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Tag: cannes film festival

  • What to stream this week: Shakira, Paul Simon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kristen Wiig and Princess Peach

    What to stream this week: Shakira, Paul Simon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kristen Wiig and Princess Peach

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    Chef and restaurateur Jose Andrés inviting actors Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston and O’Shea Jackson Jr. over for dinner in a new TV special and Jake Gyllenhaal starring in an update of the pulpy cult classic “Road House” are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Shakira releases her first album in seven years, Paul Simon gets an expansive two-part documentary on MGM+ and a Nintendo sweetheart takes center stage in the game Princess Peach: Showtime!

    — Fresh off its Oscar success, Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” — along with award season’s favorite pooch, Messi — are coming to Hulu on Friday, March 22. The French courtroom drama stars Sandra Hüller as a wife accused of murdering her husband (Samuel Theis) by pushing him out a high window in the French Alps chalet. The film effectively puts their marriage on trial while offering Hüller an engrossing platform for all her cunning as a performer. “Anatomy of a Fall” won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and best original screenplay at the Academy Awards. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called it “a smartly constructed and wholly engaging whodunit, courtroom thriller, marriage drama and, at some points, satire.”

    — Doug Liman gives the 1989 cult classic “Road House” a pulpy modern spin with Jake Gyllenhaal as a former UFC fighter hired as security for a seedy Florida Keys bar. Jessica Williams plays the owner of a road house under siege from a crime syndicate that eventually brings in even more muscle, and a dose of mania, in a fearsome fixer played by mixed-martial-arts fighter Conor McGregor. Though Liman, the director of “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Swingers,” has pleaded for the film to be theatrically released, “Road House” debuts Thursday on Prime Video.

    – Paul Simon gets an expansive two-part documentary with “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” from filmmaker Alex Gibney. After the first half premiered March 17 on MGM+, part two lands on Sunday, March 24. “In Restless Dreams,” which premiered last fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, surveys the varied chapters of Simon’s career, including his many years as a duo with Art Garfunkel, the recording of his 1986 album “Graceland” and the still unfolding, and music-making, life of the 82-year-old songwriter.

    — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

    — Shakira returns with her first new album in seven years, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” (“Women don’t cry anymore” in English, a lyric lifted from her smash hit “Music Sessions Vol. 53” with Argentine producer Bizarrap). It’s also her first full-length release since her split from soccer star Gerard Piqué — a pop album transformed by pain. “While writing each song I was rebuilding myself,” the Colombian musician said in a statement. “While singing them, my tears transformed into diamonds, and my vulnerability into strength.” Seven of the album’s 16 tracks have been previously released — including “TQG” with Karol G (also featured on Karol G’s “Mañana Será Bonito” album, one of AP’s picks for the best of 2023 ), “Te Felicito” with reggaetonero Rauw Alejandro, “Copa Vacía” with Manuel Turizo and more. “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” is the sound of reclamation for Shakira — and an addictive listen.

    — There are eras to Waxahatchee, the musical moniker of Katie Crutchfield. Her story begins in the D.I.Y. power pop-punk of her band P.S. Eliot, the nihilism of early Waxahatchee records like “American Weekend,” and then, the current moment: “Tigers Blood,” a hell of a lot more country than her earlier releases, with the wisdom that came with sobriety and a move to St. Louis (that’s heard on her last album, 2020’s “Saint Cloud” and certainly now). There’s a lot to love here, like the acoustic ballad “365” and the Americana-flavored “Bored.” There’s also MJ Lenderman of the Asheville, North Carolina, indie rock band Wednesday, a new collaborator. It’s hard not to cozy up to the warmth of their harmonies on “Right Back to It,” a song — like many on this album — that celebrates the privilege of certain romantic mundanities, like settling into a long-term relationship.

    — A debut album is an introduction. A sophomore release can be a make-or-break moment: Who is this person as an artist, what do they have to say, and are we still listening? Enter Fletcher, the queer pop powerhouse signed to Capitol Records who first broke out with the 2019 viral hit “Undrunk.” On “In Search of the Antidote,” she builds off the success of her earlier singles — still concerned with love and failed relationships, now through a matured lens.

    — Gossip, the dance-punk band that gave the world Beth Ditto, is preparing to release their first new album in 12 years — and their first since they broke up shortly thereafter. It’s a return to their powers, now funkier than ever. At least, that’s obvious on the disco-informed title track, “Real Power.” Another new single, “Crazy Again,” is all palm-muted power chords and reserved synths. Indie sleaze revivalists, it is time to break out the neon.

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    — In a new special, James Beard-winning chef and restaurateur Jose Andrés invites actors Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston and O’Shea Jackson Jr. over for dinner — but first they have to help him cook. The goal of the night isn’t perfection but to have fun. “Dinner Party Diaries with Jose Andrés” drops Tuesday on Prime Video. In an interview with The Associated Press, Andrés says he hopes the special brings awareness and donations to his nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, which delivers meals to people in disaster areas.

    — A new Apple TV+ series called “Palm Royale” is bursting with big-name talent. Set in Palm Beach in 1969, Kristen Wiig plays Maxine, a woman desperate to be accepted into high society and a private club called the Palm Royale. At the beginning of the first episode, we see Maxine climb over a wall to get inside her coveted club. The cast includes Carol Burnett, Ricky Martin, Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, Kaia Gerber, Amber Chardae Robinson and Mindy Cohn. The show drops Wednesday.

    — “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf is dipping into the true crime world with a new docuseries on Netflix. “Homicide: New York” debuts Wednesday and features detectives, police officers and prosecutors recalling some of their most memorable murder cases. “Homicide: Los Angeles” is already scheduled to air on the streamer later this year.

    — Diarra Kilpatrick created and stars in a mystery comedy for BET+ called “Diarra from Detroit.” It’s about a woman who has a great first date with a man she meets on Tinder. When she doesn’t hear from him again, Diarra concludes the only logical explanation is that he was kidnapped, so she launches an investigation. “Diarra from Detroit” premieres Thursday on BET+.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    — Princess Peach has been around for almost 40 years, but she’s usually stuck playing second fiddle to that bozo Mario. Princess Peach: Showtime! puts Nintendo’s sweetheart center stage, as she tries to save a struggling theater from a villain named Grape who’s way more into tragedy than comedy. Saving the show requires our heroine to make plenty of costume changes, so get ready for Cowgirl Peach, Detective Peach, Ninja Peach, Mermaid Peach and more. She’s not just playing dress-up — each outfit gives the princess different skills she’ll need to negotiate a constantly changing stage set. The curtain rises Friday, March 22, on Nintendo Switch.

    — Dragon’s Dogma got decent reviews when it came out in 2012, and it has developed a cult audience over the years. In the meantime, its genre — let’s say “high-fantasy hack-and-slash role-playing” — has exploded with monster hits like Elden Ring. So at long last, Capcom is delivering Dragon’s Dogma II. You create your character, the “Arisen,” from scratch, building on typical RPG species like humans, elves and “beastrens” and jobs like warrior, archer and sorcerer. As you explore two sprawling kingdoms, you can recruit AI-controlled “pawns” to help complete your mission, which is to ”slay the Dragon and claim the throne.” If this sounds irresistible (you know who you are), the quest begins Friday, March 22, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S or PC.

    — Lou Kesten

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

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  • Barbie director Greta Gerwig heads jury of 2024 Cannes Festival, 1st American woman director in job

    Barbie director Greta Gerwig heads jury of 2024 Cannes Festival, 1st American woman director in job

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    Greta Gerwig, actor, writer and film director, notably for the blockbuster “Barbie,” will preside over the jury of the 77th Cannes Festival in May, the first American female film director to be named jury president, the festival announced Thursday

    PARIS — Greta Gerwig, actor, writer and film director, notably for the blockbuster “Barbie,” will preside over the jury of the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May, the first American female director to be named jury president, the festival announced Thursday.

    At 40, Gerwig is also the youngest person to take on that role since Sofia Loren, who headed the Cannes jury in 1966 at age 31, the festival noted in a statement.

    “I’m overwhelmed, enthusiastic and touched with humility,” the statement quoted Gerwig as saying. “I can’t wait to discover what voyages await us!” She described Cannes as “the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be.”

    Festival officials, too, were excited, about their choice for jury president for the May 14-25 festival on the French Riviera, a premiere film extravaganza.

    “This is an obvious choice, since Greta Gerwig so audaciously embodies the renewal of world cinema, for which Cannes is each year both the forerunner and the sounding board,” said festival president Iris Knobloch and general delegate Thierry Frémaux.

