Samurai Gourmet(2017-) Season 1 - 12 episodes (2017)
Watch Samurai Gourmet on Netflix Created by: Masayuki Qusumi (original manga) Starring: Honami Suzuki , Naoto Takenaka , Tetsuji Tamayama Rated: R
Plot This live action Japanese language series is based on the mange of the same title. Takeshi Kasumi, now retired, realizes he can eat and drink what he wants when he wants. This awakens the persona of a samurai living in the age of Japan's civil wars. He begins wandering Japan searching for food to satisfy his inner samurai soul.
Verdict This will not be for everyone. While it's an interesting concept, it's more concept than series. The episodes are only twenty minutes long, and while they are easy to watch they feel a bit like a short in style and production values. Each episode provides Kasumi enough time to consume a meal, debate in his head how strange yet freeing retirement is, and then imagining how a samurai would behave in the same situation. I like the concept, but after two episodes, there just isn't much there. Skip it.
Review I watched the first two episodes. This starts off kind of cheesy. Kasumi is newly retired, and forgets. He begins to dress for the office before realizing, he's no longer a corporate man. He now has the chance to go anywhere and eat anything. No longer is he restricted from having a beer in the middle of the day.
One day for lunch he finds a new diner. He never had time to wander before. He debates what to have, before deciding to have a beer. This show is very much in his head with a voice over of his thoughts. Kasumi begins an internal role play, imagining how a samurai would behave, nonchalantly taking a beer and demanding more.
Now that he's retired Kasumi will visit various diners, experiencing new food and imagining what his samurai persona would do. I didn't like the second episode as much. Kasumi debates on what he should say to his waitress or isn't providing the best of service. Then he imagines what a samurai would do. It looks like this series will have Kasumi become more honest, adventurous, and assertive as he adopts his samurai persona.
In this forty-minute early April Fools' joke clip, Will Arnett narrates what it's like to be in the Netflix office. It's mundane. He narrates a copy machine, meetings, emails, and a burrito heating in a microwave. Barb from Stranger Things and Adam Sandler also show up. It's only available until April 1, so watch this oddly mesmerizing show while you still can.
Well, this is an interesting development and it may delineate a somewhat troubled Warner Bros past with DC, and a new dawn of justice for the DC universe (you see what I did there?).
Joss Whedon is jumping from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to DC with the first ever BATGIRL tentpole.Whedon will write, produce and direct the movie which bodes extremely well for its likely success.
I'm at Cinemacon where DC showed off clips from WONDER WOMAN, AQUAMAN (concept art) and JUSTICE LEAGUE and I can't help but think that BATGIRL could be a carnivorous property, diluting the BATMAN brand. Personally, I've never enjoyed these spinoffs in the comics either - Marvel or DC. It just seems to be uncreative.
Enter Whedon. If anyone can change my mind it's him. He obviously has got some sort of concept in mind that will blow our socks off, so I am officially intrigued.
No other word on others being attached. More when I get it!
Grace and Frankie(2015-) Season 3 - 13 episodes (2017)
Watch Grace and Frankie Season 3 on Netflix Created by: Marta Kauffman, Howard J. Morris Starring: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston, June Dian Raphael Rating: TV-MA Plot Grace and Frankie become friends when they discover their husbands aren't just business partners, they're romantically involved.
Verdict If you wants a more traditional sitcom, this would be it. It bounces between drama and comedy, though both are rather subdued. It's a look at friendship and love when you're over the hill. It's funny in the sense that, boy getting old sure stinks, but it also looks at love and life at that age. It's the small moments that work best. With this season, Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) are trying to start a business. Robert (Martin Sheen) and Sol (Sam Waterston) are a new couple in their twilight years. This season dispenses with their unnecessary drama and lets them evolve as a couple. While I'm sure there is a segment that enjoys this show, I'm not a part of it. I can appreciate what it's trying to do. Skip it.
Review I could pretty much copy and past my review from season 2 here, though this season is better. It's more focused, which included a lot of heavy handed drama with main characters rotating love interests. That didn't work in season two, and thankfully it's completely gone this season.
Grace and Frankie have to confront their age. They are old whether they want to admit it or not. That age doesn't manifest as experience, but a risk for investors who are concerned they won't be around long enough to develop their sexual toy business they're trying to launch.
