Huffington Post: Inside the lack of female filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival →

Cannes Film Festival and Twitter

Since the announcement of the Cannes Film Festival a week ago, twitter has been a blazed with speculation on which celebrities are going to make an appearance on the famed red carpet. With such big names as Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Reese Witherspoon and Jessica Chastain there is also a strong presence from young Hollywood who are new to the south of France festival. Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Zac Efron and Shia LaBeouf all have films not only in the festival lineup but in the actual competition as well.

Over the course of the last week, Twitter has been a major port for up-to-the-minute news on Cannes itself. The festival has an official twitter account, that posts in both French and English. There are also serval other non official twitter accounts that send out information everyday. It was on twitter were major film websites and blogs like Indiewire, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on who was going to head the jury for the festival.

Come May, when the festival kicks off, you can expect to see a lot of tweets from the journalists on the scene tweeting about the film they just got done viewing. This is an important part of the festival nowadays because these tweets are the very first real evidence of a film being good or bad to the masses who are eagerly awaiting the film. Twitter gets the public talking, it sets the stage for immediate discussion on all things happening at Cannes. 

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(Source: thehitpit)

Film Spotlight: Cosmopolis (Dir. David Cronenberg)

*WARNING* Trailer above includes bits of nudity and slightly NSFW

Based on the novel of the same name by Don DeLillo, “Cosmopolis” stars Robert Pattinson as a 28-year-old billionaire on a 24-hour journey gone wrong across Manhattan.

Also starring Juliette Binoche and Paul Giamatti.

“Cosmopolis” returns Cronenberg back to his auteur filmmaking. His recent films like “A Dangerous Method”, while being heavy on the risque material, was seem as something quite tame for the director. Here we see him getting back to his days of “Videodrome” that bizarre, sexual, part futuristic si-fi, part fantasy, total WTF craziness that placed Cronenberg on the map. (did I use enough adjectives to get my point across?) It’s also one to look out for because of it’s lead actor Robert Pattinson of “Twilight” fame. When this project was first announced, Colin Farrell was set to star. However the trailer suggest that Pattinson has the potential to wow some of the skeptics (myself being one of them) here.     

Claude Miller's last film will close festival →

From the L.A. Times: 

The Cannes Film Festival will pay tribute to a recently departed French filmmaker, announcing Wednesday that it has chosen “Therese D,” the final work from the late Claude Miller, as its closing-night film.

(Source: youngmendean)

Film Spotlight: Moonrise Kingdom (Dir. Wes Anderson)

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle.

Starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman

From the moment the trailer opens, Wes Anderson’s style of filmmaking is ever present. And why should he change it up? With only a handful of films under his name, the director of such hits as “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “The Darjeeling Limited” , his films are styled in such a way that evoke roughly the same backdrop and context, regardless of when and where they’re set, including the stop-motion 2009 hit “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. Anderson is more of an auteur than a director and it’s nice to see such a prestigious institution open with what is sure to be a quirky, lighthearted film. My guess however is that Moonrise Kingdom,with all it’s star-studded cast, has a very small chance of taking home the Palme d’Or; unfortunately there’s just too many heavier films with more pedigree in competition that will over-shadow it come awards time. 

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picture-and-video:

Rust & Bone

(Source: alt-milk, via hellyeahmarioncotillard)

Film Spotlight: De Rouille et d’Os (Rust & Bone) (Dir. Jacques Audiard)

*WARNING* Trailer above includes bits of nudity and slightly NSFW

Starring Academy Award Winner Marion Cotillard (“La vie en rose”) and Matthias Schoenaerts (“Bullhead”), the film follows the relationship between a homeless man and a killer whale trainer who (SPOILER ALERT!) loses her legs in a horrific accident.

After his 2009 art-house hit “A Prophet”, Jacques Audiard is back with yet another visually striking French film. It’s based off a collection of shorty stories from Canadian writer Craig Davidson, and seems to be a departure for the director who many associate with gritty, male-centered crime dramas. But don’t let the picture above fool you, judging from the trailer, there will be some of that gritty-ness in the film. Even though the only trailer out is in French, non-speakers (myself included) can certainly enjoy the look and visuals of the film. I personally cannot wait for this film as I really loved “A Prophet” and I’m really intrigued in how Cotillard will preform such a challenging character.   

Fashion to Take Center Stage at Cannes Film Festival →

womensweardaily:

Rumor has it French designer Jean Paul Gaultier will sit on the jury headed by Italian director Nanni Moretti, though festival president Gilles Jacob is saving the announcement for next week.  For more

(Source: wwd.com)