    Gerwig also marks “an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism,” they added.

    One other American woman has led the Cannes jury: Olivia de Haviland in 1965. Unlike Gerwig, the actress never directed movies.

    Gerwig began her career as an actress before moving into writing movies, then co-directing and finally flying solo in the director’s chair, notably with “Lady Bird” in 2017 — nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Director, followed by “Little Women,” then “Barbie,” released last July. There, she transformed the famous Barbie doll into a living young woman, raucously exploring sexism and women’s independence.

    “An international cultural phenomenon, Barbie is the biggest success of the year and has made Greta Gerwig the most bankable female film director in history,” the statement by the Cannes Festival said.

    Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund headed last year’s festival.

    The rest of the jury has yet to be announced. Films competing in the 2024 film festival are to be unveiled in mid-April.

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  • Greta Gerwig Named Cannes Jury President for 2024

    Greta Gerwig Named Cannes Jury President for 2024

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    Greta Gerwig is hitting the Croisette.

    The Barbie helmer, fresh off her first-ever best director nomination at the Golden Globes (Gerwig’s $1.4 billion toy-to-screen blockbuster picked up a total of 9 Golden Globe noms), has been confirmed as the Jury President for the 2024 Cannes International Film Festival.

    “A heroine of our modern times, Greta Gerwig shakes up the status quo between a highly codified cinema industry and an era that is demanding greater scrutiny,” Cannes said in its announcement.

    “Yesterday, ambassador of independent American cinema, today at the summit of worldwide box office success, Greta Gerwig manages to combine what was previously judged to be incompatible: Delivering arthouse blockbusters, narrowing the gap between art and industry, exploring contemporary feminist issues with deft as well as depth, and declaring her demanding artistic ambition from within an economic model that she embraces in order to put to better use.

    “Whether acting, writing, or directing, her artistic endeavors have recurrent leitmotifs, such as family upheaval, adolescent rites of passage, fear of loss of social status or the emergence of artistic vocation via characters that are free, sometimes fragile and marginal, but also fierce.”

    Gerwig will be the first American female director to be Cannes Jury President. She’s only the second female director to take over the post, following Jane Campion in 2014, and the second American woman to do so, following actress Olivia de Haviland, who was Cannes’ first female Jury President in 1965.

    “This is an obvious choice since Greta Gerwig so audaciously embodies the renewal of world cinema, for which Cannes is each year both the forerunner and the sounding board,” said Cannes Festival President Iris Knobloch and Artistic Director Thierry Frémaux. Alongside her talent as a filmmaker, they said, Gerwig “is also the representative of an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism.”

    Despite the praise, this will be the first time Gerwig will walk the Cannes red carpet in an official capacity. None of her films as a director have premiered at the French festival.

    “I love films – I love making them, I love going to them, I love talking about them,” said Gerwig in a statement. “As a cinephile, Cannes has always been the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be. Being in the place of vulnerability, in a dark theater filled with strangers, watching a brand-new film is my favorite place to be. I am stunned and thrilled and humbled to be serving as the president of the Cannes Film Festival Jury. I cannot wait to see what journeys are in store for all of us!”

    Gerwig’s career has taken her in front of and behind the camera, from her start as an actor and screenwriter — alongside starring in, she co-wrote Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007) with Joe Swanberg, and Frances Ha (2012) and Mistress America (2015) with partner Noah Baumbach — before making her first sole directing effort in breakout hit Lady Bird in 2017.

    Nominated for 5 Oscars, including a best directing nom, Lady Bird grossed close to $80 million worldwide. Gerwig had arrived.

    Her 2019 follow-up, a fresh take on period classic Little Women for Sony, was a bonafide crossover hit, earning $218 million worldwide and establishing Gerwig in the top tier of studio directors.

    But no one was prepared for the gargantuan success of Barbie. The pink-tinged tentpole starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling was the biggest hit of 2023, earning more than $1.4 billion and, to date, owning awards season. She is, said Cannes in its announcement, “an international cultural phenomenon…the most bankable female film director in history.”

    The 77th Cannes Film Festival runs May 14-25, 2024.

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    Scott Roxborough

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  • ‘Tiger Stripes’ Review: Puberty Brings Out the Monster Within in Feisty Malaysian Genre Movie

    ‘Tiger Stripes’ Review: Puberty Brings Out the Monster Within in Feisty Malaysian Genre Movie

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    With her debut feature “Tiger Stripes,” Malaysian writer-director Amanda Nell Eu joins an exciting group of directors who provide subversive takes on genre and body horror. Julia Ducournau and “Raw” comes to mind, as do Agnieszka Smoczynska and “The Lure” and John Fawcett and “Ginger Snaps” — like David Cronenberg before them.

    Eu, an MA graduate of the London Film School, blends Malaysian folklore with heightened realism and a large dollop of “Mean Girls” in the story of a tween going through changes wrought by puberty and alterations in her friendship group. World premiering at the Cannes Critics Week, it came away with the Grand Jury Prize for best feature and has been collecting additional kudos ever since. It represents Malaysia in the Oscar international feature competition.

    Bold 12-year-old Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal) is the natural leader among her group of gal pals, all currently seniors at their religious primary school. She’s the one who wears a bra under her proper Islamic attire, doffs said attire to splash in an idyllic forest pool and does wild dances for TikTok.

    Although she hangs out with Zaff, the younger-seeming Farrah (Deena Ezral), a spiteful prefect, is actually both jealous of and disgusted by her. Meanwhile sweet-faced Mariam (Piqa) tries to keep the peace as the trio wend their way home, meowing when they are being catty, gluing colorful stickers everywhere and filming themselves on their phones.

    When Zaff becomes the first girl in the school to start menstruating, it catalyzes physical changes in her as well as the sudden loss of her top-girl status, orchestrated by the sneaky Farrah who doesn’t miss a chance to shame her and get the others to ostracize her as well. Things aren’t exactly period positive at home either as her stern mother tells her, “You’re dirty now.”

    Zaff doesn’t have any one to talk to about what’s going on; about the viciousness of her former friends, her physical transformations and urges, or her sightings of a red-eyed female demon among the treetops. Although she tries to hide by adding gloves to her modest Islamic dress, the more she is provoked, the more she transforms into a were-tiger, capable of bounding up trees (courtesy of a kind of cheesy but charming special effect) and killing and eating small animals.

    When Farrah leads the other girls in brutally bullying Zaff in the seniors’ toilet one day, Zaff decides to embrace her monstrosity and release her inner tiger, causing hysteria amongst the girls and the teachers. Unctuous publicity hound Dr. Rahim (Shaheizy Sam) arrives on the scene and convinces Zaff’s parents that an exorcism will fix the problem. More mayhem ensues.

    Eu’s smart script makes Zaff’s story into a parable about individuality and independence and whether to stay hidden in shame and fear or express one’s own power and freedom. To put that point across, she’s aided immeasurably by the strong casting of the three main girls and their chemistry. Because of the pandemic, Eu had a longer pre-production period to work with them and an acting coach, and to share and discuss the themes of the film.

    Inventively shooting on a tight budget in essentially three locations — the school, the thick green forest and Zaff’s home — Eu uses nature as a liminal space where the girls can keep their childish ways yet be wild without worrying about the judgments of their community. It’s a place where they peacefully co-exist with wild animals and sometimes hard-to-spot demons.

    From the exuberant credits and opening sequence through to the end, “Tiger Stripes” is the work of a confident new talent whose next work will be eagerly awaited.

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    Alissasimon

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  • Switzerland Country of Honor at 2024 Cannes Film Market

    Switzerland Country of Honor at 2024 Cannes Film Market

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    Switzerland has been named the new country of honor for the upcoming Marché du Film, the 2024 Cannes Film Market, which will run May 14 to 22, 2024.

    The small Alpine nation punches above its weight on the international film scene, in large part due to its positioning as an ideal co-production partner, with a skilled, multi-lingual workforce, top-end post-production facilities and competitive state support and tax incentives.

    Cross-over successes, including Alice Rohrwacher’s La chimera, an Italian/Swiss/French co-production featuring The Crown star Josh O’Connor as a white-suited tomb raider; Anna Novion’s drama Marguerite’s Theorem, about a brilliant mathematics student (Raw actor Ella Rumpf) who decides to quit university; or Claude Barras’ Swiss-French stop-motion film hit My Life as a Zucchini (2016) point to the breadth and variety of the Swiss industry.

