Thompson on Hollywood

Cannes Review: James Franco's 'As I Lay Directing'

Reviews

Back in her “Pretty Women” days, I interviewed the young Julia Roberts and at one point she mentioned her dog, which she called Faulkner. Well, that’s one way to add some intellectual heft to your resume. Is it so different with James Franco? He says he loved the book when he first read it back in high school. Well, I loved a girl named Becky but I didn’t make a film about her.

By Tom Christie
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May 21, 2013 2:35 AM
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Cannes Film Fest Diary 3: Seduced by 'The Past,' Abandoned by a Brazilian Beach Bikini Party

Reviews

At 8:30am Friday morning, I got it. What Cannes is truly all about. You get something in theory, and then there’s the moment you get it through experience. Asghar Farhadi’s “The Past” had just begun, and I thought back to what a friend said was the real reason to attend Cannes: because you see the best films in the world. Literally, according to one of the money men in James Toback’s new documentary about Cannes, “Seduced and Abandoned” – more on that later – half of the year’s supply of big films debuts at the festival. Farhadi won the Oscar for best foreign film with his last, “A Separation,” and as the new film began, the audience just relaxed into their seats as the film, with its first shot, took over. It’s a wonderful feeling when you realize you are in very, very, very good hands.

By Tom Christie
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May 20, 2013 11:11 PM
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Review: The Kids Are All Right in 'The Kings of Summer,' A Sappy Coming-of-Age Romantic Comedy

Reviews

Featuring Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, Jordan Vogt-Roberts' Sundance film "The Kings of Summer" is a sweet, if fleeting, high school buddy comedy about teenage summer romance.

By Ryan Lattanzio
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May 20, 2013 5:35 PM
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Three Weddings Before a Bunch of Funerals: 'Game of Thrones' 3.8: 'Second Sons'

Television

Appreciative fans welcomed the return this week of "Peter Drunklage," a reference to a character created to universal acclaim by "Game of Thrones" star Peter Dinklage during a recent Saturday Night Live appearance.

By David Chute
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May 20, 2013 5:15 PM
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Cannes: Asghar Farhadi Talks Fest Favorite 'The Past,' Starring Tahar Rahim and Berenice Bejo

Festivals

In what’s turning out to be a very strong year for the Cannes Competition, it’s hard to pick a front-runner at the festival’s midway point. As many critics rate the chances of Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s “Like Father, Like Son” (not least because of a family-ties dynamic many assume will appeal to Jury president Steven Spielberg’s sensibilities), they are also looking at previous Cannes winners the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis." And this is before the Competition entries from Steven Soderbergh, Nicolas Winding Refn, Paolo Sorrentino, Alexander Payne, Roman Polanski and Jim Jarmusch have even screened. But one man sure to be in the fray for the Palme d’Or this weekend is Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi with “The Past.”

By Matt Mueller
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May 20, 2013 3:34 PM
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Ron Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard's 'Project Imaginat10n' Contest Underway, Jamie Foxx's Short Film Goes Into Production UPDATE

News

Director Ron Howard and daughter/actress Bryce Dallas Howard have teamed up to jump on the user-generated content bandwagon with the new film contest for Canon, "Project Imaginat10n." A number of celebrity directors are getting involved in the project, including Eva Longoria, James Murphy, Georgina Chapman and Jamie Foxx, who recently starting shooting his short film in Brooklyn.

By Ryan Lattanzio
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May 20, 2013 2:50 PM
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MacFarlane Opts Out of 2014 Oscar Gig, Recommends Joaquin Phoenix as Host

Awards

Some have speculated that because the motion picture Academy is happy with the ratings of the last Oscar show, and therefore wanted to bring back musically-oriented producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, that their 2013 Oscar host Seth MacFarlane would be part of the 2014 show package. But not so fast. UPDATE: MacFarlane reiterates yet again on Twitter that his Oscar gig was a one-time thing.

By Anne Thompson
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May 20, 2013 2:23 PM
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As Restored 'Cleopatra' Hits the Cannes Croisette, Film Critics Look Back at the 'Most Notorious Epic Ever' (TRAILER)

Festivals

Joseph L. Manciewicz's four-plus-hour epic "Cleopatra," celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, screens on the Croisette May 21 in a newly restored print. The restoration will expand worldwide the next day, May 22, for a six-day run in select theater chains, and film journalists look back on one of the most tumultuous epic productions ever.

By Beth Hanna and Ryan Lattanzio
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May 20, 2013 2:15 PM
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WATCH: New Clips from 'Only God Forgives,' with Ryan Gosling as Stoic Badass and Kristin Scott Thomas as Ruthless Drug Lord

Video

Prior to the world premiere of Nicolas Winding Refn's "Only God Forgives" on Wednesday, TWC-Radius has been tempting the Cannes crowds with clips from the Thailand-set thriller, which stars Kristin Scott Thomas and Ryan Gosling as a mother and son heading a drug ring in the Bangkok underworld. The four clips below highlight their unsettling relationship following the death of Gosling's brother, as well as establishing Scott Thomas' character as a Momma Not to Mess With.

By Beth Hanna
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May 20, 2013 1:40 PM
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Trailers from Hell: Dan Ireland on Hitchcock's Masterpiece 'Vertigo'

Video

Femme Fatales Week! begins at Trailers from Hell, with director Dan Ireland introducing "Vertigo," Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece and last year's Sight & Sound top-ranked film of all time, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak. Stewart was born on May 20, 1908.