The second episode throws a few jabs at millennials who make nothing and just disrupt. They don't fund the business. Frankie finally gets capital from Brianna (June Diane Rapheal), though they both know Grace won't accept it. She doesn't want to admit that she needs help. Frankie tells Grace Jacob (Ernie Hudson) fronted them the money. When both Frankie and Grace's backs go out, Grace has to admit, sometimes she does need help. Their product alone is difficult to market, as many women don't want to admit to using it
The drama this season is between the kids. Bud is tired of his forever roommate Coyote, and Mallory is upset that Brianna hates her kids. The kind of drama in small doses works.
Episode four touches upon the security or lack of safety senior citizens face. While the episode treats the subject glibly, it has to be a concern for people that are Grace and Frankie's age. They can't overpower anyone.
Robert is considering retirement, tired of being a lawyer. Robert and Sol's relationship really is the sweetest one. They're starting over in one sense while nearing the close of their careers. It brings up questions of who they are and what they want to do. For decades they had to hide who they were and how the felt.
Robert auditions for theater, though the jokes about gay theater seemed cheap. I never get the feeling this show has a handle on the comedy. It's at it's best when both families are together, but it's more poignant observations about maturation that outright funny.
At the midpoint both couples are fighting. Frankie is mad about Grace's gun, and Robert is mad that Sol outed him as a former straight man to the theater group. It's these small moments that make the relationships feel real. These plot point are what drive the rest of the season.
Plot The fourth of Marvel's comic book based shows that will lead into The Defenders mini-series, combining all four leads. Finn Jones (Ser Loras Tyrell on Game of Thrones) stars as Danny Rand, the Iron Fist, who returns to New York after being presumed dead in a plane crash fifteen years ago.
Verdict This isn't bad, it's just a very banal super hero tale. Danny Rand punches really well and he knows martial arts. The other Marvel/Netflix series had a bit more depth and interest. Luke Cage was a black man that could wear a hoody only because he was bullet proof. Jessica Jones was a reluctant female super hero who decided to be an investigator in a male dominated profession. Daredevil brought cinematic fight choreography to a series, while walking the line between justice as a lawyer and a vigilante. Iron Fist is a collection of the usual super hero tropes that doesn't try to be anything more. It's twists are apparent episodes ahead of time. Rand is easily the most bland character of The Defenders. He wants to save the world. He's nice, but boring. Colleen Wing is far more interesting, but relegated to sidekick status. Danny Rand is that goody two shoes that doesn't get invited to birthday parties because he isn't any fun. It depends.
Review Iron Fist, along with Daredevil (read my season 2 review), Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage (read my season 1 review) is the lead in to The Defenders, a mini-series coming out later in 2017 that combines the lead characters. Sigourney Weaver will be the villain in the mini-series.
Iron Fist a story that feels as derivative as any super hero tale. Danny Rand sure can punch. Though, he can't activate that power any time he wants, he has to recharge his chi. The whole story feels like someone read a synopsis on martial arts and then quickly adapted it to a super hero tale. Typical martial arts terms are thrown around, but they never feel grounded. It would be far more interesting if the twist was that Danny Rand didn't study with monks, and that his whole persona was a sham. He wanted to do good, but felt like he needed a cover. At least that way he'd have more depth. His only struggle is to prove who he is. That and he wants to rid New York of the Hand because it's a proverb or he has nothing better to do... I forget. Rand always wants to help people and that's just boring. There's never any question as to whether he should or whether he will do the right thing. That's different from the other three marvel series. Sometimes doing the right thing differs from short term or long term.
Danny Rand is back in New York after having been declared dead for fifteen years. One of the best parts is Danny listening to Outkast So Fresh, So Clean as he strolls through New York shoeless and disheveled. Danny doesn't wear shoes because he's so eccentric. The show draws water from that long after the well is dry. He goes to Rand Enterprises and is stunned when no one believes who he is. He demands to see his father's business partner Harold Meachum, but Harold is dead... or is he?
The show dangles the mystery of where Danny has been for far too long. It so quickly sets up his childhood tormentor Ward Meachum as an enemy that I knew there was somebody pulling his strings. There is! And there is somebody pulling the strings of the strings too. More than a few times the show needs to move the plot along quickly and does it in the most hamfisted way possible. In the first episode, Danny is staying the night at the park. A homeless guy gives him a cell phone, explains how Google works and nearly tells Danny to Google himself and figure out what happened so that the show can continue. It's less than subtle. It's funny, but for all the wrong reasons.
While Joy Meachum is more sympathetic to Danny, Ward forces her to follow his lead. They commit Danny to a mental ward. I didn't understand why Danny didn't fight his way out. Through the power of M&M chocolate candies, Joy believes that Danny really is who he says he is.
Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) street fights to raise money for her dojo and decides to help Danny for no real reason. Claire (Rosario Dawson) enters the picture just to tie the universe together and tell Danny what he needs to do. This kid would be lost without people telling him what to do. Danny gets his percentage of the company and quickly messes things up in the name of trying to help people. He wants to save people by selling drugs at cost, but no one explains to him that you need to make a profit to research future life saving drugs. They just tell him, don't do that, it's bad business. Danny doesn't understand business. That conflict could have been solved much easier. Danny for the most part has the mindset of a fifteen year old. The short term/long term scenario with the drugs could have been adapted as a mirror to the plot to the series. Let's have Danny learn some hard lessons. That doesn't happen. The plot is just to fight bad dudes. Framing this entire series as short term suffering can reach a long term goal could have thrown Danny's mantra into question and forced him to make some hard decisions. That doesn't happen.
The series offers a lot of twists, turns, and double crossing just for the sake of it, but I can't remember whether Danny ever says why he came back and I just finished watching this show. It could be that the magical portal to K'un-Lun only opens every so often and he was ready to get off that ride. The show ends on a cliff hanger, I do remember that. I've watched all of the Marvel/Netflix series and this was easily my least favorite.
This looks at how close we are to landing on Mars. For centuries, the red planet has captured our imaginations. And today, the possibility of a manned mission to Mars has never been closer. Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson and a new generation of space enthusiasts come together to explore the potential of human life on Mars.
Starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Kingsley, this comedy war film is based on the non-fiction book The Operators about a journalist's journey in Afghanistan with General McChrystal who experienced a meteoric rise to general before resigning after a magazine expose.
Since last week have been impatiently waiting for the unveil of this edition visual identity and finally today the suspense ended with a pleasant surprise and a very-unpleasant shocker. Sigh.
Let's start with the great news as none other than beautiful Claudia Cardinale is this year's cinema icon that graces the poster and the photo designers selected is a fantastic picture from an unknown photographer that only adds some mystery to the photography. As in last year poster a color filter is applied and this year the filter is red that enhance the gold letters. So is a "hot" combination of red and gold for a milestone anniversary.
From above writings you can tell that I like the poster as yes, I do love Claudia Cardinale from all her movies I saw in my youth. See, along with Monica Vitti, Virna Lisi, Gina Lollobrigida and Sofia Loren, Cardinale belongs to a group of 60's Italian Cinema beauties that gave some outstanding performances in several films by very well-known master filmmakers. My huge problem, and very-unpleasant news, is the use of photoshop to slim Cardinale. Check the original black and white photo.
As some of you know, my background is advertising and yes, I know about the use of photoshop to enhance visuals and getting to the point, approve to erase the hair between arm and face plus the reduction of her skirt in a couple of places BUT what was unnecessary is to slim her waist and her legs as NONE of those elements, if left them as the original, would have interfere with the number 70 or the letters in Cannes design. So, the later is unacceptable as does not represent the actress and reinforces the negativity around women curves and photoshop. Shame, sigh.
There is a lot of controversy and one article that gives a clue about what's happening is the one that claims to have contacted Cannes authorities to be told to contact the advertising agency, which in turn told reporters to contact Cannes authorities! Gosh, seems no one will assume responsibility as probably there most be hundreds (or thousands) of print material already printed with "slim" Claudia and to change them means lost of thousands of money. (LOL) It is my experience that the person from the Client (the festival) who approved the work is in trouble BUT as always happens, it is the advertising agency the one that will be blamed (lol) and perhaps even fired.
Check the following photo published by Le Huffington Post in a article here; it shows all points where photo was manipulated.
Well, enough of the bad and lets proceed with the positive. The following is a cut and paste of the official press release.
Full of joy, freedom and daring, just like Claudia Cardinale dancing on its official poster, the 70th Festival de Cannes (17-28 May) promises a celebration in passionate red and sparkling gold.
She dances, she laughs, she lives! Who better to symbolize the next Festival than Claudia Cardinale, the image of an adventurous actress, independent woman and social activist? Throughout the 12-days festival, the spirit of openness and welcome will infuse the Croisette – as it does every year – with pictures of a world that dares to look itself in the mirror, to stand proud and to speak out.
"I am honoured and proud to be flying the flag for the 70th Festival de Cannes," says Claudia Cardinale, "and delighted with this choice of photo. It’s the image I myself have of the Festival, of an event that illuminates everything around. That dance on the rooftops of Rome was back in 1959. No one remembers the photographer’s name… I’ve also forgotten it. But this photo reminds me of my origins, and of a time when I never dreamed of climbing the steps of the world’s most famous cinema hall. Happy anniversary!"