    Switzerland is also strongly supportive of its new talent, including first-time director Carmen Jaquier, whose debut feature, Thunder, a period drama set in a small Swiss village in 1900, is the country’s official contender for the 2024 Oscars in the best international feature category.

    “[Naming] Switzerland as our new Country of Honor demonstrates the remarkable evolution and impact of Swiss cinema,” says Guillaume Esmiol, executive director of the Marché du Film. “Their diverse activities planned for 2024 also emphasize their strong commitment to industry growth, and the Marché du Film is honored to be the key moment in Switzerland’s ambitious agenda. They are, most of all, a very
    innovative country in terms of creativity and technology, which aligns perfectly with the positioning of the
    Marché, the leading market at the forefront of innovation and industry trends.”

    In addition to the Cannes spotlight in May, Switzerland will host next year’s European Film Awards in
    December 2024, in the city of Lucerne.

    National promotion body Swiss Films, together with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR will organize a Swiss delegation as well as special events at next year’s Marché, which will focus on highlighting emerging Swiss talents and projects in development as well as nurturing further international partnerships. Switzerland’s high-tech sector will also have a chance to shine, with representatives of the country’s digital start-ups and technology companies attending to connect with Swiss and international creatives. The U.N. ranks Switzerland as the top country worldwide in its “global leader in innovation” survey, outpacing the U.S..

    “Switzerland stands out for being an attractive hub for co-productions, which are becoming increasingly
    important in Europe,” says Alain Berset, president of the Swiss Confederation. “Our nation is also
    home to innovative companies excelling in A.I. and animation, thus playing a key role in positioning the
    Marché du Film as a premier industry event for innovation and sustainability. This dual strength
    underscores Switzerland’s important role in shaping the future of the global film industry.”

    Swiss representatives will participate in several of the market’s key programs, including those dedicated to fiction and non-fiction feature films, as well as immersive projects and innovation. The Marché will announce more details in early 2024. Switzerland is the third country to receive the country of honor title, following India in 2022 and Spain this year. This initiative aims to spotlight and celebrate the unique
    industry contributions of a different nation each year in Cannes.

    The Marché du Film, the world’s largest film market, attracted 14,000 industry professionals screening more than 4,000 films and projects in development.

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    Scott Roxborough

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  • Indiana Jones’ box office destiny? A lukewarm $60 million debut in North America

    Indiana Jones’ box office destiny? A lukewarm $60 million debut in North America

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    Indiana Jones, and executives at the Walt Disney Co. and Lucasfilm, made a somewhat dispiriting discovery this weekend. Moviegoers didn’t rush to the theater in significant numbers to see “ Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and say goodbye to Harrison Ford as the iconic archaeologist.

    The film, reportedly budgeted north of $250 million, came in on the lower end of projections with $60 million in ticket sales from 4,600 North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

    Including $70 million from international showings in 52 markets, “Dial of Destiny” celebrated a $130 million global opening. It easily earned the No. 1 title but was not the high-rolling sendoff for one of modern cinema’s most iconic actor/character pairings that anyone hoped. Disney is projecting that it will make $82 million domestically through the fourth of July holiday and $152 million globally.

    “Dial of Destiny” is the long-delayed fifth installment in the Steven Spielberg/George Lucas-created adventure series that began in 1981, and the first Spielberg himself hasn’t directed. Veteran James Mangold stepped in to take the reins overseeing the Spielberg-approved script, which finds an older Dr. Jones retiring from his university job and swept up on a new adventure with his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge).

    “It’s impressive that a franchise that’s over 40 years old is No. 1 at the box office. But there’s no question there were higher hopes for the debut of this movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “This is Indiana Jones. This is a summer movie icon.”

    The film made its splashy premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, with a fitting celebration of Ford, who has said this was his last time playing the character.

    But then it was hit with lukewarm reviews. This was an unexpected and unwelcome hurdle, considering it was coming after the maligned fourth film, 2008’s “Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Another contributing snag was that a significant portion of the target audience, older viewers, don’t tend to buy many tickets on opening weekend for big blockbusters. But even “Crystal Skull,” budgeted at a reported $185 million, managed to gross over $790 million.

    “Sometimes reviews don’t matter, but the sentiment coming out of Cannes was very powerful,” Dergarabedian said. “It set off a narrative where people were already feeling disappointed and they hadn’t even seen it.”

    Second place went to “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” with $11.5 million, bringing its domestic total to around $340 million. “Elemental” landed in third place with $11.3 million.

    Aside from “Dial of Destiny,” the weekend’s other main new opener was the animated “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” which debuted in sixth place with $5.2 million.

    “Dial of Destiny’s” underwhelming debut comes just a few weeks after both Warner Bros.’ “The Flash” and Disney/Pixar’s “Elemental” had lackluster openings in North America. “Elemental,” like Indy 5, also premiered at Cannes to middling reception.

    And yet, “Elemental” in its three weeks in theaters has held on much better than “The Flash,” which plummeted again to $5 million, bringing its domestic total to $99.3 million. Disney also saw similarly promising holds with “The Little Mermaid,” now at over $280 million domestically and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3″ which has grossed over $345 million. After the holiday, Disney will be responsible for nearly half of the summer box office earnings.

    “The entire story isn’t told on the opening weekend,” Dergarabedian said.

    Disney has a “clear weekend” ahead with no competing blockbusters, when studio heads can reasonably hope for more families and older audiences to buy tickets. But things will only get more challenging for “Dial of Destiny” in the coming weeks with a crowded July. “Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part I” opens on July 12, followed by “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” on July 21.

    “The ups and downs at the box office are giving us whiplash,” Dergarabedian said. “And we’re still on the cusp of some of the biggest movies of the summer.”

    Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

    1. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $60 million.

    2. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” $11.5 million.

    3. “Elemental,” $11.3 million.

    4. “No Hard Feelings,” $7.5 million.

    5. “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” $7 million.

    6. “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” $5.2 million.

    7. “The Little Mermaid,” $5.2 million.

    8. “The Flash,” $5 million.

    9. “Asteroid City,” $3.8 million.

    10. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” $1.8 million.

    —

    Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.

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  • All Of My Thoughts While Watching The Idol

    All Of My Thoughts While Watching The Idol

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    As a writer, there are times when you almost feel morally obligated to complete a task that no one else wants to do. In this case, I fed the inexplicable, dark need within the depths of my soul to watch Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s show on Max,
    The Idol.

    The Idol has quickly become the internet’s most talked about television show for all the wrong reasons. It’s not the fan fervor that followed other Max shows like White Lotus or Succession. It’s morbid curiosity at best.

    Following its debut at
    Cannes Film Festival, no one has been able to stop talking about its insanity: unnecessary vulgar sex scenes, a plot that was filled with holes and questions, and a debate about whether it’s a product of bad acting or bad writing…or both.

    But are we really shocked that
    Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, known for his borderline concerning references to sex and violence in his shows — who argued with actress Barbie Ferreira over character Kat’s storyline and caused her eventually to leave the show, who had multiple actresses express discomfort in the amount of nudity, who had no writers room — created this disaster?

    The Drama Surrounding The Idol

    Originally, this catastrophe was directed by Amy Seimetz who left when most of the series was finished. With HBO citing a major creative overhaul, reports swirled elsewhere that The Weeknd was unhappy with the female direction the show was taking. Out with female directors, in with resident evil Sam Levinson.

    Not only did this cost the show around $70 million, it also caused delays. Levinson then peppered in his signature overseasoning of sex to really mess the whole thing up. It started with reports saying the show had more sex than even
    Euphoria, which broke boundaries being a show following hyper-sexual teenagers. In a tell-all expose, Rolling Stone reported:

    “Four sources say that Levinson ultimately scrapped Seimetz’s approach to the story, making it less about a troubled starlet falling victim to a predatory industry figure and fighting to reclaim her own agency, and more of a degrading love story with a hollow message that some crew members describe as being offensive.”

    Levinson was absent from the set early on, says
    Rolling Stone, devoting most of his time to the Emmy-award-winning Euphoria. Subsequently, this gave Tesfaye free reign. The show “drastically changed” from the original Seimetz version to something more…of a joke.

    So I Watched The Idol Myself

    Needless to say, the scathing reviews and meme-worthy clips I’d seen on my social media were not enough to keep me away. The show had an absurd premiere week, with over 900,000 viewers, surpassing Max’s biggest shows:
    Euphoria and White Lotus. My sick curiosity killed the cat.

