[Editor’s Note: This list was originally published in May 2016 and has since been updated.]
So…what is sci-fi? It’s not the easiest question to answer when “sci-fi elements” permeate so many of the biggest blockbusters: thought-provoking genre concepts flattened into one-size-fits-all franchise fodder that make countless titles “feel” and, on occasion, even look the same.
Yes, science fiction is rooted in profound origins, examining humanity’s deep-seated fear of itself and the intimidating possibility of worlds unknown. But the last two decades have seen a metaphoric rush on sci-fi storytelling that’s left the once niche subgenre a supersaturated movie market. On the one hand, that’s produced an onslaught of sci-fi(ish) titles that aren’t always up to snuff. But on the other, it’s prompted some of the best sci-fi films ever made. Masterworks like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” both arrived in the past two years, and top our list at number five and number eight respectively.
So…what is sci-fi? It’s not the easiest question to answer when “sci-fi elements” permeate so many of the biggest blockbusters: thought-provoking genre concepts flattened into one-size-fits-all franchise fodder that make countless titles “feel” and, on occasion, even look the same.
Yes, science fiction is rooted in profound origins, examining humanity’s deep-seated fear of itself and the intimidating possibility of worlds unknown. But the last two decades have seen a metaphoric rush on sci-fi storytelling that’s left the once niche subgenre a supersaturated movie market. On the one hand, that’s produced an onslaught of sci-fi(ish) titles that aren’t always up to snuff. But on the other, it’s prompted some of the best sci-fi films ever made. Masterworks like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” both arrived in the past two years, and top our list at number five and number eight respectively.
- 3/5/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
French director Leos Carax has revealed new details about his upcoming autobiographical film, C’est pas moi, which he says is “about 40 minutes long” and may be ready in time for Cannes.
“It started with a museum in Paris. They asked me to do a self-portrait,” the director explained of the project, which is now in post-production. It is produced by Charles Gillibert and sold by Les Films Du Losange.
Denis Lavant acts in the film, as does his daughter. “The rest of it is images from archives, from other people, and from me with my iPhone,” said Carax. Lavant has...
“It started with a museum in Paris. They asked me to do a self-portrait,” the director explained of the project, which is now in post-production. It is produced by Charles Gillibert and sold by Les Films Du Losange.
Denis Lavant acts in the film, as does his daughter. “The rest of it is images from archives, from other people, and from me with my iPhone,” said Carax. Lavant has...
- 3/4/2024
- ScreenDaily
Fresh off of winning her second career Grammy, Kylie Minogue has signed with UTA for live representation in the United States and Canada and acting worldwide.
The Australian singer won the best pop dance recording Grammy — a new award — earlier this month for her viral hit “Padam Padam.” The song is from her 16th studio album, Tension, which was released last year and reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
Minogue, 55, won her first Grammy — best dance recording — in 2004 for her groovy hit “Come Into My World.” Her hits also include “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” “The Loco-motion” and “Love at First Sight,” among others.
She has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, earned five billion streams and launched nine U.K. No. 1 albums. She’s won three Brit Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and is the only female artist to score a No.
The Australian singer won the best pop dance recording Grammy — a new award — earlier this month for her viral hit “Padam Padam.” The song is from her 16th studio album, Tension, which was released last year and reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
Minogue, 55, won her first Grammy — best dance recording — in 2004 for her groovy hit “Come Into My World.” Her hits also include “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” “The Loco-motion” and “Love at First Sight,” among others.
She has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, earned five billion streams and launched nine U.K. No. 1 albums. She’s won three Brit Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and is the only female artist to score a No.
- 2/13/2024
- by Mesfin Fekadu
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Claire Denis, Leox Carax, Jim Sheridan, Atom Egoyan and Martin Hernandez will be the Masters for the 10th edition of Qumra, the Doha Film Institute’s annual incubator event.
The four directors plus sound designer and editor Hernandez will discuss their careers in individual talks with the Qumra delegates.
This year’s Qumra will run from March 1-6, with the 10th edition a key milestone for a Middle Eastern film event.
“As the Arab world’s first-of-its-kind talent incubator, Qumra has served as the preeminent platform for emerging talents to give their projects a distinct advantage through invaluable networking sessions with leading industry professionals,...
The four directors plus sound designer and editor Hernandez will discuss their careers in individual talks with the Qumra delegates.
This year’s Qumra will run from March 1-6, with the 10th edition a key milestone for a Middle Eastern film event.
