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Review: Stones in Exile

Joe Leydon — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:20:53 +0000

Stones in Exile Every so often someone special turns up in Cannes. Someone who isn’t usually there. Someone like Mick Jagger . The crowds on the Croisette lost their minds as the rubber-lipped Rolling Stones frontman arrived to introduce a screening of documentary, Stones In Exile. Splicing together intimate photos, home-video footage and outtakes from Robert Frank’s unreleased doc Cocksucker Blues, it tells the story of the band’s ‘70s exodus from Britain to the south of France, where they holed up in a crumbling mansion to

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Review: Stones in Exile

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Review: Fair Game

Moving Pictures - MP News blog — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:09:18 +0000

Naomi Watts and Sean Penn 3 stars Easy to forget that it was director Doug Liman who invented the Bourne franchise’s shaky-cam success story, before Paul Greengrass took the sequels and the credit. Since then, the former US indie stylist has made just two movies: dumb-fun shoot-‘em-up Mr And Mrs Smith and appalling action-thriller Jumper . A surprise contender at this year’s Cannes, Liman finally gets serious again with political potboiler Fair Game , which plays a little like The Bourne

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Review: Fair Game

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Premiere: Poetry

Helen Cowley — Thu, 20 May 2010 08:48:07 +0000

Producer Jun-Dong Lee, actor David Lee, actress Jeong-hee Yoon and director Chang-Dong Lee Last night saw the premiere of Chang-dong Lee’s latest film, Poetry . The South Korean director was nominated for the Palme d’Or in 2007 for his film Milyang . Poetry tells the story of Mija, who lives with her grandson in a small suburban city along the Han River. By chance she takes a ‘poetry’ class at a neighborhood cultural center and is challenged to write a poem for the first time in her life. Her quest for poetic inspiration begins with observing the everyday life, and with this, Mija has a newfound trepidation as if she were discovering things for the first time in her life. But when she is suddenly faced with a reality harsh beyond her imagination, she realises perhaps life is not as beautiful as she had thought it is… See photos from the premiere below… Elizabeth Banks Billy Zane and guest The makers and stars of Carlos Actress Clotilde Courau

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Review: Two Gates of Sleep by Alistair Banks Griffin

PIPER — Wed, 19 May 2010 13:47:09 +0000

Countdown to Zero 2 1/2 STARS Apart from Greg Araki’s brilliant “bi-sexual Twin Peaks” Kaboom , there aren’t many US indies at this year’s Cannes. Two Gates Of Sleep was one of the most anticipated. Just 80 minutes long, this arthouse mood-drama unfolds mostly wordlessly – actor David Call told us later that he has about eight lines of dialogue – as it follows two brothers (Call and Funny Games US star Brady Corbet) who live in the remote woods of the Deep South. Turns out, Brit-born debut director Alistair Banks Griffin doesn’t want to be the new Greg Araki. Attempting to conjure a gruelling metaphysically odyssey, he ditches story for images as the agonised brothers must drag a loaded coffin through muddy rivers and thick forests to its final resting place. Lensing is hugely evocative and each long take is edited for impact, while Corbet and Call provide their own gravitational pull. It’s not enough to stop Two Gates Of Sleep coming dangerously close to hitting the snooze button. But even if he fails to hypnotise, you have to admire Griffin’s efforts. Aside from Gus Van Sant, there are few filmmakers in America making cinema like this today. It’ll be fascinating to see how his obvious talents develop.

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Review: Two Gates of Sleep by Alistair Banks Griffin

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Review: Countdown To Zero by Lucy Walker

Gabriel — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:07:19 +0000

Countdown to Zero 2 1/2 STARS Something’s bugging Pulp Fiction producer Lawrence Bender. A bug, in fact. It’s flown into his eye and stayed there. Wearing giant black sunglasses and wincing occasionally, Bender chatted to LOVEFiLM about his new documentary Countdown To Zero before heading off to the opticians to get de-bugged. Plenty here to make everyone grimace, mind. Follow his success with Oscar-winning eco-yawp An Inconvenient Truth, Bender’s new doc focuses on nuclear weapons and the looming threat of planet-scorching war. In short? We’re all going to die. That’s the message that gets repeatedly drummed into our aching skulls as Countdown

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Review: Countdown To Zero by Lucy Walker

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Premiere: Blue Valentine

Helen Cowley — Wed, 19 May 2010 09:14:04 +0000

Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling Although Blue Valentine is an emotionally grueling journey, the stars and makers of the film were all smiles last night as it received it’s Cannes premiere. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were joined on the red carpet by their young co-star Faith Wladyka, who plays their daughter in the film, as well as the producers. The Weinstein Company – Harvey Weinstein’s distribution company – picked up Blue Valentine when it showed at Sundance earlier this year. The film chronicles a marriage between Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams), told in flashback. Read our review here and see images of the premiere below… Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling and Faith Wladyka Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling Alex Orlovsky, Derek Cianfrance, Jamie Patricof, Faith Wladyka, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams and Lynette Howell Rachel Bilson

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Premiere: Blue Valentine

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Review: Blue Valentine by Derek Cianfrance

The Know Nothing Know It All — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:34:45 +0000

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams 3 STARS Having had our hearts pulverised by Tuesday,

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Review: Blue Valentine by Derek Cianfrance

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Juliette Binoche Steps Out for Copie Conforme Photo Call

Helen Cowley — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:51:47 +0000

Abbas Kiarostami’s Copie Conforme , starring Juliette Binoche and William Shimell, sits In Competition at this year’s Festival. Set in Southern Tuscany, Kiarostami’s film surrounds a chance meeting between a French woman and a British author. Binoche, Shimell and Kiarostami stepped out in the sunshine this afternoon to stop for snaps. Juliette Binoche Abbas Kiarostami, Juliette Binoche, William Shimell

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Juliette Binoche Steps Out for Copie Conforme Photo Call

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Biutiful Premiere

Helen Cowley — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:23:18 +0000

After watching Javier Bardem give a poignant performance in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s (Babel) Biutiful, we hot-footed down to the premiere of the film, at the Palais des Festivals. Dazzling on

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Biutiful Premiere

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Review: Tamara Drewe by Stephen Frears

Helen Cowley — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:51:13 +0000

Gemma Arterton 3 STARS After the endurance test that was Biutiful , it’s refreshing to watch something a little light-hearted and Tamara Drewe was just the ticket. Directed by Stephen Frears and adapted from Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel, 25-year-old journalist Tamara Drewe ( Gemma Arterton ) returns to her family home after the death of her mother to cause all sorts of trouble in the village. It went down well with a responsive Cannes audience. With its observational humour, Frears draws rounded characters from the source material and retains very British sensibilities. Arterton has fun as the mischievous mink that is Drewe, enjoying ruffling the feathers of the middle-class neighbours as she saunters around in tiny denim shorts and catches the attention of more than one male roving eye. The cast is strong, with Tamsin Greig as the un-appreciated wife of star crime writer Nicholas (Roger Allem), being particularly strong. It has enough laughs to keep your attention throughout, with Frears ramping up the comedy at the end. Showing out of competition here, it will receive a warm welcome when it premieres later this week.

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Review: Tamara Drewe by Stephen Frears