    It’s every bit as terrible as expected, despite a star-studded cast of The Weeknd, BLACKPINK’s Jennie, Troye Sivan, and Lily-Rose Depp, who plays popstar Jocelyn. Jocelyn, who is known in public for her scandals and mental breakdowns, falls under the spell of The Weeknd’s Tedros. That’s about all I know for sure.

    Tedros is supposedly the leader of a cult, but you wouldn’t get that from episode one…which fails to reach many points other than Jocelyn wanting to expose herself on the cover of her album. Jocelyn attends a club (sans security because that would make too much sense) and meets Tedros (who unfortunately has a rat tail) and is instantly
    enamored.

    This is all the proof I need that Jocelyn has no real friends. If Tedros approached
    me at a club, my friends would already have tackled him linebacker-style before we could say hello. No shot.

    But the reviews don’t lie, there’s too much sex. It’s all about sex. There are constant lewd references, vulgar, NSFW dialogue, and full-frontal nudity. I can’t even take the show seriously because I spend half of it fast-forwarding through sex scenes.

    I understand that they are trying to convey that Lily-Rose Depp’s character is vulnerable and clearly lacking any sort of creative direction…but they spend 30 minutes on each scene. Surely there’s a better way to speed up the plot?

    I cringe every time The Weeknd comes on screen, partly because I know there is some sort of sexual act about to occur and also because I can’t imagine letting his creature of a character within 50 yards of me at any point in my life.

    Overall, it’s horrid. I can’t even tell you it’s worth the watch because I struggled to get through three episodes and my roommate got mad at me for making her watch with me. In short, if you watch
    The Idol, your friends will like you less.

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    Jai Phillips

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  • Jennifer Lawrence Explains Real Reason For Flip-Flops At Cannes

    Jennifer Lawrence Explains Real Reason For Flip-Flops At Cannes

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    Jennifer Lawrence is fessing up about what some people say was her dress-code protest at the Cannes Film Festival.

    The “Hunger Games” star, praised for wearing flip-flops in defiance of festival rules for women to wear high heels, told “Entertainment Tonight” she had no intention of protesting and just wanted to address a wardrobe malfunction.

    “I was not making a political statement, not that I wouldn’t,” she told “ET” on Thursday. “I had no idea until it like, came out that there was a whole controversy with people wearing flats, or like, walking down the red carpet barefoot. I had no clue.”

    “My shoes were a size too big,” she continued.

    Lawrence said she was unaware that Julia Roberts walked the red carpet barefoot in 2016 to defy the unspoken rules. Nor did she know that Kristen Stewart ditched her Christian Louboutins in 2018, or that Cate Blanchett would leave her stilettos at home hours after Lawrence walked the red carpet in flip-flops.

    Lawrence was attending a screening of “Bread and Roses,” a documentary about women under Taliban rule that she produced, when her flip-flops made headlines. Unfamiliar with the heels protest, she said she only wanted to take a photo — and didn’t want a repeat of past stumbles.

    Lawrence said she’s “all for making a statement,” but just wants to make those “on purpose.”

    Vianney Le Caer/Invision/Associated Press

    “I forgot to take a picture with my production team, Excellent Cadaver,” she said. “So, we had to take an Excellent Cadaver picture, and I knew I would eat shit if I went down in the shoes that were a size too big.”

    “I put on the flip-flops,” she continued. “And then everybody’s like, ‘What a statement! Wow!’”

    Lawrence famously fell at the 2013 Oscars while accepting her statue — and did it again the following year. She’s currently promoting “No Hard Feelings,” a raunchy sex comedy in which her character is hired by two worried parents to “date” their inexperienced son.

    Even with flip-flops, Lawrence stunned in a cherry red Christian Dior couture gown at Cannes.

    The star said she’s “all for making a statement,” but would prefer to do it “on purpose.”

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  • Did an Oscar Winner Premiere at Cannes?

    Did an Oscar Winner Premiere at Cannes?

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    That’s a wrap on the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, but which of its many films will we be talking about later this year and into 2024? Triangle of Sadness, Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis all went from Cannes to the Oscars last year, but it’s usually difficult to predict exactly which ones will remain in the conversation.

    The festival’s awards sometimes give us a clue—Parasite and Triangle of Sadness both won the Palme d’Or. But other years, the jury’s taste doesn’t align with the Academy’s in any way. This year’s winner —Justine Trier’s courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall — was the talk of the festival after its premiere and was swiftly acquired by Neon for release in the U.S. It’s likely Neon will give it an awards season run, and it could most likely play in the international feature category (while the film is in French, there are also scenes in English, so it would only qualify if at least 51% of the dialogue is in a foreign language). With critical acclaim and a Palme, Anatomy of a Fall will be one to keep an eye on later this year.

    But what of the rest of the films that premiered during the fest? With the awards now given out and the Palais’ glamorous red carpet wrapped up for another year, Rebecca Ford and Richard Lawson reveal six of the films they enjoyed the most — and weigh in on their chances for Oscar season. 

    The Zone of Interest

    Jonathan Glazer’s mesmerizingly grim film was one of the best reviewed, most buzzed about competition entries at the festival. (Many were surprised when it did not win the Palme, instead garnering the Grand Prix, or second place prize.) Zone of Interest will no doubt land on many top ten lists at the end of the year, and will almost certainly be well honored by various critics groups. The Oscars could be a different matter, though. While Ben Kingsley was nominated in supporting actor for Sexy Beast, Glazer’s debut feature, his more than deserving followup films, Birth and Under the Skin, didn’t get any kind of Academy attention. And yet, Zone of Interest seems, at this point anyway, to be one of the defining movies of the year, formally daring and topically urgent. We’d hope that, at the very least, the German-language film will end up in the international feature category. We could also see Glazer getting into best director, as that branch sometimes ventures further into the foreign arthouse than do most other groups within the Academy. A movie like The Zone of Interest was certainly not made to win Academy Awards, and its legacy will not suffer should it be blanked. But a new and improving Academy would do well to keep Glazer’s film in mind, a singular work of art that seized Cannes in a mighty death grip. —Richard Lawson

    Killers of the Flower Moon

    Martin Scorsese’s out of competition feature is an ambitious film that spans three and a half hours, full of incredible visuals and strong performances from Scorsese regulars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro. The film, based on David Grann’s book, chronicles the murders of Osage people in 1920 Oklahoma. DiCaprio and DeNiro play two white men who move into Osage territory hoping to glean off the wealth the Native American tribe has amassed due to the oil on their land. What’s really exciting about the film is the performance of Lily Gladstone, who plays Mollie, one of the Osage women whose family and friends are murdered. A confident and charismatic performance left me hopeful that perhaps Gladstone — known for starring in Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women — could be a part of the acting Oscar conversation along with DiCaprio and DeNiro. With the film’s long runtime, most people are able to find something to gripe about, but overall, it’s an epic tale told with Scorsese’s confident abilities. I imagine that Apple will make it a priority for awards season, where it could compete both above and below the line, along with for picture. Time will tell if it fares better than his last film The Irishman (which earned 10 nominations but zero wins), but Killers of the Flower Moon is arguably a story that feels more impactful and significant, especially for a community so rarely represented in Hollywood. —Rebecca Ford

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  • ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ wins Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or; 3rd time female director wins top honor

    ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ wins Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or; 3rd time female director wins top honor

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    Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” won the Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in a ceremony Saturday that bestowed the festival’s prestigious top prize on an engrossing, rigorously plotted French courtroom drama that puts a marriage on trial.

    “Anatomy of a Fall,” which stars Sandra Hüller as a writer trying to prove her innocence in her husband’s death, is only the third film directed by a woman to win the Palme d’Or. One of the two previous winners, Julia Ducournau, was on this year’s jury.

    Cannes’ Grand Prix, its second prize, went to Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” a chilling Martin Amis adaptation about a German family living next door to Auschwitz. Hüller also stars in that film.

    The awards were decided by a jury presided over by two-time Palme winner Ruben Östlund, the Swedish director who won the prize last year for “Triangle of Sadness.” The ceremony preceded the festival’s closing night film, the Pixar animation “Elemental.”

    Remarkably, the award for “Anatomy of a Fall” gives the indie distributor Neon its fourth straight Palme winners. Neon, which acquired the film after its premiere in Cannes, also backed “Triangle of Sadness,”Ducournau’s “Titane” and Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” which it steered to a best picture win at the Academy Awards.

    Triet was presented the Palme by Jane Fonda, who recalled coming to Cannes in 1963 when, she said, there were no female filmmakers competing “and it never even occurred to us that there was something wrong with that.” This year, a record seven out of the 21 films in competition at Cannes were directed by women.