“As the Arab world’s first-of-its-kind talent incubator, Qumra has served as the preeminent platform for emerging talents to give their projects a distinct advantage through invaluable networking sessions with leading industry professionals,...
- 2/5/2024
- ScreenDaily
Denis Lavant, the iconic French actor of Claire Denis’ “Beau Travail” and Leos Carax’ “Holy Motors,” stars in “Redoubt,” the feature debut of rising contemporary artist-turned-director John Skoog.
Currently in post, the black-and-white film is produced by Plattform Produktion, the Goteborg-based banner run by two-time Palme d’Or winning director Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Erik Hemmendorff. Skoog previously directed the California-set documentary short “Shadowland” which completed for a Golden Bear at the Berlinale.
“Redoubt” (“Reduit”) is a narrative film that expands on Skoog’s video installation by the same name which won the prestigious Baloise Art Prize in 2014, and is also part of the artist’s exhibition “Walls.”
Lavant’s reclusive character in “Redoubt” is inspired by Karl-Göran Persson, a farmer known as a good samaritan on the verge of madness, who lived near Skoog’s home town Kvidinge during WWII. After receiving a warning by the Swedish...
Currently in post, the black-and-white film is produced by Plattform Produktion, the Goteborg-based banner run by two-time Palme d’Or winning director Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Erik Hemmendorff. Skoog previously directed the California-set documentary short “Shadowland” which completed for a Golden Bear at the Berlinale.
“Redoubt” (“Reduit”) is a narrative film that expands on Skoog’s video installation by the same name which won the prestigious Baloise Art Prize in 2014, and is also part of the artist’s exhibition “Walls.”
Lavant’s reclusive character in “Redoubt” is inspired by Karl-Göran Persson, a farmer known as a good samaritan on the verge of madness, who lived near Skoog’s home town Kvidinge during WWII. After receiving a warning by the Swedish...
- 2/4/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Each winter, we invite Notebook contributors to take part in our unique twist on the year-end poll. Rather than tally their favorite new releases from the year, they’re asked to creatively pair a new release with an older film they watched for the first time that year: a “fantasy double feature.” We’re delighted by the range of responses this year; this year’s doubles offer up inspired combinations of moving-image art that might otherwise slip through the cracks.We invite you to plunge into this collective viewing scrapbook, which captures our writers at their most imaginative, adventurous, and thoughtful—maybe it'll motivate you to test some of these out (or come up with your own) over the holidays.We hope you enjoy the read, and find our sixteenth year appropriately sweet!{{notebook_form}}Paul AttardNEW: Skinamarink + Old: Room Film 1973Homebound horror films shrouded in darkness, ones that transform...
- 12/23/2023
- MUBI
“Medusa Deluxe” is here.
Truly unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, it’s a murder mystery set in a hairstyle competition. All of the characters are hairdressers, who have very strong opinions on hairstyles and on who the likely murderer is. Oh and the whole thing is shot like a single take (think “1917”), which adds to the sense that you are actually there, at the scene of the crime.
And while it might be easy to identify some of writer/director Thomas Hardiman’s influences, he is more than happy to run through key texts. There are many different, very strong flavors in “Medusa Deluxe” and they all work incredibly well together.
TheWrap spoke to Hardiman about where the movie came from, why the single-shot aesthetic was so important and why he’d really love to direct a “Where’s Waldo” movie (hint: it has to do with the...
Truly unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, it’s a murder mystery set in a hairstyle competition. All of the characters are hairdressers, who have very strong opinions on hairstyles and on who the likely murderer is. Oh and the whole thing is shot like a single take (think “1917”), which adds to the sense that you are actually there, at the scene of the crime.
And while it might be easy to identify some of writer/director Thomas Hardiman’s influences, he is more than happy to run through key texts. There are many different, very strong flavors in “Medusa Deluxe” and they all work incredibly well together.
TheWrap spoke to Hardiman about where the movie came from, why the single-shot aesthetic was so important and why he’d really love to direct a “Where’s Waldo” movie (hint: it has to do with the...
- 8/11/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Leos Carax, whose latest film “Annette” won best director at Cannes in 2021, will shed light on his enigmatic and singular body of work in his next project “It’s Not Me.”
The self-portrait film reunites Carax with French actor Denis Lavant whom he directed in five of his most famous films, including “Boy Meets Girl,” “Bad Blood,” “Lovers on the Bridge,” and Berlinale prizewinning “Holy Motors.”
