Cannes 2016

[spectre]

I suppose most people here are already aware of Fandor, but this will be my homepage for the next fortnight:

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/tag/cannes_2016" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Trees]

Every circus needs an audience.

[yoshimori]

The Puiu was no Lazarescu, but it was, for me, engaging for its three hours. The press screening audience's frustration with the running time was highlighted by laughter mixed with applause when a priest, over two hours into the film, takes an early leave by quoting Hamlet -- "Brevity is the soul of wit". B

The Allen was so-so late period (i.e. totally unremarkable) Allen. C
The Bellocchio (Director's Fortnight opener) was energetic, but relatively superficial. B
The Guiraudie was moment-to-moment entertaining, but never really interesting. B-
The Ade was a bit of a surprise. Way too long ... but funny. Like that scene from The Idiots in which the pseudo-retard follows the ad exec to work, spun out over 162 minutes. B+
The Loach was well-meaning but poorly executed. Enough already. C-
The Dumont was embarrassing. I love Humanity, Quinquin, and most of the rest, but this one is not funny at all, trading on junior-high ironies and caricatures. So sad. D

Park and Arnold tomorrow.

Best place to see what the consensus critical reaction really is -- as opposed to extrapolating from two or three particular, possibly outlying reviews -- can be had at this handy site. It updates every day as more and more reviews are compiled.

[hearthesilence]

The press on Spielberg's BFG has been mildly positive, but Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann is getting very good to ecstatic reviews.

“I think ['Toni Erdmann'] just pre-empted ‘The BFG,’” another critic opined as we filed out of the screening. She was right…

[Brood_Star]

Best place to see what the consensus critical reaction really is -- as opposed to extrapolating from two or three particular, possibly outlying reviews -- can be had at this handy site. It updates every day as more and more reviews are compiled.

I'd just like to say I always enjoy reading your Cannes excerpts.

As for the aggregate, it seems this year it includes all the letterboxd ratings. Which makes it less useful for certain things. I like following the micropsia poll as it's what I align with the most, and I'm glad to see Maren Ade getting nothing but praise from everyone. Out-of-comp screenings I'm looking forward to hearing about are Oliver Laxe's Mimosas (the filming of which was featured in Ben Rivers' The Sky Trembles...) and Alessandro Comodin's Happy Times Will Come Soon, both which have favorable early reviews. And of course, Serra.

[yoshimori]

Thanks for the micropsia link. I didn't know about that site ... and it aligns with my feelings, like yours, about these films, rankwise, a bit more than the one I linked to, though I'd probably bring all the scores down a notch or two.

Bad news:

The Arnold, though energetic and brilliant in moments, is incredibly tedious. Ungradable (since I love her work so much)

On the other hand:

The Jarmusch is his best film in ages. Awesome poetry; Driver and his co-star (and their dog) are great; graphics aren't up to Dead Man or Mystery Train standards, but are relatively rigorous. Perhaps his best script. A-

Also:

The Fukada is interesting. A love triangle that morphs into something much stranger, as if Jarmusch did Sono. B
The Garcia is horrid. This year's James Gray. F
The Romanian first film in UCR was meh. Lots of art-film tropes, but a lame lead, nothing to hold my interest. D
The American first film in UCR, O'Shea's The Transfiguration, had some interesting ideas -- a loner black kid identifies a bit too much with vampires -- but was too flaccid to get excited about. C
Couldn't get through the Serebrennikov (UCR). Hard for me to take Russians yelling at each other for extended periods.

[Dead or Deader]

Sony Pictures Classics have required Toni Erdmann for North American distribution

[nosy lena]

The Garcia is horrid. This year's James Gray. F

=;

[beamish13]

Michael Dudok de Wit's The Red Turtle is unquestionably the Cannes debut that I'm most excited about this year

[doh286]

Strand Releasing has acquired the North American rights for Alain Guiraudie's Staying Vertical.

[doh286]

Sony Pictures Classics have required Toni Erdmann for North American distribution

Sony Pictures Classics also acquired rights to Paul Verhoven's Elle.

[FrauBlucher]

Personal Shopper joins the got booed club.