    After a rousing standing ovation, Triet, the 44-year-old French filmmaker, spoke passionately about the protests that have roiled France this year over reforms to pension plans and the retirement age. Several protests were held during Cannes this year, but demonstrations were — as they have been in many high-profile locations throughout France — banned from the area around the Palais des Festivals. Protesters were largely relegated to the outskirts of Cannes.

    “The protests were denied and repressed in a shocking way,” said Triet, who linked that governmental influence to that in cinema. “The merchandizing of culture, defended by a liberal government, is breaking the French cultural exception.”

    “This award is dedicated to all the young women directors and all the young male directors and all those who cannot manage to shoot films today,” she added. “We must give them the space I occupied 15 years ago in a less hostile world where it was still possible to make mistakes and start again.”

    After the ceremony, Triet reflected on being the third female director to win the Palme, following Ducournau and Jane Campion (“The Piano”).

    “Things are truly changing,” she said.

    Speaking to reporters, Triet was joined by her star, Hüller, whose performance was arguably the most acclaimed of the festival. (The festival encourages juries not to give films more than one award.) But “Anatomy of a Fall” did pocket one other sought-after prize: the Palme Dog. The honor given to the best canine in the festival’s films went to the film’s border collie, Snoop.

    The jury prize went to Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” a deadpan love story about a romance that blooms in a loveless workaday Helsinki where dispatches from the war in Ukraine regularly play on the radio.

    Best actor went to veteran Japanese star Koji Yakusho, who plays a reflective, middle-aged Tokyo man who cleans toilets in Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” a gentle, quotidian character study.

    The Turkish actor Merve Dizdar took best actress for the Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “About Dry Grasses.” Ceylan’s expansive tale is set in snowy eastern Anatolia about a teacher, Samet (Deniz Celiloğlu), accused of misconduct by a young female student. Dizdar plays a friend both attracted and repelled by Samet.

    “I understand what it’s like to be a woman in this area of the country,” said Dizdar. “I would like to dedicate this prize to all the women who are fighting to exist and overcome difficulties in this world and to retrain hope.”

    Vietnamese-French director Tràn Anh Hùng took best director for “Pot-au-Feu,” a lush, foodie love story starring Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel and set in a 19th century French gourmet château.

    Best screenplay was won by Yuji Sakamoto for “Monster.” Sakamoto penned Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s nuanced drama, with shifting perspectives, about two boys struggling for acceptance in their school at home. “Monster” also won the Queer Palm, an honor bestowed by journalists for the festival’s strongest LGBTQ-themed film.

    Quentin Tarantino, who won Cannes’ top award for “Pulp Fiction,” attended the ceremony to present a tribute to filmmaker Roger Corman. Tarantino praised Corman for filling him and countless moviegoers with “unadulterated cinema pleasure.”

    “My cinema is uninhibited, full of excess and fun,” said Corman, the independent film maverick. “I feel like this what Cannes is about.”

    The festival’s Un Certain Regard section handed out its awards on Friday, giving the top prize to Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature, “How to Have Sex.”

    Saturday’s ceremony drew to close a Cannes edition that hasn’t lacked spectacle, stars or controversy.

    The biggest wattage premieres came out of competition. Martin Scorsese debuted his Osage murders epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a sprawling vision of American exploitation with Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Harrison Ford’s Indy farewell, launched with a tribute to Ford. Wes Anderson premiered “Asteroid City.”

    The festival opened on a note of controversy. “Jeanne du Barry,” a period drama co-starring Johnny Depp as Louis XV, played as the opening night film. The premiere marked Depp’s highest profile appearance since the conclusion of his explosive trial last year with ex-wife Amber Heard.

    ___

    Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

    ___

    For more coverage of this year’s festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

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  • CANNES PHOTOS: See standout moments of glamour, humor and reunion as the festival draws to a close

    CANNES PHOTOS: See standout moments of glamour, humor and reunion as the festival draws to a close

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    Carys Zeta Douglas, from left, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones pose for photographers upon arrival at the opening ceremony and the premiere of the film ‘Jeanne du Barry’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

    The Associated Press

    CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival always commands a certain amount of awe.

    The appearances by cinema royalty, the nightly parade of high fashion and the festival’s ability to launch filmmakers and films large and small onto the global stage all combine to produce an array of eye-catching moments during the 12 days of Cannes.

    As the festival draws to a close Saturday, see some of its standout moments through the lenses of photographers for The Associated Press.

    From its first day, the 76th edition demonstrated its ability to draw attention, hosting Johnny Depp’s return to cinema with the opening night film, “Jeanne du Barry.”

    While some were irked by the emphasis on Depp — who told the AP “I didn’t know what planet I was on” during his appearance for the premiere — the festival quickly turned the spotlight onto other stars.

    Michael Douglas accepted an honorary Palme d’Or and kisses from his wife and daughter at the top of the festival’s famed Palais stairs. Harrison Ford, debuting his last film as Indiana Jones, also accepted an honorary award, choking back tears after a career highlight reel was played.

    Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio reunited on the red carpet at the premiere for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” one of the festival’s most prestigious entries and a return for Scorsese to the French Riviera cinema celebration. Wes Anderson also returned, this time joined by Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and the many stars of his film “Asteroid City.”

    Six days after her father’s premiere, Lily-Rose Depp debuted her own controversial project, the HBO series “The Idol.” The younger Depp and costar The Weeknd shined on the red carpet and smiled and laughed together as photographers snapped away.

    The festival runs on its own precise rhythm, with press conferences and daytime photocalls. The French Riviera often serves as a whimsical backdrop, as when actor Tom Mercer did a handstand for photographers or “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” actor Ethann Isidore took a leap from a podium.

    Yet the biggest attention grabbers remain the flashy premieres, where fans crane for even fleeting glimpses of their heroes. Cannes is the place where stars playfully interact with the cameras and, when the films stop, awards prognostications begin as the applause helps carry movies to screens around the world.

    ___

    For more coverage of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

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  • Cannes readies presentation of the Palme d’Or, Wenders and Triet in the mix

    Cannes readies presentation of the Palme d’Or, Wenders and Triet in the mix

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    After 21 world premieres, nearly two weeks of red-carpet parades and hundreds of thousands of camera flashes, the 76th Cannes Film Festival is concluding Saturday with the presentation of its top prize, the Palme d’Or.

    One of cinema’s most sought-after awards will be decided by this year’s jury, presided over by two-time Palme winner Ruben Östlund, the Swedish director. The brief ceremony will precede the festival’s closing night film, the Pixar animation “Elemental.”

    Any of the 21 films that played in Cannes’ main competition lineup can win the Palme. Among the critical favorites of this year’s festival are Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” a chilling Martin Amis adaptation about a German family living next door to Auschwitz; “Fallen Leaves,” Finish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki’s deadpan romance; and “Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet’s twisty French Alps courtroom drama.

    Two of those — “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” — star German actor Sandra Hüller, a likely candidate for best actress.

    Triet and Hüller were among those who arrived for the closing ceremony Saturday, as was Glazer. Also seen on the red carpet — an early sign of likely winners — were “Perfect Days” director Wim Wenders and his star Koji Yakusho, and “Monster” director Hirokazu Kore-eda. Both Wenders (“Paris, Texas”) and Kore-eda (“Shoplifters”) have previously won the Palme d’Or.

    Quentin Tarantino, who won Cannes’ top award for “Pulp Fiction,” attended the ceremony to present a tribute to filmmaker Roger Corman.

    The festival’s Un Certain Regard section handed out its awards on Friday, giving the top prize to Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature, “How to Have Sex.”

    Saturday’s ceremony draws to close a Cannes edition that hasn’t lacked spectacle, stars or controversy.

    The biggest wattage premieres came out of competition. Martin Scorsese debuted his Osage murders epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a sprawling vision of American exploitation with Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Harrison Ford’s Indy farewell, launched with a tribute to Ford. Wes Anderson premiered “Asteroid City.”

    The festival opened on a note of controversy. “Jeanne du Barry,” a period drama co-starring Johnny Depp as Louis XV, played as the opening night film. The premiere marked Depp’s highest profile appearance since the conclusion of his explosive trial last year with ex-wife Amber Heard.

    The selection of “Jeanne du Barry” added to criticisms of Cannes for being too hospitable to men accused of abusive behavior.

    Cannes, which requires films in competition to abide by France’s strict theatrical windowing rules, has remained at an impasse with Netflix in recent years. Yet, intriguingly, a Netflix release could feasibly win the Palme. After Todd Haynes’ “May December,” starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, premiered in competition, Netflix acquired it for distribution in North America for a reported $11 million.