Les Films du Losange, the Paris-based company which won this year’s Berlinale Golden Bear with Nicolas Philibert’s On The Adamant, will distribute “It’s Not Me” in France, as well as represent the film in international markets. “It’s Not Me” also reteams Carax with Charles Gillibert at CG Cinema, who produced “Annette.” After world premiering at Cannes, the ambitious English language musical drama went on to win many laurels, including best director at the Cesar Awards. It also earned a Cesar nomination for Driver,...
The self-portrait film reunites Carax with French actor Denis Lavant whom he directed in five of his most famous films, including “Boy Meets Girl,” “Bad Blood,” “Lovers on the Bridge,” and Berlinale prizewinning “Holy Motors.”
Les Films du Losange, the Paris-based company which won this year’s Berlinale Golden Bear with Nicolas Philibert’s On The Adamant, will distribute “It’s Not Me” in France, as well as represent the film in international markets. “It’s Not Me” also reteams Carax with Charles Gillibert at CG Cinema, who produced “Annette.” After world premiering at Cannes, the ambitious English language musical drama went on to win many laurels, including best director at the Cesar Awards. It also earned a Cesar nomination for Driver,...
- 6/21/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.NEWSLeos Carax in Holy Motors (2012).On Monday, SAG-AFTRA members voted 97.9 percent in favor of a strike if their contract negotiations stall. This sets the stage for an industry-wide work stoppage in solidarity with the Writers Guild, even after the weekend’s news that the Directors Guild had reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.Away from Hollywood, CG Cinema have confirmed that Leos Carax has wrapped production on a new film, C’est pas moi, set to release in 2024. This is a "free format" self-portrait, spanning the "major stations" of Carax's four-decade career amid "the political tremors of the time." The images shared by CG Cinema feature Denis Lavant in character as Monsieur Merde, made infamous in...
- 6/7/2023
- MUBI
Rights to ‘Man in Black,” one of two documentary films by China’s Wang Bing to appear in Official Selection at Cannes this year, have been picked up by specialty sales agency Asian Shadows.
The 60-minute film, which will debut as a special screening, is a portrait of 86-year-old Wang Xilin, one of China’s most important modern classical composers and is now lives in exile in Germany. It was made in close collaboration with French cinematographer Caroline Champetier, whose credits include Leos Carax’s “Holy Motors,” Amos Gitai’s “Promised Land” and Andre Techine’s “Alice and Martin.”
During the 1960s, when China’s Cultural Revolution forced intellectuals into the fields and stripped the middle classes of their wealth, Wang Xilin was the was the target of severe persecution, including beatings, imprisonment and torture. The film examines the body and soul of a man scarred by a life of suffering,...
The 60-minute film, which will debut as a special screening, is a portrait of 86-year-old Wang Xilin, one of China’s most important modern classical composers and is now lives in exile in Germany. It was made in close collaboration with French cinematographer Caroline Champetier, whose credits include Leos Carax’s “Holy Motors,” Amos Gitai’s “Promised Land” and Andre Techine’s “Alice and Martin.”
During the 1960s, when China’s Cultural Revolution forced intellectuals into the fields and stripped the middle classes of their wealth, Wang Xilin was the was the target of severe persecution, including beatings, imprisonment and torture. The film examines the body and soul of a man scarred by a life of suffering,...
- 4/21/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Nothing beats a good car chase in a movie. These wacky stunts are a hallmark of modern Hollywood blockbusters, but they've been around since silent films. Nowadays, car-centric flicks conjure images of "The Fast & Furious" and "Mad Max" franchises. However, action doesn't always have to be the focus.
Cars playing an integral part in developing a main character always hold more weight for me than a gonzo chase scene. We see a sense of isolation from society in movies like "Taxi Driver" and "Drive." Meanwhile, in John Carpenter's 1983 horror, "Christine," the auto becomes a ruthless death machine. The Stephen King adaptation makes for a clever metaphor about bullying, acceptance, and toxic masculinity in teens.
It would be unfair to say that a car movie can't be enjoyed without the profound social commentary of a Martin Scorsese film or the brooding touches of Nicolas Winding Refn. Sometimes, we crave high-octane...
Cars playing an integral part in developing a main character always hold more weight for me than a gonzo chase scene. We see a sense of isolation from society in movies like "Taxi Driver" and "Drive." Meanwhile, in John Carpenter's 1983 horror, "Christine," the auto becomes a ruthless death machine. The Stephen King adaptation makes for a clever metaphor about bullying, acceptance, and toxic masculinity in teens.
