitute

— Matt Bellassai (@MattBellassai) May 7, 2017

Quick while we don't have a FBI Director, copy all the VHS tapes you have! No one can stop you! pic.twitter.com/zxUvnPWMtW

— Sarah Fox (@SarahFoxes) May 10, 2017

After the jump: Depp's "technique", ongoing Kidmania, Jessica Chastain, Isabelle Huppert, flat earth, fun photos... and Dick

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Cannes Line Up

by Nathaniel R

The Cannes lineup was announced very early this morning (time differences, don'cha know) and we're here to give you details, not just film titles. While TFE doesn't attend ($) we do follow from afar and hope to make the trek some day. The 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival runs May 17th through May 28th.

OPENING NIGHT

Which is a high profile gig but also risky as the knives are often out for a sacrifice to the festival gods to launch the cinextravaganza. 

Ismael’s Ghosts (Arnaud Desplechin)
French auteur Desplechin's latest will be released in the US by Magnolia. It stars French A-Listers Marion Cotillard, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Mathieu Amalric, and Louis Garrel and revolves around a filmmaker (Amalric) working on a new picture when his long dead lover Carlotta (Cotillard) returns to life sending his life into a tailspin. If you've never seen Desplechin classics Kings and Queen (2004) and A Christmas Tale (2008) get right to that!

THE COMPETITION LINEUP...

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Interview: Guillaume Gallienne and Danièle Thompson on 'Cézanne and I'

By Jose Solís.

In Cézanne and I, director Danièle Thompson chronicles the ultimate bromance: the lifelong friendship between Emile Zola (Guillaume Canet) and Paul Cézanne (Guillaume Gallienne) who went from being schoolmates to becoming two of the most influential artists in history. In the film we see Zola’s literary work flourish, as Cézanne struggles to make a name for himself when his contemporaries fail to see the quality of his work and mock his technique. But rather than being a condescending story about “poor genius men”, the film addresses the terrifying idea that not everyone’s talents are meant to be recognized. I sat down with Gallienne and Thompson to discuss the themes in the film and the challenges of capturing the creative process onscreen.

JOSE: Why did you want to make a film about Zola and Cézanne?

DANIÈLE THOMPSON: I was very intrigued by the fact I knew nothing about their relationship, very quickly I thought that for these two men to have met as little boys in school, and to remain friends as each of them became monumental figures of the 19th century was very intriguing. I was also intrigued by how their friendship ended, it had the roots for a dramatic story.

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Review: "Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo"

This review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad

You've seen the moment many times. Two future lovers see each other in a crowd, and something clicks. In West Side Story that moment prompts a blur on the edges of the frame, with only the lovers in focus. In La La Land, it takes the form of a camera push-in with all the lights, but for a spotlight, going out. The moment is so familiar in fantasies (and desired in reality) that there's even an old showtune about it.

Some enchanted evening, you will meet a stranger
You will meet a stranger across a crowded room.
And somehow you know, you know even then...

The last place you might expect to see it deployed is in a new French film which begins with 18 minutes of explicit activity in a sex club...

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