    ___

    Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

    ___

    For more coverage of this year’s festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

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  • Did you know that Neecha Nagar was first Indian film to win the grand prize at Cannes Film Festival?

    Did you know that Neecha Nagar was first Indian film to win the grand prize at Cannes Film Festival?

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    It was circa 1946 when Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar became the first Indian film to have won the Grand Prix prize at Cannes and paved the way for the country’s filmmakers to take the film to an international stage. The film was screened alongside other notable films from around the world, such as Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City (Italy), David Lean’s Brief Encounter (UK), and Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (USA).

    The film’s music was composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar and starred Uma Anand, Rafiq Ahmed, Rafi Peer and Zohra Sehgal.

    Inspired by Maxim Gorky’s play The Lower Depths, Neecha Nagar was directed by filmmaker Chetan Anand and depicted the social and economic disparities of Indian society during that era. The film presented the life of individuals living in slums and emphasised the exploitation they experienced at the hands of the elite.

    The film follows a fictional town Neecha Nagar, characterised by its downhill location and being inhabited by the lower economic class. In close proximity lies Ooncha Nagar, an uphill town where the wealthy reside. Despite their proximity, the stark differences between these two worlds are evident.

    Enter Sarkar, a cunningly named businessman symbolising the government. He devises a plan to reroute the open sewage canal, which carries the waste from Ooncha Nagar, through Neecha Nagar. As the townspeople of Neecha Nagar become aware of Sarkar’s intentions, they vehemently oppose the project. However, driven by his vested interests, Sarkar remains determined to proceed, dismissing their growing resistance.

    In an attempt to downplay the severity of the sewage canal, Sarkar manipulates public perception, claiming it to be nothing more than a stream of water with a bit of dirt. He even hires a man from Neecha Nagar to clean it, further dividing the townspeople.

    Tragically, the unhygienic living conditions in Neecha Nagar lead to an outbreak of an epidemic. Exploiting the misery he himself created, Sarkar builds a hospital, aiming to profit further from the suffering.

    The remaining part of the story focuses on how the people of Neecha Nagar overcome their personal insecurities, unite, and stand up against the powerful builder.

    Neecha Nagar Cannes Film Festival

    It is worth noting that this film was produced during the final stages of British rule when the British authorities imposed stringent rules and restrictions. Despite these challenges, the cast and crew joined forces and managed to create the film within a limited budget.

    Chetan Anand later directed films such as Haqeeqat, Heer Ranjha, Kudrat, and the critically acclaimed Doordarshan serial Param Vir Chakra, but it was Neecha Nagar that established the groundwork for his cinematic career.

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  • Cannes turns up the glamour for amfAR gala to raise money for AIDS research

    Cannes turns up the glamour for amfAR gala to raise money for AIDS research

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    ANTIBES, France — With a guestlist that boasted equal parts wealth, fame and glamour, amfAR returned to the French Riviera Thursday for its Cannes gala to raise money for AIDS research.

    Queen Latifah hosted the 29th edition with Eva Longoria, Fan Bingbing and Rebel Wilson among the stars walking the red carpet. Also in attendance were models Elsa Hosk, Heidi Klum, Coco Rocha and Winne Harlow. The gala attracts many of the top names attending the nearby Cannes Film Festival.

    Attendees arrived at the famous Hôtel Du Cap, Eden Roc where the evening started with sunset drinks and canapes looking out to a giant super yacht moored up in the bay.

    This was followed by a dinner of asparagus and truffle starter and seared salmon main course while guests enjoyed a night of performances that Gladys Knight kicked off.

    Bebe Rexha and Adam Lambert also performed.

    “I’m very honored to be singing tonight for this cause and seeing amazing people on the carpet and … beautiful fashion all in the name of raising money for HIV, AIDS, research,” Lambert said before the gala.

    Halsey closed the show.

    The auction featured an array of artwork, diamond jewels, and experiences.

    The centerpiece was a unique Aston Martin sportscar, the first of its type in the world which was auctioned off by Eva Longoria and sold for 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million).

    The engine cover is signed by F1 drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso and the car will be presented at a Grand Prix of the buyer’s choice and then delivered anywhere in the world.

    Other top lots included a pair of white gold Chopard earrings set with diamonds and emeralds sold for 275,000 euros ($295,000) and a Damien Hirst portrait of Leonardo DiCaprio reached 1.2 million euros ($1.29 million).

    DiCaprio, an amfAR regular, slipped in undetected by cameras to enjoy the entertainment, but did not come to the stage to present the winning bidder with his prize.

    The annual runway show curated by Carine Roitfeld was this year dedicated to designer Vivienne Westwood and saw a trail of top fashion models showing off a series of designs on a makeshift catwalk through the diners. ‘Jewelry and accessories are not part of this lot’ states the catalogue as the whole collection was auctioned off to the highest bidder an impressive 600,000 euros ($644,000) to the sound of Tina Turner’s “The Best.”

    Guests ended the night dancing into the early hours at the afterparty, held by the hotel’s swimming pool.

    AmfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $600 million in its programs and has awarded more than 3,500 grants to research teams worldwide.

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  • Cannes turns up the glamour for amfAR gala to raise money for AIDS research

    Cannes turns up the glamour for amfAR gala to raise money for AIDS research

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    ANTIBES, France — With a guestlist that boasted equal parts wealth, fame and glamour, amfAR returned to the French Riviera Thursday for its Cannes gala to raise money for AIDS research.

    Queen Latifah hosted the 29th edition with Eva Longoria, Fan Bingbing and Rebel Wilson among the stars walking the red carpet. Also in attendance were models Elsa Hosk, Heidi Klum, Coco Rocha and Winne Harlow. The gala attracts many of the top names attending the nearby Cannes Film Festival.

    Attendees arrived at the famous Hôtel Du Cap, Eden Roc where the evening started with sunset drinks and canapes looking out to a giant super yacht moored up in the bay.

    This was followed by a dinner of asparagus and truffle starter and seared salmon main course while guests enjoyed a night of performances that Gladys Knight kicked off.

    Bebe Rexha and Adam Lambert also performed.

    “I’m very honored to be singing tonight for this cause and seeing amazing people on the carpet and … beautiful fashion all in the name of raising money for HIV, AIDS, research,” Lambert said before the gala.

    Halsey closed the show.

    The auction featured an array of artwork, diamond jewels, and experiences.

    The centerpiece was a unique Aston Martin sportscar, the first of its type in the world which was auctioned off by Eva Longoria and sold for 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million).

    The engine cover is signed by F1 drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso and the car will be presented at a Grand Prix of the buyer’s choice and then delivered anywhere in the world.

    Other top lots included a pair of white gold Chopard earrings set with diamonds and emeralds sold for 275,000 euros ($295,000) and a Damien Hirst portrait of Leonardo DiCaprio reached 1.2 million euros ($1.29 million).

    DiCaprio, an amfAR regular, slipped in undetected by cameras to enjoy the entertainment, but did not come to the stage to present the winning bidder with his prize.

    The annual runway show curated by Carine Roitfeld was this year dedicated to designer Vivienne Westwood and saw a trail of top fashion models showing off a series of designs on a makeshift catwalk through the diners. ‘Jewelry and accessories are not part of this lot’ states the catalogue as the whole collection was auctioned off to the highest bidder an impressive 600,000 euros ($644,000) to the sound of Tina Turner’s “The Best.”

    Guests ended the night dancing into the early hours at the afterparty, held by the hotel’s swimming pool.

    AmfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $600 million in its programs and has awarded more than 3,500 grants to research teams worldwide.

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  • Wes Anderson on his new ’50s-set film ‘Asteroid City,’ AI and all those TikTok videos

    Wes Anderson on his new ’50s-set film ‘Asteroid City,’ AI and all those TikTok videos

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    CANNES, France — When Wes Anderson comes down from Paris for the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France, he and his actors don’t stay in one of Cannes’ luxury hotels but more than an hour down the coast and well outside the frenzy of the festival.

    “When we arrived here yesterday, we arrived at a calm, peaceful hotel,” Anderson said in a interview. “We’re one hour away, but it’s a total normal life.”

    Normal life can mean something different in a Wes Anderson film, and that may be doubly so in his latest, “Asteroid City.” It’s among Anderson’s most charmingly chock-full creations, a much-layered, ’50s-set fusion of science fiction, midcentury theater and about a hundred other influences ranging from Looney Tunes to “Bad Day at Black Rock.”