With Monica Bellucci as Mistress of Ceremonies and Pedro Almodóvar as the President of the Jury, the Festival de Cannes will kick off on Wednesday 17 May.
The last ends the press release. Now, what I find nice are the colorful -with a degrade that goes from hot to cold or from cold to hot- this year signatures; check the following examples to see if you agree.
To check the news at festival official site go here and what follows are the credits for the original photography, the advertising agency plus the visual identity creator and the vertical poster.
Last Monday, March 27th the Italian cinema academy had their award ceremony and Like Crazy by Paolo Virzì won top honors and a total of 5 prizes but top winners were Indivisible and Italian Race as each took 6 awards.
Roberto Benigni was honored with a special career achievement award presented by President Sergio Mattarella and Italy's Culture Minister Dario Francheschini.
To check winners in all categories go official site here. Winners for main categories are below in *BLUE. ---///--- 2/21/17 Today the Accademia del Cinema Italiano announced at the Casa del Cinema, the nominations for the 2017 edition of the annual David di Donatello awards that honor Italian cinema.
Two films lead the pack, each with 17 nominations, Indivisibili by Edoardo De Angelis and La Pazza Gioia by Paolo Virzì followed very close by Veloce come il Vento by Matteo Rovere with 16. Most remarkable is the two nominations for Valerio Mastandrea as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.
There are some films from 2016 Cannes like Sweet Dreams and Like Crazy that opened at Directors Fortnight, Fiore that also opened at the Directors sidebar and was competing for the Queer Palm, or films from 2016 Biennale like Indivisible that won several collateral awards, just to mention films from the five nominees to Best Film.
Have to confess that also in 2016 -as happened in 2015- did not watched much Italian cinema but as always occurs when doing the annual awards, and this time is no exception, some films have become relevant for me to NOT skip and surely will add a few to my film viewing too-long queue.
Best Film Fai bei sogni (Sweet Dreams) Fiore Indivisibili (Indivisible) *La Pazza Gioa (Like Crazy) Veloce come il vento (Italian Race)
Best European Film Florence Foster Jenkins, Stephen Frears *I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach Julieta, Pedro Almodóvar Sing Street, John Carney Truman, Cesc Gay
Best Foreign Film *Nocturnal Animals, Tom Ford Captain Fantastic, Matt Ross Lion, Garth Davis Paterson, Jim Jarmusch Sully, Clint Eastwood
Best Documentary 60 - Ieri, oggi, domani, Giorgio Treves Acqua e zucchero: Carlo Di Palma, i colori della vita, Fariborz Kamkari *Crazy for football, Volfango de Biasi Liberami, Federica di Giacomo Magic Island, Marco Amenta
Best Director Marco Bellocchio for Fai bei sogni (Sweet Dreams) Claudio Giovannesi for Fiore Eduardo De Angelis for Indivisibili (Indivisible) Matteo Rovere for Veloce come il vento *Paolo Virzì for La pazza gioia (Like Crazy)
Best New Director Michele Vannucci forIl più grande sogno *Marco Danieli for La ragazza del mondo (Worldly Girl) Marco Segato for La pelle dell’orso Fabio Guaglione and Fabio Resinaro for Mine Lorenzo Corvino for WAX: We Are X
Best Actress Daphne Scoccia in Fiore Angela and Marianna Fontana in Indivisibili (Indivisible) *Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in La pazza gioia (Like Crazy) Micaela Ramazzotti in La pazza gioia (Like Crazy) Matilda De Angelis in Veloce come il vento (Italian Race)
Best Supporting Actress *Antonia Truppo in Indivisibili (Indivisible) Valentina Carnelutti in La pazza gioia (Like Crazy) Valeria Golino in La vita possibile Michela Cescon in Piuma Roberta Mattei in Veloce come il vento (Italian Race)
Best Actor Valerio Mastandrea in Fai bei sogni (Sweet Dreams) Michele Riondino in La ragazza del mondo (Worldly Girl) Sergio Rubini in La stoffa dei sogni Toni Servillo in Le confessioni (The Confessions) *Stefano Accorsi in Veloce come il vento (Italian Race)
Best Supporting Actor *Valerio Mastrandrea in Fiore Massimiliano Rossi in Indivisibili (Indivisible) Ennio Fantastichini in La stoffa dei sogni Pierfrancesco Favino in Le confessioni (The Confessions) Roberto De Francesco in Le ultime cose
To check nominees in other categories go official site here, available only in Italian. For the second year the awards ceremony will be produced by Sky Cinema and broadcasted live in Sky Cinema Uno, Sky Cinema David di Donatello, Sky Uno, Sky Arte and TV8 on March 27 at 9:15pm local time; ceremony host is Alessandro Cattelan.
