Don't miss out on Dupieux's "Daaaaaalí!"

by Cláudio Alves

Earlier this year, for the Cannes at Home opener, I explored the filmography of one Quentin Dupieux, from his earliest shorts to the stage-bound satire of Yannick. At the time, only two of the French director's films were excluded from consideration since, sadly, they were unavailable. The Second Act marked the start of festivities at the Croisette while Daaaaaalí! was still making the rounds in more minor festivals before international distribution. Well, some months have passed, and the latter flick has enjoyed a limited run in American theaters and is now coming to VOD. It's as good an opportunity as any to reflect on its idiosyncratic director. And trust that if you're a Dupieux devotee, you won't want to miss Daaaaaalí!...

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Cannes Diary: The past and future of cinema from "Napoleon" to VR

Once again, I have the privilege of sharing my experiences at the Cannes Film Festival here on The Film Experience with a daily diary of impressions and reviews from the Croisette.

by Elisa Giudici

Today we delve into both the rich history and the uncertain future of cinema. Some foresee a fate entwined with AI and irrelevance, while others celebrate the enduring vitality of an art form that blazed its trail over a century ago. This year’s Cannes opening reflects on the industry's past glories and its current challenges, not shying away from the unease about what lies ahead, evoking the dizzying excitement of days gone by...

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Cannes at Home: Day 1 – Quentin Dupieux is the King of Weird

by Cláudio Alves

Léa Seydoux and Vincent Lindon in THE SECOND ACT.

Another year, another edition of the Cannes at Home miniseries, specially made to combat cinephile FOMO for those of us not at the French Riviera. For the next week or so, let's explore the filmographies of directors in competition. However, since the festival opened with the latest Quentin Dupieux project, it seems fitting to start our at-home festival by considering the auteur's career and the oddball creations that have made him something of a king of weirdness within contemporary French cinema. Not that such status comes with guaranteed acclaim. The opposite is true, with Dupieux's cinema caught in perpetual polemic, each work more divisive than what came before. 

Such is the case with The Second Act, where the director proposes a comedy on the absurdities of making an AI-based film. Not even Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon, and Raphaël Quenard could prevent the usual, not entirely undeserved critiques that befall every new Dupieux…

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Cannes Diary #6: Something weird this way comes

by Elisa Giudici

This (unconscious?) cosplay of Jesse Buckley doing Paul Verhoeven’s The 4th Man during the Q&A session for Men made my day!  After the jump some surreal comedy, a horror oddity, a terrifying thriller that might contend for awards, and a directorial debut... 

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Review: "Deerskin" on HBO

by Cláudio Alves

Fashion kills in one of Quentin Dupieux's latest absurdist comedies, the loony nightmare that is Deerskin. After blessing moviegoers with the nonsensical sight of a homicidal tire in Rubber, the French director has now imbued a fringed jacket with the power to unravel the human mind and precipitate its wearers into paroxysms of murderous madness. Jean Dujardin's Georges is the victim of such demonic influence, though, at the start, he, like all things in Deerskin, appears unnervingly mundane…

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