    “Asteroid City,” which Focus Features will release June 16, premiered Tuesday in Cannes. Anderson and his starry cast — including Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Margot Robbie, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright and Adrien Brody — arrived all together in a coach bus.

    The film, which Anderson wrote with Roman Coppola, takes place in a Southwest desert town where a group of characters, some of them nursing an unspoken grief, gather for various reasons, be it a stargazing convention or a broken-down car. But even that story is part of a Russian Doll fiction. It’s a play being performed — which, itself, is being filmed for a TV broadcast.

    All of which is to say “Asteroid City” is going to give all those Tik Tok videos made in Anderson’s distinct, diorama style fresh fodder for new social-media replicas, both human-made and AI-crafted. Anderson spoke about those Tik Toks in an interview the day before “Asteroid City” debuted in Cannes, as well as other questions of style and inspiration in “Asteroid City,” a sun-dried and melancholic work of vintage Anderson density.

    “I do feel like this might be a movie that benefits from being seen twice,” Anderson said. “Brian De Palma liked it the first time and had a much bigger reaction on the second time. But what can you say? You can’t make a movie and say, ‘I think it’s best everyone sees it twice.’”

    ___

    AP: It’s quite a treat to read in the movie’s opening credits “Jeff Goldblum as the alien,” before you even know there’s an alien. That seems to announce something.

    ANDERSON: We naturally were debating whether this is necessary in the opening credits. I said, “You know, it’s a good thing.” It’s a little foreshadowing. In our story, it’s not a expansive role. But part of what the movie is to me and to Roman, it has something to do with actors and this strange thing that they do. What does it mean when you give a performance? If somebody has probably written something and then you study it and learn and you have an interpretation. But essentially you take yourself and put it in the movie. And then you take a bunch of people taking themselves and putting themselves in the movie. They have their faces and their voices, and they’re more complex than anything than even the AI is going to come up with. The AI has to know them to invent them. They do all these emotional things that are usually a mystery to me. I usually stand back and watch and it’s always quite moving.

    AP: The alien may signal doom for the characters of “Asteroid City,” and there are atomic bomb tests in the area. Is this your version of an apocalyptic movie?

    ANDERSON: The apocalyptic stuff was all there. There probably were no aliens, but there certainly was a strong interest in them. There certainly were atom bombs going off. And there had just been I think we can say the worst war in the history of mankind. There’s a certain point where I remember saying to Roman: “I think not only is one of these men suffering some kind of post-traumatic stress that he’s totally unaware of, but he’s sharing it with his family in a way that’s going to end up with Woodstock. But also: They should all be armed. So everybody’s got a pistol.

    AP: Since maybe “Grand Budapest Hotel,” you seem to be adding more and more frames within frames for Russian doll movies of one layer after another. Your first movies, “Bottle Rocket” and “Rushmore” are starting to seem almost realistic by comparison. Do you think your films are getting more elaborate as you get older?

    ANDERSON: Ultimately, every time I make a movie, I’m just trying to figure out what I want to do and then figure out how to make it such that we do what I want. It’s usually an emotional choice and it’s usually quite mysterious to me how end up with how end up. The most improvisation aspect of making a movie to me is writing it. I have a tendency to obsess over the stage directions, which are not in the movie. With “Grand Budapest” we had multiple layers to it, and “French Dispatch” certainly had that. This one is really split in two but there’s more complex layers. We know the main movie is the play. But we also have a behind-the-scenes making of the play. We also have a guy telling us that this is a television broadcast of a hypothetical play that doesn’t actually exist. It’s not intention to make it complicated. It’s just me doing what I want.

    AP: Have you seen all the TikTok videos that have made in your style? They’re everywhere.

    ANDERSON: No, I haven’t seen it. I’ve never seen any TikTok, actually. I’ve not seen the ones related to me or the ones not related to me. And I’ve not seen any of the AI-type stuff related to me.

    AP: You could look at it as a new generation discovering your films.

    ANDERSON: The only reason I don’t look at the stuff is because it probably takes the things that I do the same again and again. We’re forced to accept when I make a movie, it’s got to be made by me. But what I will say is anytime anyone’s responding with enthusiasm to these movies I’ve made over these many years, that’s a nice, lucky thing. So I’m happy to have it. But I have a feeling I would just feel like: Gosh, is that what I’m doing? So I protect myself.

    AP: People sometimes miss in your films that the characters operating in such precise worlds are deeply flawed and comic. The ornate tableaux may be exact but the people are all imperfect.

    ANDERSON: That’s what I would aspire to, anyway. In the end, it’s a lot more important to me what it’s about. I spend a lot more time writing the movie than doing anything to do with making it. It’s the actors who are the center of it all to me. You can’t simulate them. Or maybe you can. If you look at the AI, maybe I’ll see that you can.

    AP: In “Asteroid City,” you combined an interest in really disparate ideas — the ’50s theater of Sam Shepard with the automat. How does a combination like that happen?

    ANDERSON: We had an idea that we wanted to do a ‘50s setting and it’s got these two sides. One is New York theater. There’s a picture of Paul Newman sitting with a T-shirt on and a foot on the chair in the Actors Studio. It was about that world of summer stock, behind the scenes of that, and these towns that were built and never moved into. That becomes the East Coast and the West Coat and the theater and the cinema. There’s a series of dichotomies. And one of the central things was we wanted to make a character for Jason Schwartzman that was different from what he’s done before. The things that go into making a movie, it eventually becomes too much to even pin down. So many things get added into the mix, which I like. And part of what the movie is about is what you can’t control in life. In a way, the invention of a movie is one of those things.

    ___

    Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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  • CANNES PHOTOS: Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones fever sweep Cannes on festival’s 3rd day

    CANNES PHOTOS: Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones fever sweep Cannes on festival’s 3rd day

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    Indiana Jones fever — and fervent love for its star, Harrison Ford — have swept through the Cannes Film Festival.

    Ford and his last film as the whip-cracking explorer held the spotlight Wednesday with a premiere that provided equal parts glamour and emotion. Ford walked the red carpet before the world premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” with wife Calista Flockhart before entering a packed theater with adoring fans.

    An honorary Palme d’Or awaited Ford, who was clearly emotional after a clip reel of his career highlights was played.

    “I just saw my life flash before my eyes,” he told the crowd.

    It was a noticeable shift from the festival’s early days, which were dominated by attention on Johnny Depp and his comeback.

    Actor Tom Mercier did a handstand at a photo event for the film “Le Regne animal,” surprising co-star Billie Blain and losing his phone from his back pocket while upside down.

    Hinata Hiiragi and Soya Kurokawa, child actors in the Hirokazu Kore-eda film “Monster,” beamed as they attended a similar photo call for their film.

    The festival runs through May 27.

    ___

    For more coverage of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

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  • Natalie Portman and Todd Haynes dive into the nature of performance in ‘May December’ at Cannes

    Natalie Portman and Todd Haynes dive into the nature of performance in ‘May December’ at Cannes

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    CANNES, France (AP) — In Todd Haynes’ tonally shape-shifting “May December,” the first announcement of the movie’s playful intentions comes with a theatrical zoom in, a few lushly melodramatic piano notes and the frightful announcement that there no more hot dogs in the fridge.

    That moment — which Haynes says signals “that there’s something coy happening in the language of the film” — is just a taste of what’s to come in “May December,” a delicious and disquieting drama laced with comedy and camp that Haynes premiered over the weekend at the Cannes Film Festival.

    Natalie Portman stars as an actor researching an upcoming film that’s to dramatize a scandal from 20 years earlier. She comes to Savannah, Georgia, to spend time with Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore), who years earlier become tabloid fodder for a sexual relationship with a seventh grader. Now, she’s seemingly happily married to him, Joe Yoo (Charles Melton), with kids of their own and suburban barbeques to host.

    The film, scripted by Samy Burch, takes a light but deliberate touch in navigating through thorny themes of performance and identity. As Portman’s character grows increasingly like Gracie, ethical borders begin to tumble away.

    “It was tonally such an amazing script and so rigorous,” Haynes said in an interview alongside Portman. “It kept shifting the way you felt about or trusted one character versus another. That whole process as it maneuvered through the course of the script was such a compelling experience. And I just thought: Wow, how could you translate into visually?”

    “May December,” which Netflix acquired Tuesday for a reported $11 million with plans to release later this year, is the first time Haynes (who has regularly worked with Moore) has made a movie with the 41-year-old Portman. For her, “May December” was a chance to not only work with a director she’s long admired but explore some of her own fascinations.

