Cannes 2013 Blog: Days One, Two and Three; The Rain-Soaked Journey Thus Far

May 18, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in General News Leave a comment

Three days in to the 66th Cannes Film Festival and I’m feeling much more relaxed than I did last year. There is a comfort to knowing the press badge caste system, where you have to queue for the different strands, and that it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t get your review up in less than an hour after a screening.

“The Great Gatsby” opened the festival on Wednesday but was released in the US last Friday. I was hugely disappointed with Baz Luhrmann’s film, describing it on Twitter as “if Baz Luhrmann watched a Baz Luhrmann film and then decided to imitate Baz Luhrmann.” It was the wrong side of gaudy and garish – and the 3D did nothing to help the pic, instead detracting from what could have been a gorgeous film.

“The Way, Way Back” and Other Sundance Hits Populate LA Film Festival Lineup

May 1, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News 1 Comment

The Los Angeles Film Festival announced its lineup for the 2013 festival and it is filled to the brim with all those Sundance movies that made a splash in Utah back in January. Coming of age comedy “The Way, Way Back” starring newcomer Liam James opposite Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell will close the festival, while Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner “Fruitvale Station” with Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer will be presented as a Gala. Nicolas Winding Refn’s highly anticipated “Drive” follow-up “Only God Forgives” starring Ryan Gosling will also be making its North American premiere as a Gala following its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this month.

Over in the Summer Showcase, which purports to offer “an advanced look at this summer’s most talked about independent film releases”, films living up to that promise include more Sundance favorites – James Ponsoldt’s “The Spectacular Now” which won stars Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley a Special Jury Prize for Acting, and David Lowery’s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, another Sundance winner for Best Cinematography for Bradford Young – as well as SXSW’s Grand Jury Prize winner “Short Term ’12″ starring Brie Larson.

The full lineup and press release can be found below.

Ryan Gosling, Emma Watson, Michael B. Jordan Among Young Stars Heading to Cannes Film Festival

April 18, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News Leave a comment

A bevy of rising stars are headed to the Cannes Film Festival next month as Festival director Thierry Fremaux announced the main lineup of the 66th Annual event this morning. Carey Mulligan, already heading to the Croisette for opening night film “The Great Gatsby”, will also premiere the Coen Brothers’ 1960s folk music drama “Insie Llewyn Davis”, also starring Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Garrett Hedlund.

The duo of Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling, who previously premiered the beautiful and violent “Drive” at the festival in 2011, have reteamed again and will show “Only God Forgives” in competition. “Saturday Night Live” alum Will Forte has a big potential breakthrough moment as he shows off his serious acting in Alexander Payne’s father-son roadtrip drama “Nebraska”, while James Gray’s “The Immigrant”, previously “Lowlife”, brings Jeremy Renner and Marion Cotillard to the Croisette. Cotillard will also appear in Guillaume Canet’s English-language remake “Blood Ties”, which is playing out of competition and which also stars Zoe Saldana and Mila Kunis.

We already knew Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring” will open the Un Certain Regard section of the fest, and will welcome young stars Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Israel Broussard and Katie Chang, and now joining them in the sidebar will be Sundance’s big winner “Fruitvale”, Ryan Coogler’s feature directorial debut starring Michael B. Jordan.

The full lineup can be found below.

Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring” to Open Un Certain Regard at 2013 Cannes Film Festival

April 17, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News 1 Comment

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Ahead of the announcement of the full competition slate tomorrow morning, the Cannes Film Festival announced today that Sofia Coppola’s highly anticipated “The Bling Ring” will open the festival’s Un Certain Regard slate.

Typically reserved for younger artists and thus a surprising slot for Coppola to land, Un Certain Regard runs parallel to the festival’s main competition lineup and Coppola’s film will not be eligible for the Palme D’Or, but will compete for Un Certain Regard’s own prize, judged by a different jury. This year Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg will preside over the jury, while Steven Spielberg takes Presidential duties over the main jury. “The Bling Ring” will premiere and open Un Certain Regard on May 16th and we hope to bring you exclusive coverage straight from the Croisette.

The true life tale of affluent teens gone wild burglarizing celebrities stars Emma Watson and Taissa Farmiga along with a cast of unknowns led by newcomers Katie Chang and Isreal Broussard. The first teaser and first clip were recently released, no doubt in anticipation of today’s news, and it has a June 14th release date in the US.

Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” will kick off the Cannes Film Festival on May 15th.

Oscars 2014: Academy Awards Ceremony Set for March 2nd

March 25, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards, General News Leave a comment

academy As we are a quarter of the way into the new movie-going year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the dates for next year’s award season which will award the best of 2013. They have also announced the date for the 2015 ceremony.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network today announced the dates for the 86th and 87th Oscar® presentations. The 86th and 87th Academy Awards® will air live on ABC on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, and February 22, 2015, respectively.

Key dates for the Awards season are:

Saturday, November 16, 2013: The Governors Awards

Monday, December 2, 2013: Official Screen Credits due

Friday, December 27, 2013: Nominations voting begins

Wednesday, January 8, 2014: Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT

Thursday, January 16, 2014: Oscar nominations announced

Read more

GIVEAWAY: Win Prizes from “The Host”!

