Larry Ratliff

A 'Tree of Life' grows in Cannes

 

Brad Pitt as a domineering Texas father in "The Tree of Life."   (Courtesy:  Fox Searchlight Pictures)

This is why we should all realize that reclusive Austin-based filmmaker Terrence Malick ("The Thin Red Line," "The New World") may never again be ready for his close-up, Mr. DeMille.

Malick's sprawling, gentle drama about creation of the universe, the afterlife and family life in 1950s Waco took the Palme d'Or (best picture) at the Cannes Film Festival Sunday night and Mr. Malick was nowhere to be seen.

Brad Pitt stars as a strict father who is especially tough on his oldest boy in "The Tree of Life."  Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain share the screen as the grown-up son and Pitt's on-screen wife, respectively.

"The Tree of Life" drew somewhat equal parts praise and catcalls from the vocal Cannes press when it was screened last week.

According to a post on the Hollywood Reporter Web site, the "press-shy Malick was not on hand at the Palais ceremony, so the award was accepted by producers Dede Gardner and Bill Pohlad."

"Later, at the closing-night dinner, Pohlad explained that Malick was back home in Austin. 'He’s very excited. He’s thrilled,' the producer said. 'He’s a good guy and just likes to be private; no insults to anybody. That’s his way,'” the Hollywood Reporter article states.

Click here to read the full story.

It should shock no one that outspoken, controversial Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier lost out as best director to Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive"), or that von Trier's doomsday sci-fi drama "Melancholia" didn't make the winner's list despite von Trier's after-the-fact apology for calling himself an Adolf Hitler sympathizer.

Kirsten Dunst did score best actress honors for her work in "Melancholia," however.

(Terrence Malick photo from some time in the past courtesy:  Hollywood.com.)

Oh heil no; Von Trier's no Cannes do

 

"Melancholia" stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, left, and Kirsten Dunst flank Lars von Trier at the Cannes press conference.   (Courtesy:  guardian.co.uk)

If you didn't know Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier before, chances are you might very soon, for all the oh-so-wrong reasons.

At a press conference for his doomsday sci-fi drama "Melancholia"at the Cannes Film Festival in the South of France on Wednesday, the director of "Dancer in the Dark," "Dogville" and "Antichrist" let it slip rather openly that he sympathizes with Adolf Hitler.

“'For a long time I thought I was a Jew and I was happy to be a Jew,' he began, 'then I  met (Danish and Jewish director) Susanne Bier and I wasn’t so happy. But then I found out I was actually a Nazi. My family were German. And that also gave me some pleasure. What can I say? I understand Hitler…I sympathize with him a bit,'” an article posted on the Hollywood Reporter Web site stated.

According to published reports, "Melancholia" co-stars Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg, who flanked von Trier at the press conference, "stared at him agog." 

There must be some funny fizz (gas, as they call it in Europe) in the bottled water in Cannes this year.  

Cannes is usually all about red carpets and starlets and men parading around in rented tuxedos.

Oh, there's always a minor controversy or two.  And, yes, I did see a beggar parade his young daughter (about 6) on a leash like a trained monkey directly across the street from the glam festivities when I was there a few years back.

Now the Cannes Film Festival is fighting back the best it can; condemning von Trier and declaring the filmmaker "persona non grata."

Click here to read the Hollywood Reporter's full story on the von Trier ban.  But be aware that a photo in the article prominently features graphic harsh profanity.

"Melancholia" will remain in competition.  If it wins anything at Sunday's closing ceremony, however, those stern French film festival taskmasters have declared that Mr. Von Trier "won't be there to receive the prize."

Now that may seem harsh, except for this:  The self-proclaimed Nazi sympathizer has already won his prize.

I believe it's called publicity in polite social circles.

Cannes Film Fest to get an opening night Woody

It's coming up on six years since I hopped up the red-carpeted steps and basked in the bright spotlight and the French Riviera sun at the Cannes Film Festival.

Frankly, I'm a little surprised they're still having it since I won't be able to get over to France to be part of the festivities this year.