Video with excerpts from the five films nominated to 2017 Best Film
This week the Horror Duo conclude their exploration of 90's superhero movies. Forest shares his thoughts on the gothic, techno-rave fueled adaptation of Marvel Comics' Blade. Cory endures a flamboyant punk landscape of the futuristic dystopia that is Tank Girl.
Buy Desierto on Amazon Video Written by: Jonás Cuarón, Mateo Garcia Directed by:Jonás Cuarón Starring: Gael GarcÃa Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Alondra Hidalgo Rated: R
Plot A vigilante attacks a group of people trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States.
Verdict It's not bad. It's a solid chase/thriller movie but it doesn't set itself apart either. A few contrivances nudge this to the forgettable category, despite looking at a border crossing from the immigrant's side. It depends.
Review Writer and director Jonás Cuarón is the son of Alphonso Cuarón, who directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Children of Men (2006), Gravity (2013).
This starts with a group of people attempting to cross the Mexico border into the U.S. Their truck breaks down and the group is split up, forced to walk. Enter Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Sam, a vigilante hunting illegals on his own.
It's already hinted that Sam doesn't think much of border patrol, and even less of illegal immigrants. The scene where Sam finds the imigrants builds tension as Sam's dog discovers the lead group. Sam goes for his rifle, and we don't know if he just wants a better look, is going to scare them, or will shoot them. It's the latter. This gets crazy as Sam picks off men, women, and children with no hesitation. Obviously this isn't his first time, but if he does this frequently, the body count would raise a lot of questions.
The rest of the movie is Sam tracking the remaining Mexicans, as they try to escape him and his killer dog. This movie is focused. It's all about the hunt, and this is almost like a horror movie with a villain that just doesn't stop. His dog also kills at will. There's a specific scene where you can tell the dog is a prop. It's laughable, but they should have forgotten about the prop and have the action in that scene happen off screen. It looks incredibly fake.
More than a few plot points come off as contrived just to trap the survivors. A truck flips over on the only piece of ground that isn't flat. This leads to one of the final scenes is a cat and mouse game between Sam and his potential victim on a giant rock outcropping. It's kind of like when you and your sibling would chase each other around the dinner table.
The movie is trying to invoke empathy and sympathy, and while it does to a degree by appealing to human ethics, it doesn't try to be very deep or even make the characters that interesting. With this kind of genre the characters don't have to be deep, but it helps when the subject matter is divisive.
Plot In this Spanish language series, when Mexico's president Diego Nava compromises his ideals, his wife Emilia Urquiza (Kate del Castillo) leaves him. When he's found dead she's the main suspect, already presumed guilty and now on the run.
Verdict While the premise is more than a bit flimsy, the plot and pilot of this political thriller are gripping. The first lady of Mexico is on the run accused of murdering her husband, the president. Like The Fugitive (1993), she claims she didn't do it and is on the run. I've only seen the first two episodes, but I definitely want to see more. Various plot lines have potentially been setup to turn this into a far reaching conspiracy. Watch it.
Review This starts with a fight between the first lady and president that soon turns physical. She claims he betrayed her and the country while he accuses her of cheating, which she denies. The fight gets nasty.
The First Lady and the President.
This is the part of the show that could have been done better. This is the crux of the show and it's unclear what exactly happened. They're on a balcony during a thunderstorm. She pushes past him and the show jumps to a different scene. When we cut back to them, she wakes up holding a gun on the balcony and he's gone. I don't know what caused her to pass out. None of this is clarified until the second episode, and she doesn't really know what happened. Either way, President Diego Nava went off the balcony and landed on top of a car in spectacular fashion. I wondered if when she pushed past him, she inadvertently pushed him off the balcony, as unlikely as that is. That doesn't explain why she passed out. Did he jump off? I wasn't sure.
First Lady Emilia Urquiza peering over the balcony.