March 18, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News 6 Comments

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It’s one of the most anticipated films of the year and we’ve partnered with Open Road Films to give away some great prizes to celebrate the release of “The Host”!

What if everything you love was taken from you in the blink of an eye? “The Host” is the next epic love story from the creator of the “Twilight Saga,” worldwide bestselling author, Stephenie Meyer. When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) will risk everything to protect the people she cares most about — Jared (Max Irons), Ian (Jake Abel), her brother Jamie (Chandler Canterbury) and her Uncle Jeb (William Hurt) , proving that love can conquer all in a dangerous new world.

THE HOST hits theaters nationwide March 29th, 2013! Click below to see what’s up for grabs. This contest is for US RESIDENTS only. Sorry international fans!

Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” to Open 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival

March 12, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News Leave a comment

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Ever since it was delayed from a Christmas 2012 release to May 2013, speculation has pegged Baz Luhrmann’s splashy 3D adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” to be eyeing the Cannes Film Festival Opening Night slot, and today the festival has made it official.

Luhrmann and his all-star cast – Leonardo Dicaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke – will walk up the famed red carpeted stairs to the Grand Theatre Lumiere and kick off the 2013 festival on May 15th. The film, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic American novel set in the roaring 20s, will screen in the Out of Competition category. “It is a great honor for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes Film Festival,” said Luhrmann. “We are thrilled to return to a country, place and festival that has always been so close to our hearts, not only because my first film Strictly Ballroom was screened there 21 years ago, but also because F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside Saint-Raphaël.”

Luhrmann’s 2001 musical extravaganza “Moulin Rouge” also opened Cannes. This year’s festival runs from May 15th-May 26th and once again, we hope to bring you exclusive coverage straight from the Croisette. The full lineup of films will be announced on April 18th. Meanwhile, “The Great Gatsby” will actually be released in the US theaters five days prior to its big Cannes premiere, on May 10th.

Zoe Kazan, Evan Rachel Wood, Lily Collins and More Premiering Films at Tribeca Film Festival

March 6, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News Leave a comment

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The 12th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, which runs this year from April 17th – 28th in New York, has unveiled the majority of its films for 2013, and quite a few up and comers will have new movies premiering. In addition to films that have already made the festival circuit like Ramin Bahrani’s “At Any Price” starring Zac Efron and Maika Monroe, “Greetings From Tim Buckley” with Penn Badgley and Imogen Poots and Neil Jordan’s vampire saga “Byzantium” with Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan and Caleb Landry Jones, world premieres will also bring the likes of Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Zoe Kazan and Evan Rachel Wood to Manhattan.

Films making their world premiere in the high profile Spotlight section of the fest include “Adult World”, a dark comedy with Roberts and John Cusack, romantic comedy “A Case of You” with Wood and Justin Long, Kazan’s “The Pretty One”, which also co-stars “New Girl” actor Jake Johnson and “The English Teacher”, with Julianne Moore in the titular role and Angarano and Lily Collins as students.

The full lineup in the Spotlight, Storyscapes, Midnight and Special Screenings sections can be found below.

Watch: Adam Brody attempts to makes amends with “Some Girl(s)”

March 1, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in General News Leave a comment

Gearing up for a premiere next week at SXSW, today sees the release of new clips and posters of the Adam Brody, Zoe Kazan and Kristen Bell film “Some Girl(s)“.

Neil LaBute has adapted his play of the same name for the big screen, and Daisy von Scherler Mayer has directed. The clips are courtesy Indiewire and Deadline (via Bleeding Cool)

The ensemble indie film also features Jennifer Morrison, Mia Maestro and Emily Watson, and follows Brody’s character Guy, a writer, who on the eve of his wedding aims to make amends with all his ex-girlfriends for his past mistakes. Here’s the official synopsis:

Based on his play, Neil LaBute’s script follows a successful writer (Adam Brody) who, on the eve of his wedding, travels across the country to meet up with ex-lovers in an attempt to make amends for past relationship transgressions. Crisscrossing from Seattle to Boston, he reunites with high school sweetheart Sam (Jennifer Morrison), sexually free-spirited Tyler (Mía Maestro), married college professor Lindsay (Emily Watson), his best friend’s little sister Reggie (Zoe Kazan), and “the one that got away” Bobbi (Kristen Bell). Daisy von Scherler Mayer (“Party Girl”) directs this journey of a modern-day Candide stumbling through a landscape familiar to most men – messy breakups.

Kazan is an indie actor who is definitely one to watch, starring opposite Daniel Radcliffe in indie romcom “The F Word” and hitting the shortlist to star alongside Taylor Swift in the biopic of female singers Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Carly Simon, “Girls Like Us“.

Brody and Bell both recently premiered new pics in January at Sundance Film Festival, Brody with the Linda Lovelace biopic “Lovelace“, and Bell, “The Lifeguard“.

Click below to see the posters and clips.

Sundance Deals: Buzzy premieres “Fruitvale”, “The Spectacular Now”, “Don Jon’s Addiction” find homes

January 21, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News Leave a comment

After a slow start and intense bidding wars, the buzziest Sundance premieres have began to find homes.

“Don Jon’s Addiction”, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s starry rom com directorial debut, landed at Relativity Media after being sold for record-breaking numbers. It will receive a wide theatrical release, most likely over this summer. [