I have my memories, though; scampering up the elegant steps of the Grand Théâtre Lumière as scores, possibly hundreds of photographers muttered to each other, "Relax.  He's no one, oui?"

The photogs wisely held their flash fire for Tommy Lee Jones ("The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada") and Robert Rodriguez ("Sin City"), among many others in 2005.

This year they'll be aiming at confirmed New Yorker Woody Allen and his "Midnight in Paris."

Allen's "love letter to Paris," according to festival director Thierry Fremaux, will do the opening night Cannes Cannes May 11, states a Web post from the Hollywood Reporter.

"The romantic comedy will premiere at the Lumiere theater in Cannes on the same day of its release in France.

"The romantic comedy, shot last summer in Paris, stars a Franco-American mix of talent including Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Lea Seydoux, Adrien Brody, Gad Elmaleh and France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Make no mistake about it, I should be the last person in the world to give Woody Allen advice.  But I'll just throw this out there, in case Mr. Allen (Aw, let me call you Woody) reads this blog:

When you finally get to the top of the red-carpeted steps at the Lumiere theater and either turn or glance over your shoulder at the assembled masses in tuxedos and elegant evening dresses down below, you can get an adrenalin rush you won't soon forget by mentally channeling James Cagney's shout of accomplishment in the classic 1949 gangster flick "White Heat."

"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"

(Cannes Film Fest 2005 photo courtesy:  flickr.com)

Conan the O'Brien docs in Austin

I know I wasn't, but where were you?

Sadly, other duties prevent this scribe 'o cinema from attending the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin this year.

I wish I'd been there last night, though.  Conan O'Brien added to the keep-Austin-weird motif when the late night TV talk show host showed up for the screening of "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop," Rodman Flender's documentary focusing on the loss of "The Tonight Show" on NBC and Conan's whistle-stop concert tour last year.

"'I personally have trouble watching it because it's a time in my life that I don't like to go back to,'" O'Brien told the Associated Press on the red carpet," according to a Hollywood Reporter Web post.

He added:  "'I'm happy where I am now. I don't really need to go back to it. But I made a commitment' to director Rodman Flender. (O'Brien has been friends with the helmer since they were Harvard classmates in the 1980s.)"

"'It's a swirly cone of crazy emotions,' he said. 'It was anxious, depressing but also euphoric and exciting. It was not just one emotion; it was a lot of emotion. I was confused but also really excited by new possibilities and I think you see almost every emotion in the movie. You see pretty much everything,'" the Hollywood Reporter post added.

 

The SXSW Film Conference and Festival runs through Saturday (March 19).

(Conan O'Brien photo on the SXSW red carpet courtesy:  indiewire.com.)

Cannes Film Fest '11 gets a Woody

"Start spreading the news," a story proclaims on the Hollywood Reporter Web site, Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" will open the 64th Festival de Cannes in the South of France on May 11.

"The romantic comedy will premiere at the Lumiere theater in Cannes on the same day of its release in France," the article adds.

Shot last summer in Paris, "Midnight in Paris" stars a Franco-American mix of talent including Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Lea Seydoux, Adrien Brody, Gad Elmaleh and France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy," sez the Hollywood Reporter article.

Festival director Thierry Fremaux makes no secret of his appreciation of Allen's 41st feature film.

"'Midnight in Paris' is a wonderful love letter to Paris," Fremaux said, adding:

"It's a film in which Woody Allen takes a deeper look at the issues raised in his last films: our relationship with history, art, pleasure and life."

(Woody Allen photo at a "Cassandra's Dream" event in 2007 courtesy:  WireImage.com)

You can sort of go to Sundance ... really

 

Fans outside Park City's Eccles Theater for last year's "Cyrus" screening.   (Courtesy:  Sundance.org)

If you're a film critic or a serious movie fan, there's nothing quite like stomping around in the snow at the Sundance Film Festival.

Ironically, there's very little parking in Park City, Utah, where every year about this time the cinematic universe rolls out upcoming edginess.  One of my fondest film critic memories (so far -- so far) is catching the premiere of the quirky Irish movie "Once" quite by accident at Sundance in 2007.