It would be unfair to say that a car movie can't be enjoyed without the profound social commentary of a Martin Scorsese film or the brooding touches of Nicolas Winding Refn. Sometimes, we crave high-octane...
- 4/15/2023
- by Marta Djordjevic
- Slash Film
Festival to also honour French cinematographer Caroline Champetier with honorary Berlinale Camera.
The Berlinale has added the world premiere of documentary Love To Love You, Donna Summer and a tribute to a century of Disney animation to its upcoming 73rd edition.
The additions complete the lineup for the Berlinale Special sidebar at the festival, set to run February 16-26.
Love To Love You, Donna Summer is co-directed by Roger Ross Williams, Oscar nominated in 2016 for Life, Animated, and US actress Brooklyn Sudano, who is the daughter of Summer and makes her directorial debut with the film.
The documentary will explore...
The Berlinale has added the world premiere of documentary Love To Love You, Donna Summer and a tribute to a century of Disney animation to its upcoming 73rd edition.
The additions complete the lineup for the Berlinale Special sidebar at the festival, set to run February 16-26.
Love To Love You, Donna Summer is co-directed by Roger Ross Williams, Oscar nominated in 2016 for Life, Animated, and US actress Brooklyn Sudano, who is the daughter of Summer and makes her directorial debut with the film.
The documentary will explore...
- 1/30/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The 2023 Berlin International Film Festival will honor French cinematographer Caroline Champetier with a Berlinale Camera award for lifetime achievement.
Champetier, who has lensed groundbreaking work for such directors as François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Leos Carax, Claude Lanzmann and Margarethe von Trotta, will be presented with the award at this year’s Berlinale on Feb. 23.
The veteran French cinematographer has sat behind the camera on more than 100 feature films and numerous shorts, from the start of her career in the early 1980s with Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit (1982) and Jacques Rivette’s Le Pont du Nord (1981), through such acclaimed films as Xavier Beauvois’ Of Gods and Men (2011), as well as von Trotta’s Hannah Arendt (2012) and Carax’s Holy Motors (2012) and Annette (2021).
Holy Motors won Champetier the Silver Frog at the 2012 Camerimage festival, which celebrates cinematographers, and she has received five César nominations, winning once for Of Gods and Men.
Champetier, who has lensed groundbreaking work for such directors as François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Leos Carax, Claude Lanzmann and Margarethe von Trotta, will be presented with the award at this year’s Berlinale on Feb. 23.
The veteran French cinematographer has sat behind the camera on more than 100 feature films and numerous shorts, from the start of her career in the early 1980s with Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit (1982) and Jacques Rivette’s Le Pont du Nord (1981), through such acclaimed films as Xavier Beauvois’ Of Gods and Men (2011), as well as von Trotta’s Hannah Arendt (2012) and Carax’s Holy Motors (2012) and Annette (2021).
Holy Motors won Champetier the Silver Frog at the 2012 Camerimage festival, which celebrates cinematographers, and she has received five César nominations, winning once for Of Gods and Men.
- 1/30/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A version of this review first ran during the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
When you saw Joaquin Phoenix dancing down those outdoor steps toward the end of “Joker,” you probably didn’t think about Princess Elsa belting out “Let It Go” in the 2013 animated film “Frozen.” But Mark Cousins did –- and that’s the difference between him and you and me and the rest of the people who see Cousins make that juxtaposition in his documentary “The Story of Film: A New Generation.”
Cousins ties Joker and Elsa together because of the defiance at the heart of his dance and her song, and he does so at the start of “The Story of Film: A New Generation.” The documentary was an extraordinarily apt film to screen on the opening afternoon of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, which came 14 months after the pandemic had forced the festival to cancel its 2020 edition. The...
When you saw Joaquin Phoenix dancing down those outdoor steps toward the end of “Joker,” you probably didn’t think about Princess Elsa belting out “Let It Go” in the 2013 animated film “Frozen.” But Mark Cousins did –- and that’s the difference between him and you and me and the rest of the people who see Cousins make that juxtaposition in his documentary “The Story of Film: A New Generation.”
Cousins ties Joker and Elsa together because of the defiance at the heart of his dance and her song, and he does so at the start of “The Story of Film: A New Generation.” The documentary was an extraordinarily apt film to screen on the opening afternoon of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, which came 14 months after the pandemic had forced the festival to cancel its 2020 edition. The...
