There are years when everyone knows which film will win. 2015 was not one of them, although there was some consensus among the major press that CAROL and MIA MADRE were the strongest films, cinematographically and stylistically and the Hou Hsiao-Hsien-directed THE ASSASSIN, the rare film this year by a filmmaker who's completely in control of his art, would not go home empty-handed. We expected ... more >
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SICARIO
"Sicario" means "hit man" in Spanish
Starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Every Cannes Festival (and so, every festival) needs a good shoot-em-up movie. We got ours this year with SICARIO, starring Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, and Josh Brolin in the supporting role. SICARIO's at-times lack of depth and the expeditious nature of certain plot twists make this solid revenge drama imperfect. But an extraordinary lensmanship by Roger Deakins and ominous, ... more >
RONIT IN HER OWN WORDS | Israel’s best-known actress describes her first experiences in Cannes
In a recent interview that she gave to French magazine Télérama (France's answer to TV Guide, but on steroids) Roni Elkabetz recalled her earliest memories of the Cannes Festival: "The first time [I went to the Cannes Festival] was in 1997. It was a very strange experience. I had decided to leave Israel to live my life as an actress in France. I don't even speak the language, so it was a kind ... more >
#CANNES2015, an aerial drone’s view
What's hot, potentially controversial and who's going to be there
The 68th Cannes Film Festival will open next Wednesday under the jury presidency of a pair of brothers from Saint Louis Park, Minnesota. The Coen Brothers aren't strangers to Cannes since most, if not all, of their films have been shown here over the years. The brothers will be in good company: A-listers, stars and outstanding actors and actresses and filmmakers--the likes of Cate Blanchett, ... more >
CANNES 2015 | FIRST LOOK, “Las Elegidas
From this year's Cannes Festival selection. Mexican filmmaker David Pablos's "Las Elegidas," which was produced by Canana Films and is, amazingly, the only Latin American film in competition this year. Taking on the matter of prostitution and human trafficking in his native Tijuana, Pablos casts a personal vision unto his subject along with years of extensive research that help impart a ... more >
ASIF KAPADIA’S AMY, TODD HAYNES, GUS VAN SANT … CANNES SELECTION UNVEILED!
This year’s Cannes Selection was announced this week during a press conference held here in Paris and in fact features a less american-centric selection of films than in years past. That’s not to say Cannes's programmers haven't indulged a little of their flair for filmmakers representative of the commercially-viable but frankly-independent fringe "made in USA": two of our best filmmakers alive ... more >
CANNES – ISABELLA ROSSELLINI TO HEAD U.C.R. JURY
Although Isabella Rossellini is less known stateside than in Europe the pedigreed doyenne of the moving pictures is bona fide cinema royalty. Her father is filmmaker Roberto Rossellini and her mother, Ingrid Bergman. Oh, she was married to a certain Martin Scorsese in the late seventies and later dated David Lynch. Naming her head of the jury of the Un Certain Regard (U.C.R.) program at this ... more >