Glen Hansard (of the Frames) and Czech pianist Marketa Irglova, who co-star and fell in love in real life, were in attendance.  After the lights came up, the duo -- with romantic sparks beaming from their eyes -- sat on the edge of the stage at a downtown theater and sang a couple of tunes from the film. 

The duo also recreated the moment in a Sundance Video:

  

A little while later, as I was jammed into one of the free shuttle buses kicking up frozen slush rushing to another screening, I overheard a young woman on her cell phone.  She had witnessed the same spontanious magical moment I had. She was calling everyone she knew to share the news.

If you can't get to Sundance this year (like me), here's the next best thing:

Sundance, which kicks off Thursday (Jan. 20) and runs through Jan. 30, is expanding its on-line offerings this year.  According to an article posted on the Hollywood Reporter Web site, even key events will be sent across the digital universe.

"Web coverage will include live video of major events, such as press conferences, Q&As, and screenings, plus new on-demand content, such as interviews with artists and filmmakers, daily video highlights, roundtable discussions and more.

"Among the live streaming offers will be the screening of the film 'A Day in the Life,' the article states.

Click here for the live streaming schedule.

Sounds like fun, and you don't even have to stomp the snow off your boots when you come back inside the house.   

'127 Hours' a cut above Toronto fest norm

Danny Boyle, left, and James Franco on location for "127 Hours" in Utah. 

(Courtesy:  Fox Searchlight)

Things I like and dislike about not attending the Toronto Film Festival this year:

Likes:

I got to actually be in town for my wife Suellen's birthday.  It falls in Toronto Film Fest primetime.  So it's a delightful rarity to actually be in town for a change.

Dislikes:

Not attending the Toronto Film Festival.

Not attending the Toronto Film Festival.

Not attending the Toronto Film Festival.

Those in attendance this year, including colleague Chris Vognar of the Dallas Morning News (read his Twitter reports at @chrisvognar), have witnessed the usual array of interesting films -- both mainstream and eclectic -- and weirdness.

First, there was this year's movie theater bedbug scare, which was reportedly dealt with (an erroneous report, we're told) and dismissed before the press arrived and lines formed around the block.

That brings us to the screening the other night of "127 Hours," Danny Boyle's follow-up film to "Slumdog Millionaire," which swept the Academy Awards last year.

"127 Hours," the based-on-truth saga of Aron Ralston, the outdoorsman forced to amputate his own arm to survive after it was wedged in by a boulder after a fall while Ralston was hiking in Utah.

James Franco ("Eat Pray Love") portrays Ralston.  According to a report posted on the Entertainment Weekly Popwatch Web site, some of the members of the audience got serious fidgets when "127 Hours" rolled around to, you know, The Scene.

"The film is an intense, graphic, and (at around 90 minutes) compact experience that had plenty of viewers peeking at the screen through parted fingers. The climactic amputation scene in particular drew a a few muffled yelps from moviegoers who broke out in applause when the limb was finally severed," the Web post states.

Click here to read the entire report.

The good news is that we have until early November to prepare ourselves. 

  

Joaquin Phoenix -- 'Here' here, but a hoax?

Oscar-nominated actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix in "I'm Still Here."

(Courtesy:  Magnolia Pictures)

With the possible exception of Al Gore's global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and last fall's post-Michael Jackson-death concert tour rehearsal doc "This Is It," I can't think of any so-called nonfiction film generating buzz like "I'm Still Here."

You may not be familiar with the title just yet.  But I bet you're heard of the documentary that chronicles the turn away from acting to -- are you ready? -- a career as a hip-hop singer for two-time Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix ("Gladiator," "Walk the Line").

Hoax or no hoax?  That's the question.

Casey Affleck, Phoenix's brother-in-law and director of "I'm Still Here," swore after the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Monday that there's nothing fishy going on, according to an article posted on the Hollywood Reporter Web site.