In the second episode she recounts the story to a confidant. While she doesn't know much, it helps clarify the muddled setup in the first episode. I watched that part of the first episode twice, thinking it was me. It's not. He didn't jump and she didn't push him. It's a mystery. The end result, the President was shot and thrown off the balcony. Emilia doesn't know what happened. She decides to become a fugitive. It seems like going to the secret service, who know you, and explaining the situation would be the best course of action. As beaten up as she was, self defense seems like a completely plausible claim. Why didn't she want to explain? Running is a means to an end. Though it will give the show time to develop the conspiracy, which undoubtedly will follow. That may be the only reason she ran.
While there are threads of a conspiracy, having Nava decide to jump would be a better mystery, and much clearer. There was no one else with them. The murder is a good hook, even if the set up is thin. The first lady is on a security briefing panel, so she knows how to hide the show tells us. We see how dedicated she is when she performs minor surgery on herself. As smart as she is, I don't get why she hasn't changed out of heels and a dress at the end of the second episode.
The conclusion to the second episode is melodramatic with sweeping music and various characters crying. If this can avoid the drama and focus on Emilia the fugitive while developing the conspiracy, this has a lot of potential.
Roger Stone became the youngest person called before the Watergate grand jury, and his career as a master in backroom politics has intersected many momentous low points in modern political history. He's been with Donald Trump since the beginning, planting the seeds of a political run.
Santa Clarita Diet (2017-) Season 2 (2018) Santa Clarita Diet Season 2 premieres in 2018
Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant play married real estate agents Sheila and Joel Hammond whose lives take a dark turn when Barrymore's character experiences a dramatic change. She dies and develops a taste for human flesh, all while maintaining her family and business relationships.
Also watched - Hacksaw Ridge, The Americans S4, Pickpocket, The Passenger, Blow-Up, Last Tango in Paris,
Hacksaw Ridge (2016) WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss became the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot. He refused to touch a weapon, serving during the Battle of Okinawa.
The Americans (2013-) Season 4 - 13 episodes (2016) Two Soviet spies, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Phillip (Matthew Rhys), pose as a married couple with kids in Washington D.C. during the Cold War. In season four their daughter, Paige, knows they are spies. Will she be their downfall? Phillip has a contact that can acquire biological weapons.
Pandora (2017) In this Netflix distributed Korean language film from screenwriter turned director Park Jung-Woo, an earthquake hits a nuclear power plant, and the already irradiated plant engineers risk their lives to save family and country from the impending atomic explosion.
Pickpocket (1959) After his mother dies, Michel resorts to pick pocketing to survive.
The Passenger (1975) Professione: reporter A frustrated journalist assumes the identity of an arms dealer.e.
Blow-Up (1966) A London photographer finds a suspicious detail in the images of a girl he photographed in the park.
Last Tango in Paris (1972) A middle aged businessman forges a secret relationship with a young French woman, wanting to base it only on sex.
IO Revolutions (TBA) Season 1 IO Revolutions premiere date pending
Based on the award winning French language web series created by Imad Hatem, this focuses on famous cyber-activist, Sad Monkey.
The web series was distributed on Youtube and labeled as transmedia. Users could interact with hacker Sad Monkey on Facebook and Twitter. Users could influence the story.
Louis C.K.: 2017 (2017) Louis C.K.: 2017 premiers April 4 Six-time Emmy Award winner Louis C.K. is one of the most popular comedic voices of his generation, selling out Madison Square Garden three times for the same tour and finding success in both television and film as well as the live stage.
Drop-by-drop suddenly stop last week so noise has been low, except for the many articles with Cannes possible films that populate almost every single movies site in the net. Among the jungle there is one place that every year I recommend as lists 100 films for Cannes and predicts the festival section where each film may end; I'm talking about Wask that already published films from 41 position to 100 and still has two more posts to finish the 100 films for this year. Unfortunately site is in French, but if you do not read/understand the language suggest to use google translator that works fine for basic info. To check site please go here.
Already covered films by great filmmakers Anne Fontaine, Lucrecia Martel, Naomi Kawase, Urzula Antoniak, and Malgorzata Szumowska but want to explore deeper to find more films by female directors with Cannes possibilities and more important, that could become must-be-seen for me. Lisa Langseth with Euforia (Euphoria)
Absolutely must-be-seen for me as Alicia Vikander is allover this movie which marks the third collaboration between Vikander and Langseth. Director hasn't opened in a major festival but with Vikander producing and acting I'm sure doors will open and then we have to consider that Langseth's first feature Pure premiered in Pusan and her second, Hotel was in Toronto, so she already has some experience. Film is Langseth's first English-language and third feature film which means that Alicia Vikander has started in all her movies.