- 9/9/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
In Morocco, homosexuality is banned and just one in five citizens find gayness “acceptable,” at least according to a 2019 poll. An Elton John concert twelve years ago broke the law, but was personally approved by Morocco’s king. Still, Grindr thrives, and third-largest city, Tangier, has a decades-long tradition as a haven for LGBT+ culture in North Africa.
Morocco thus makes a fitting setting for British sophomore director Fyzal Boulifa’s challenging melodrama “The Damned Don’t Cry,” a loose remake of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Mamma Roma,” which was nominated for the Golden Lion sixty Venice Film Festivals ago. But selectors in this year’s Giornate Degli Autori sidebar program did not place Boulifa’s film out of sentimentality alone. “The Damned Don’t Cry” is excellent, asking tough questions about society and morality without easy answers or neat conclusions. Non-actors populate the cast, performing terrifically, in one of many nods...
Morocco thus makes a fitting setting for British sophomore director Fyzal Boulifa’s challenging melodrama “The Damned Don’t Cry,” a loose remake of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Mamma Roma,” which was nominated for the Golden Lion sixty Venice Film Festivals ago. But selectors in this year’s Giornate Degli Autori sidebar program did not place Boulifa’s film out of sentimentality alone. “The Damned Don’t Cry” is excellent, asking tough questions about society and morality without easy answers or neat conclusions. Non-actors populate the cast, performing terrifically, in one of many nods...
- 9/8/2022
- by Adam Solomons
- Indiewire
So…what is sci-fi? It’s not the easiest question to answer when “sci-fi elements” permeate so many of the biggest blockbusters: thought-provoking genre concepts flattened into one-size-fits-all franchise fodder that make countless titles “feel” and, on occasion, even look the same.
Yes, science fiction is rooted in profound origins, examining humanity’s deep-seated fear of itself and the intimidating possibility of worlds unknown. But the last two decades have seen a metaphoric rush on sci-fi storytelling that’s left the once niche subgenre a supersaturated movie market. On the one hand, that’s produced an onslaught of sci-fi(ish) titles that aren’t always up to snuff. But on the other, it’s prompted some of the best sci-fi films ever made. Masterworks like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” both arrived this year, and top our list at number five and number eight respectively.
Simply put: In...
Yes, science fiction is rooted in profound origins, examining humanity’s deep-seated fear of itself and the intimidating possibility of worlds unknown. But the last two decades have seen a metaphoric rush on sci-fi storytelling that’s left the once niche subgenre a supersaturated movie market. On the one hand, that’s produced an onslaught of sci-fi(ish) titles that aren’t always up to snuff. But on the other, it’s prompted some of the best sci-fi films ever made. Masterworks like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” both arrived this year, and top our list at number five and number eight respectively.
Simply put: In...
- 7/28/2022
- by Kate Erbland, Chris O'Falt and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Eva Mendes has floated a potential end to her near-decade long hiatus from acting. The actor has not starred in a feature film since a small supporting role in partner Ryan Gosling’s 2014’s directorial effort “Lost River,” although she lent her voice to a role on a 2021 episode of “Bluey” on ABC Kids. Mendes appeared on “The View” and said her potential return to acting would have specific requirements.
“I have such a short list of what I will do, with four kids,” Mendes said (via Entertainment Weekly). “I mean, if it was a fun project. But now I won’t do violence, I don’t want to do sexuality, the list is short.”
“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin asked Mendes if she would end her acting break if a “special project” came her way that met all of her requirements, to which the actor answered, “I hope so.
“I have such a short list of what I will do, with four kids,” Mendes said (via Entertainment Weekly). “I mean, if it was a fun project. But now I won’t do violence, I don’t want to do sexuality, the list is short.”
“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin asked Mendes if she would end her acting break if a “special project” came her way that met all of her requirements, to which the actor answered, “I hope so.
- 5/10/2022
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
Leos Carax and Sparks’ ‘Annette’ Evolution: A Failed Tim Burton Musical, 80 Original Songs, and More
[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in August 2021 and has been updated. It includes some mild spoilers about the plot of “Annette.”]
This has been a most unusual year for Sparks. The pop rock duo, comprised of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have adapted to the strange trajectory of their fame that has followed them for 50-odd years. Despite some diehard fans in the U.S., their energetic and eclectic compositions have been far more appreciated across Europe. Needless to say, it took a few Europeans to bring Sparks back into the limelight. First came the June release of Edgar Wright’s sprawling documentary “The Sparks Brothers,” which reintroduced them to American audiences just in time for “Annette” to open the Cannes Film Festival in July. The unorthodox rock opera marks the latest undertaking by elusive French auteur Leos Carax, whose previous feature, “Holy Motors,” came out nearly a decade ago.