"'I can tell you that there is no hoax. That never even entered into my consciousness until other people began to talk about the movie,' Affleck told reporters at a briefing after the film's screening where he was asked repeatedly about whether certain scenes -- and the movie in general -- were genuine.

"But he conceded that audiences were likely to be confused."

As for Phoenix, who walked and warbled the line as the late Johnny Cash opposite Reese Witherspoon's June Carter Cash in 2005, he showed up in Venice "clean shaved and smartly dressed," although Phoenix didn't walk the red carpet gauntlet, according to the Hollywood Reporter story.  (Click here to read it in its entirety.)

Insomniacs and David Letterman fans who witnessed Phoenix mumble his way through an appearance last year on the CBS "Late Show with David Letterman" might be hard pressed to be convinced a hoax isn't on.

Stay tuned.  I'm seeing a screening of "I'm Still Here" today.

And I must confess, the pre-opening hype has lured me into a want-to-see near frenzy.

Unless that's a hoax, of course. 

Wait almost over for 2 of Oscar's leading ladies

 
Gabourney Sidibe, a newcomer, might just land an Oscar nomination as Claireece "Precious" Jones.  (Lionsgate)

Remember this name -- Gabourey Sidibe -- and a date; Nov. 13.

The excruciatingly real survival drama "Precious:  Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" opens on the 13th.

Once you see newcomer Sidibe as a severely abused (physically, emotionally) Harlem 16-year-old who refuses to let the worst circumstances imaginable define her, you won't need any convincing that this year's Academy Award race is out of the gates.

 

Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart

(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Also, look for amazing actress Hilary Swank to be back in the running for Oscar's golden statuette as legendary aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart in "Amelia."  Swank's an Academy Award perennial, having won Best Actress honors twice before.

Her first win came as cross-dresser Brandon Teena in the 1999 drama "Boys Don't Cry."  Swank took home her second Best Actress Oscar as determined boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in "Million Dollar Baby," director/actor Clint Eastwood's Best Picture winner of 2005.

"Amelia," directed by Mira Nair ("Vanity Fair") opens Friday (Oct. 23).  Swank teams with Richard Gere (as publishing magnate George P. Putnam) and Ewan McGregor, who portrays Earhart's longtime friend and lover Gene Vidal.

In "Precious," Sidibe commands the screen as Claireece "Precious" Jones, a Harlem teen who fantasizes about a better life as real-life horrors challenge her very existence.  Directed by Lee Daniels ("Shadowboxer"), "Precious" is the only film ever to win the Audience Award at both the Sundance and Toronto film festivals.

Oscar season is just heating up, of course.  There's no guarantee that either of these actresses will draw a Best Actress nod.

If you love movies, though, and appreciate the fine art of fine acting, let this serve as a head's up to check out two very strong -- and very different -- excellent performances.

Tarantino going for the triple 'Kill'

 
Uma Thurman might return as "The Bride" 10 years down the road in a third "Kill Bill" film. 

(Miramax Films)

It's more or less official.  Writer-director Quentin Tarantino is returning to the "Kill Bill" franchise one more time.

According to an article by James Young posted on the Variety Web site, Tarantino confirmed he was returning for more "Kill Bill" action Saturday in Morelia, Mex., where he was attending Morelia Film Festival.

 

It's two "Kill Bill" actioners down and probably at least one more to go for Quentin Tarantino.

(Courtesy:  WireImage.com)

"There to promote 'Inglourious Basterds' -- the festival opener -- the filmmaker said he wanted to give Uma Thurman's central character and her daughter Beebe 10 years of peace before the next bloody installment, which would push the project to 2014," the article said. 

Tarantino faced the attending press alongside old film-making pal Eli Roth, who co-stars in "Inglourious Basterds."

Since he isn't planning to get to "Bill" again until 2014, Tarantino is apparently exploring which genre he'll put his signature stamp on in between.  He's "wide open," according to Young's report:

"Tarantino added that he would like to do a 're-imagining' of a number of genres including a Western or a 1920s to '30s 'Pretty Boy Floyd' type gangster movie."

How about this for a working title:  "Kill, Kill, Kill Pretty Boy"?