[yoshimori]

Since last post:

Park, Handmaiden: seems to want to be de Sade, but neither perverted nor smart enough. C-
Nichols, Loving: workmanlike message movie. C+
Mackenzie, Hell or High Water: from Sicario screenwriter; Jeff Bridges as Tommy Lee Jones; works fine; nothing special. B-
Assayas, Personal Shopper: Kristen Stewart as an irritable celebrity’s personal assistant whose twin brother, with whom she shares a heart defect, has recently died of a heart attack. And oh, he (the dead twin) is haunting this huge Parisian mansion he somehow could afford to buy. And oh, he was, before he died, a “medium”. And oh, Kristen Stewart’s character, she too is a medium! And oh! She’s also being stalked by someone who may have murdered her boss! Lots of unintended laughs and well-deserved boos in the press screening. F
Mendonça Filho, Aquarius: none of the "experimental" style of Neighboring Sounds; pretty generic woman against the corporate structure movie. C
Coulins, Stopover. Boring war-is-hell flic. C-
Mendoza, Ma' Rosa: more or less more of the same from Mendoza. C-
Dardennes, La filles inconnu: thriller drained of all thrills; interesting idea that few, including me, thought worked. C+
Na, The Wailing: 156 minutes of bumbling cops, Korean shamanism v catholicism, those evil Japs, ghosts, zombies; everything's in there but there's nothing to really hang onto. C+

So, so far, the good films according to the rurban critical summary linked above are (in order): Ade, Jarmsuch, Puiu, Francisco Sanctis' Long Night (UCR, unseen par moi)
According to the micropsia critical summary linked above (in order): Puiu, Ade, Jarmusch, Mendoca Filho, Guiraudie
For me (in order): Jarmusch, Ade, Fukada

Only Dolan, Serra, Refn, Mungiu, Farhadi, Verhoeven left.

[nosy lena]

Personal Shopper joins the got booed club.

hmm, Indiewire going with

"Kristen Stewart's Personal Shopper received a four-minute standing ovation last night"

[hearthesilence]

Since last post:
Assayas, Personal Shopper: Kristen Stewart as an irritable celebrity’s personal assistant whose twin brother, with whom she shares a heart defect, has recently died of a heart attack. And oh, he (the dead twin) is haunting this huge Parisian mansion he somehow could afford to buy. And oh, he was, before he died, a “medium”. And oh, Kristen Stewart’s character, she too is a medium! And oh! She’s also being stalked by someone who may have murdered her boss! Lots of unintended laughs and well-deserved boos in the press screening. F
Dardennes, La filles inconnu: thriller drained of all thrills; interesting idea that few, including me, thought worked. C+
Only Dolan, Serra, Refn, Mungiu, Farhadi, Verhoeven left.

Feels like everything went off the rails after the flood of dismissals from yesterday and this morning. I was looking forward to the ones by Assayas and especially the Dardennes - on the one hand, it's nice they were stepping into new territory, but it's disappointing to hear that they may have completely stumbled in the process.

[tenia]

So much for the "All Star" selection.

[Trees]

Damn, yoshimori, you have been busy. Thanks for these scores. Sounds like Assayas failed, bigtime.

I was going to try to see Red Turtle today, but wimped out because I figured the line would be too long. On the bright side, I got a ticket for NEON DEMON, so that should be a good way to close out Cannes.

[Kirkinson]

Personal Shopper joins the got booed club.

hmm, Indiewire going with

"Kristen Stewart's Personal Shopper received a four-minute standing ovation last night"

Two different screenings. It was booed at the Monday night critics screening, then got a standing ovation at its Tuesday night premiere.

[yoshimori]

Kirkinson's right. And EVERY movie gets a standing o at its fancy-dress premiere in the Lumiere, in front of the cast and crew.

[Finch]

Sad to see the mixed reactions to the new Dardennes, could end up being the biggest disappointment of this year given how the brothers almost always knocked them out of the park up till now. I think the boos for the Assayas may be more a reflection of the high expectations many people presumably had for the film and the esteem Assayas is held in. Not to mention that the film has some very vocal defenders. (Have to say that I find booing a film a very childish thing to do, even if you absolutely hate it) The Garcia on the other hand sounds like a real stinker. The Fukada sounds fascinating, hope someone picks it up for the US or UK.

Can't wait to see the new Jarmusch. Really hoping for positive reactions to the Verhoeven especially and the Farhadi.

[hearthesilence]

Agree about the booing, unless it's in response to someone doing something reprehensibly offensive, I can't defend it.

[Brood_Star]

Amazingly negative reception for the Dolan film. Give me life.

[tenia]

the esteem Assayas is held in.

Depends where. I know some French critics who view him as highly over-estimated. They're also quite happy both the Dardennes and Dolan (especially Dolan) are being received rather negatively too.

[Zot!]

Agree about the booing, unless it's in response to someone doing something reprehensibly offensive, I can't defend it.

I assume you have not been to France, and witnessed their seething misanthropy and strongly worded opinions. It's a welcome respite from the usual Molly coddling, and adds to the charm of Cannes.

[FrauBlucher]

Sounds charming.