    “It poses a lot of the questions I’m most obsessed by about performance, about the purpose of art, about innocence,” says Portman, also a producer on the film.

    “When you explore all those layers — playing someone who’s playing someone, making a movie of a movie in a movie — there’s so many layers of artifice, and what truth we can get out of artifice — which is the kind of alchemy of what we do,” adds Portman. “We’re using lies to tell the truth, and it’s magic.”

    “May December” has some unofficial roots in reality. Gracie isn’t very different in certain ways from Mary Kay Letourneau, a Washington State schoolteacher who went to prison after a relationship with a boy in her sixth grade class.

    Questions of identity and artifice have run through Haynes’ filmography, including the sumptuous ’50s romance “Carol,” the Douglas Sirk-inspired melodrama “Far from Heaven” and his most recent film, the documentary “The Velvet Underground.” In Portman, he found an actor who shared a similar approach to film.

    “A lot of narrative filmmaking and fiction-making has an internal desire to redeem oneself through the process, to sort of affirm one’s own aims. That’s the thing that I’m not particularly interested in as a director,” says Haynes. “And I’m drawn to actors who feel similarly, who are actually interested in creating a distance between maybe their own values and ideas and those portrayed in the character.”

    He praised Portman’s eagerness to engage with “and lean into the most disquieting aspects of the character.”

    Portman has famously played some real-life figures, like Jacqueline Kennedy (“Jackie”), which required copious amounts of research. But in “May December,” she plays an actor far more reckless than herself. Yet even in a performance that could have easily slid into satire, Portman deftly inhabits her.

    “Most artists who tell stories want to hold up their ethical standpoint in the light. It can be vampiric to take human emotion and human story and capitalize on it and tell a story,” Portman says. “But hopefully the energy that you come to it with is empathy and the curiosity to explore someone’s human behavior and someone’s inner self. That it’s an act of empathy and not an act of bloodsucking.”

    There were long conversations with Haynes and Moore as they prepared to make “May December” in a 30-day shooting spring. But, unlike her character, Portman’s preparation for the part was mostly already done.

    “Well,” Portman says smiling, “I’ve spent my whole life researching how to be an actress.”

    ___

    Follow AP Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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  • What makes a standing ovation last 22 minutes at Cannes?

    What makes a standing ovation last 22 minutes at Cannes?

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    CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival is on, which means stopwatches are out.

    Nowhere are the length of standing ovations at high-wattage premieres more carefully recorded and parsed than in Cannes. Did a movie garner a triumphant eight-minute standing ovation? Or did the audience stand for a mere four or five minutes?

    How has such an unlikely metric come to reverberate around the world within minutes of a premiere? And why is everyone standing for so long? Doesn’t anyone’s hands get tired?

    Such effusive displays of enthusiasm have come to be a hallmark of Cannes and, sometimes, a bit of marketing gimmick for films looking to resonate far from the Croisette. If Cannes, the world’s largest and glitziest film festival, stands for cinematic excess, its thunderous standing ovations can seem like its greatest overindulgence. No one needs a bathroom break?

    Less widely understood, though, is how the pageantry of Cannes shapes and distorts standing ovations. When audiences rise after the credits roll in the Grand Theatre Lumière, Cannes’ biggest screen, they aren’t just standing and applauding the movie they just watched.

    Immediately after a film wraps, a cameraman swoops in and begins shooting the filmmaker and cast members, who are sitting in the middle of the theater. That video plays live on the screen for everyone inside while the camera — often very patiently — puts each prominent actor in close-up. Applause is only partly for the movie; it’s also for each star.

    When “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” recently premiered in Cannes, the camera gave Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Ethann Isidore, Harrison Ford and director James Mangold each their own moment to bask in adulation. In the end, trade publications — which have reporters inside the theater to keep time — clocked the standing ovation at five minutes. Variety pronounced it a “lukewarm” reception.

    Inflation may be such a scourge that it’s even affecting standing O’s. In most places in the world, a five-minute standing ovation would count as a dream response. In Cannes, it’s supposedly as tepid as a day-old espresso.

    Reviews for “Dial of Destiny” were, indeed, mixed. But it’s also possible that the audience — or the movie’s stars — had had enough after a 142-minute movie that was preceded by a much-cheered tribute to Ford. The next day, a visibly emotional Ford called the experience “indescribable.”

    “The warmth of this place, the sense of community, the welcome is unimaginable,” said Ford. “And it makes me feel good.”

    Much of how long a standing ovation endures relates to whether the film’s stars push it along or cater to the camera. At the premiere of Martin Scorsese’s “Flowers of the Killer Moon,” after the film’s expansive cast had gotten their close-ups, Leonardo DiCaprio and others in the film kept clapping, even when most of the auditorium had stopped. Then, Osage tribe members rallied more life into the applause with loud, celebratory whooping.

    Nine minutes was ultimately the call for “Flowers of the Killer Moon,” enough to mark a high for this year’s festival. Scorsese’s period epic draw the kind of headlines that every film wants out of Cannes. Movies don’t get second chances for a first impression, after all.

    And for those who experience such responses first-hand, it can be deeply emotional. In 2015, Todd Haynes’ luminous ’50s romance “Carol” launched in Cannes with a 10-minute standing ovation.

    “I don’t think we put on the poster that there was a 20-minute standing ovation at Cannes,” says Christine Vachon, the film’s producer. “But when it happens, and a movie is celebrated after a lot of hard work, of course it’s incredibly gratifying.”

    The longest Cannes ovation on record belongs to Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which scored a 22-minute feting, enough time to watch an episode of “Seinfeld” without the ads. Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” on its way to winning the Palme d’Or at the 2004 Cannes, was applauded for 20 minutes. Jeff Nichols’ “Mud” was cheered for 18 minutes in 2012.

    A stopwatch-breaking ovation doesn’t always translate to quality. Lee Daniels’ “The Paperboy” isn’t exactly considered a modern-day classic, but it managed a 15-minute standing O in 2012.

    Cannes has long been known for its passionate responses. Some hugely revered films, like Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” have famously been booed at the festival. But boos are more likely to be heard in the press screenings than the gala formal-attire premieres. At those, a standing ovation is more or less a matter of etiquette.

    At this year’s festival, the most star-studded films have gone over well. Haynes’ “May December,” with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, nearly matched the response to his “Carol,” with an eight-minute ovation. Karim Aïnouz’s historical drama “Firebrand,” starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law,” clocked in with the same. Vikander called the high-decibel roar of the crowd a stirring, unforgettable experience.

    “I was shivering a bit,” Vikander said. “It really gets to you.”

    ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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  • Richa Chadha on Cannes: Does ‘fashion’ overshadow the film festival? Here’s what the actress had to say

    Richa Chadha on Cannes: Does ‘fashion’ overshadow the film festival? Here’s what the actress had to say

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    Cannes Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and celebrated film festivals in the world which brings together filmmakers, actors, producers, distributors, and critics from all over the world. In the world of cinema, this annual festival is one of the biggest events in the world. It combines glitzy glamorous red carpet appearances, screening of films, networking, and award ceremonies. A lot of Bollywood celebs are making news as they are making stunning appearances at the festival. Their outfits have become the talk of the town which led many to state that Cannes has become synonymous with fashion, rather than films.

    Richa Chadha on Cannes Film Festival

    Richa Chadha has always been vocal about issues surrounding films or social problems. So, when everyone is debating if the film festivals are focusing more on the fashion game of the celebs, Richa became one of the first to voice her opinion. Taking to social media, the actress shared, “There’s a lot of chatter on social media about Cannes, Fashion, film etc. Just wanna say, don’t shit on anyone please. People are excited to be here, I notice the ones that are thanking brands/designers/ alcohol labels that are bringing their influencers here. It’s a gear venue for marketing no? Let them be. You will notice most people say they’re at the red carpet but won’t specify the film. Well, they’re not here with a film or for a film. Having said that, should you be so lucky to get to work on a film that ends up at Cannes… it’s the best feeling in the world. It’s after all a FILM FESTIVAL, no matter what anyone says. And as an artist, there’s no greater joy and contentment than a 7 min long standing ovation.”

    Take a look at Richa’s post here:

    Richa Chadha's post on Instagram

    For the unversed, Richa has earlier attended the Cannes Film Festival with her films Masaan, co-starring Vicky Kaushal, and Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur. Richa and Ali are attending Cannes this time as producers for their film ‘Girls Will Be Girls’.

    ALSO READ: Sunny Leone opens up on transition from adult entertainment to Bollywood: ‘There were death threats’

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