Synopsis: The story of two sisters on a journey, where they try to get close to each other and approach the tough questions in life. Euphoria is a contemporary drama about responsibility and reconciliation, in a world where these concepts are gradually being lost.
Produced by B-Reel Films (Sweden) and co produced by Vikarious Productions (Alicia Vikander production company based in UK) and Dancing Camel (Germany). Production aid from Filmregion Stockholm-Mälardalen, Sveriges Television, Nordsvensk Filmunderhållning, SF Studios & Reel Ventures. Also produced in association with Wild Bunch Germany and Dorian Media Ltd. With the support from Creative Europe, Swedish Film Institute, FFF Bayern, Deutsches Filmförderfonds & Nordisk Film & TV Fund. International sales are by Great Point Media.
According to the Swedish Film Institute, release date in Sweden will be on 2017-10-06, which I believe is October 6, 2017; date suggest film could have an early premiere in Cannes or wait for late summer release in Venice.
Clio Barnard with Dark River
Second feature film (or third when we consider award winning documentary The Arbor) by acclaimed British director better-known for her outstanding The Selfish Giant that opened in 2013 Cannes Directors' Fortnight and went to win the Label Europa Cinemas award. She has the right credentials for Cannes and maybe this year she could be part of the Official Selection.
Synopsis: Following the death of her father, Alice returns to her home village for the first time in 15 years, to claim the tenancy to the family farm she believes is rightfully hers. Once there she is confronted by a brother she barely recognizes, worn down by years of trying to keep the farm going, who is naturally hostile to her arrival and her claim over the tenancy. Their dispute unearths traumatic memories for Alice, memories which have remained dormant for years but which now threaten both of their futures.
Produced by Moonspun Films with Left Bank Pictures; backed by Film4, the BFI Film Fund, Screen Yorkshire and the Wellcome Trust. Protagonist Pictures is handling world sales.
Rebecca Daly with Good Favour
Third feature film by Irish director that rose to prominence in 2011 Cannes Directors' Fortnight with the Other Side of Sleep.
The story takes place in the middle of a forest in Germany, where a small community of Christians has settled. One day, a young man aged 18-19 appears out of nowhere and enters their lives. He’s very mysterious, no one knows where he’s from, and the story is about how he changes the community and how it changes him, and what that entails. Daly wrote the screenplay with Glenn Montgomery. The initial idea for the story came to us from an article about a young man wandering around Berlin who claimed he didn’t know who he was, before the truth finally came out that he came from Amsterdam and had simply run away from his responsibilities and his pregnant girlfriend. A pathetic ending to the story, no? But we liked the initial idea of a boy who appears out of nowhere, who says he can’t remember anything, and what effect that could have on others.
Produced by Savage Productions (Ireland), Viking Film (Netherlands), Final Cut for Real (Denmark) and Wrong Men (Belgium).
Haifaa Al-Mansour with Mary Shelley
Acclaimed director third film after 2005 documentary Women Without Shadows and outstanding 2012 Wadjda, her first in English and with major cast of young actors has right credentials to be her first film in Cannes perhaps making the Official Selection; but we can't ignore that Wadjda opened in Venice, so there are chances film could wait for a Venice premiere.
The story is another version of the love affair between poet Percy Shelley and 18-years-old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, which resulted in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein. Elle Fanning plays Mary Shelley but cast also includes Maisie Williams, Bel Powley, Joanne Froggatt, Tom Sturridge and Douglas Booth as Percy Shelley. Film was also known as Storm in the Stars.
Can't imagine the probable challenge the director faced as we all have learned what happens when a director does a film not in her/his mother tongue, where very few succeed and many fail. But let's hope this is a success story that could translate into a major festival inclusion.
It's a production by Gidden Media (USA), HanWay Films (UK), Juliette Films (Luxembourg), Parallel Films (UK), Sobini Films (USA), in association with Head Gear Films and Metrol Technology. HanWay Films handles international sales.
There is not much info available for this film but the stars are Lucie Saint-Jean, Mathieu Amalric, Denis Denis Podalydès and Lvovsky.
Most surprising is to find that film started production in 2015 and according to Unifrance current status is still post-production; so, have to wonder what's going on with this movie and if will/could be released this year.
Synopsis: Mathilde is ten years old. Her parents are separated and she lives alone with her mother. Her mother is disturbed and has trouble coping with everyday life and the real world. Mathilde can see that others consider her mother crazy, but to her it’s just everyday life. She protects her mother. She can sense the threat of separation, without knowing when or how it could take place. She does all she can to forestall it, fully aware that all her efforts are doomed to fail.
