(CANNES, France) - A family of grifters hustles the perfect family in Bong Joon-Ho's meticulously-directed "Parasite." And they go all the way to Cannes gold! This is the beauty of the Cannes Festival, the jury and the results can be full of surprises--even bad ones. This is a year, also, when the press and the jury are aligned--on who should win top gold. For the rest, who knows what went on in ... more >
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CANNES FESTIVAL – Matthias and Maxime
This film is competing for the Palme D'Or
Matthias and Maxime have been friends since childhood. Matthias (Gabriel D’Almeida Freitas, in his second role for the big screen) tries to gain a foothold in the business world while Maxime makes a living as bartender, caring for his mother, a recovering addict. The two young men give off slight reticence, an awkwardness, it becomes clear quickly that these two aren’t just involved in a ... more >
CANNES FESTIVAL – The grifter family versus the perfect family in the entertaining PARASITE
This film is competing for the Palme D'Or
“Parasite,” directed by Bong Joon-Ho, is a comedy that glistens with irony about an elaborate con. The covetous greed of the poor is pitted against the dull indulgence of the wealthy in a manichean duel for supremacy, to realistic effect. Will the world one day see an all-out war between the classes? Occupy Wall Street, the Yellow Vest movement, are those harbingers? These movements have come and ... more >
CANNES FESTIVAL – A so-so “Frankie” gets elevated by a great performance by Isabelle Huppert
"Frankie" is in the running for a Palme D'Or
An exotic locale in beautiful Portugal, an unaffected and powerful performance by a star actress and existential worriment. This is what you can expect from “Frankie,” an ensemble film directed by Ira Sachs that’s asthmatic and lacks energy but fascinated me, nevertheless, because of its main actress Isabelle Huppert and her incredible on-screen presence. Huppert is one of France’s ... more >
CANNES FESTIVAL – “Young Ahmed,” a story of mental bondage
This film is competing for a Palme D'Or
It’d be understandable to want to interpret the new Dardenne Brothers movie as finger-pointing at the insidious and virulent strain of religiosity that’s going around the world right now, that is, Islamism. But enslavement, of the mind (to someone else’s viewpoint, a submission to a code of beliefs that’s toxic, that will make you do irrational things, like commit murder) and, more to the point, ... more >
CANNES FESTIVAL – “A hidden life,” a Terrence Malick film in Cannes
This film is competing for the Palme D'Or
Terrence Malick has directed “A Hidden Life,” a very enjoyable contemplation on World War II, on freedom, on good and evil, and on God. His film asks, where was God during WWII? Radegund, a beautiful village in the Austrian Alps. Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector, refuses to fight for the Nazis or pledge allegiance to them. Franz has a farm in these beautiful mountains that he tends ... more >
#CANNES2019: “THE DEAD DON’T DIE” to open Cannes Festival
THIS JUST IN: "The Dead Don't Die" will open this year's Cannes Festival (April 10th, 2019). After the dead rise from their graves, the tranquil town of Centerville has no choice but to battle the hordes of zombies come threaten their way of life. "The dead don't die" was written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, produced by Joshua Astrachan and Carter Logan and produced by Animal Kingdom (they ... more >