Produced by F Comme Film and Gaumont; co produced by France 2 Cinema. Gaumont Distribution will distribute in France.
Sofia Coppola with The Beguilded
Not really a Coppola fan as it's hard for me to positively appreciate her style, perhaps there is one film that I liked, Lost in Translation, but believe as she developed her filmmaking style, it evolved into a different direction from her first film. Nevertheless, have seen all her movies and there is little doubt when I say will see this one too. Sigh.
Lately Colin Farrell has been working hard and seems he's allover the place in many different genre films; so, no surprise he is in this film along Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Kristen Dunst. Not only cast has the right credentials for Cannes but also the director as she has been before in the festival as part of the Official Selection, therefore chances are that IF film is ready then could end up premiering in Cannes. The only little -but important- drawback is because film is a remake! Yes, is a remake of 1971 film with the same name by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Harman. Ah! the cherry on top of the remake is that Siegel's film was a commercial failure.
I know everything has been ruined for me as can't imagine Farrell playing Eastwood's role; also not easy to imagine a role played by Geraldine Page now played by Nicole Kidman -no matter how much I like Kidman when she's given the right role this one is perhaps too much for her or maybe she'll surprise as she has done before.
Here I am, talking a lot about a movie that no matter what know will watch -eventually. So let's move forward to check synopsis: At a girls' school in Virginia during the Civil War, where the young women have been sheltered from the outside world, a wounded Union soldier is taken in. Soon, the house is taken over with sexual tension, rivalries, and an unexpected turn of events.
Film is scheduled to open on June 30, 2017 which strangely enough makes it a "summer movie".
Lynne Ramsay with You Were Never Really Here
In 2016 Cannes a "splashy" deal was made and Amazon Studios won rights to this film directed by the acclaimed director of outstanding We Need To Talk About Kevin and starring none other than Joaquin Phoenix as a war vet who devotes himself to saving women exploited by sex traffickers. Film is based on Jonathan Ames novella with the same name.
Film's director plus lead make it absolutely must-be-seen for me no matter if it makes it or not to Cannes or any other film festival, sigh. But there is no doubt that film credentials and story could appeal to any festival programmer and Ramsay as well as Phoenix have the right credentials to premiere in Cannes.
Synopsis: A former Marine and ex–FBI agent, Joe has seen one too many crime scenes and known too much trauma, and not just in his professional life. Solitary and haunted, he prefers to be invisible. He doesn't allow himself friends or lovers and makes a living rescuing young girls from the deadly clutches of the sex trade. But when a high-ranking New York politician hires him to extricate his teenage daughter from a Manhattan brothel, Joe uncovers a web of corruption that even he may not be able to unravel. When the men on his trail take the only person left in the world who matters to him, he forsakes his pledge to do no harm. If anyone can kill his way to the truth, it's Joe.
Produced by Why Not Productions (France) and Sixteen Films (UK); coproduced by Page 114 (France) and developed with suppport of Film4 (UK) and BFI (UK). Amazon Studios will distribute in USA and StudioCanal in UK.
Ann Hui with æ˜Žæœˆå‡ æ—¶æœ‰ Ming Jyut Gei Si Jau (Our Time Will Come)
Our Time Will Come previously known as The Great Escape is the latest film from critically acclaimed director Ann Hui and stars Zhou Xun as Fang Gu, a school teacher who becomes a guerrila fighter in order to defend Hong Kong from Japanese occupation.
One of the most admired directors from Hong Kong with outstanding films like A Simple Life and The Golden Era, which premiered in Venice but she has been three times in Cannes and perhaps this film could make her comeback after the last time in 1990. What worries me are the many news about this being a "different" Ann Hui film which don't know if are good or bad news; Polybona Films president says "film will present a brave, bloody and aggressive Ann Hui" (!!!) which definitively are good news to those that enjoy action movies but perhaps not for those -like me- that highly enjoy her quiet outstanding films.
Still, watching the teaser can see beauty in her images, so perhaps her filmmaking essence is still present no matter what everyone says.
Synopsis: Set in the 1940s, the story tells the story of a legendary woman Fang Gu, who is one of the key figures during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. It will also portrayal the fight and struggle for freedom and independence by youths of the resistance groups.
Film is slated to premier July 1st, 20 years after the day Britain transferred Hong Kong's sovereignty back to China. Produced by Polybona Filmsand. Distributed by Bona Film Group Limited and Huaxia Film Distributions.