Carax never really stopped working. The filmmaker spent almost eight years collaborating with Sparks on “Annette,” which stars Adam Driver as Henry,...
This has been a most unusual year for Sparks. The pop rock duo, comprised of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have adapted to the strange trajectory of their fame that has followed them for 50-odd years. Despite some diehard fans in the U.S., their energetic and eclectic compositions have been far more appreciated across Europe. Needless to say, it took a few Europeans to bring Sparks back into the limelight. First came the June release of Edgar Wright’s sprawling documentary “The Sparks Brothers,” which reintroduced them to American audiences just in time for “Annette” to open the Cannes Film Festival in July. The unorthodox rock opera marks the latest undertaking by elusive French auteur Leos Carax, whose previous feature, “Holy Motors,” came out nearly a decade ago.
Carax never really stopped working. The filmmaker spent almost eight years collaborating with Sparks on “Annette,” which stars Adam Driver as Henry,...
- 11/23/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
As 2021 winds down, like most cinephiles, we’re looking to get our eyes on titles that may have slipped under the radar or simply gone unseen, so—as we do each year—we’re sharing a rundown of the best titles available to watch at home.
Curated from the Best Films of 2021 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up with. While our year-end coverage is still to come, including our staff’s top 50 films of 2021, this streaming guide will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to find notable, perhaps underseen, titles of late.
Note that we’re going by U.S. releases and that streaming services are limited solely to the territory as well. If you want to stay up-to-date with new titles being made available,...
Curated from the Best Films of 2021 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up with. While our year-end coverage is still to come, including our staff’s top 50 films of 2021, this streaming guide will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to find notable, perhaps underseen, titles of late.
Note that we’re going by U.S. releases and that streaming services are limited solely to the territory as well. If you want to stay up-to-date with new titles being made available,...
- 11/23/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Further new openers include ‘Wildfire’, ‘Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins’.
Blockbuster and independent titles are on releaes at UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend, with Disney debuting Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings, and Mubi launching Leos Carax’s Cannes opener Annette.
Playing in 643 locations for Disney and made under the Marvel Studios banner, Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings tells the story of a master of unarmed weaponry-based Kung Fu, who is forced to confront his past after being drawn into the Ten Rings organisation.
The film is a substantial step up in budget and...
Blockbuster and independent titles are on releaes at UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend, with Disney debuting Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings, and Mubi launching Leos Carax’s Cannes opener Annette.
Playing in 643 locations for Disney and made under the Marvel Studios banner, Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings tells the story of a master of unarmed weaponry-based Kung Fu, who is forced to confront his past after being drawn into the Ten Rings organisation.
The film is a substantial step up in budget and...
- 9/3/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Swedish producer Erik Hemmendorff, Ruben Östlund’s regular production partner at Plattform Produktion, has attached “Holy Motors” star Denis Lavant for the sophomore pic from John Skoog, which has the Swedish working title of “Värn” (”Redoubt”).
Hemmendorff was also behind the Sundance-selected pic “Pleasure” by Ninja Thyberg, which screens at this week’s Norwegian Intl. Film Festival in Haugesund as well as its adjoining New Nordic Films confab (Aug.24-27).
Known for his poetic works, grounded in the nature and stories from his native Scania, southern Sweden, Skoog scooped the Dox:Award at Copenhagen’s Cph:dox Fest in 2019 for his hybrid debut feature ”Ridge.”
Currently in pre-production, “Värn” marks the feature length version of the helmer’s short film “Reduit” (“Redoubt”) which won Göteborg’s Starladden short film prize and a prestigious Bâloise Art Prize in 2015. Over the last 10 years, Skoog has researched and used as a prime source of inspiration...
Hemmendorff was also behind the Sundance-selected pic “Pleasure” by Ninja Thyberg, which screens at this week’s Norwegian Intl. Film Festival in Haugesund as well as its adjoining New Nordic Films confab (Aug.24-27).
Known for his poetic works, grounded in the nature and stories from his native Scania, southern Sweden, Skoog scooped the Dox:Award at Copenhagen’s Cph:dox Fest in 2019 for his hybrid debut feature ”Ridge.”
Currently in pre-production, “Värn” marks the feature length version of the helmer’s short film “Reduit” (“Redoubt”) which won Göteborg’s Starladden short film prize and a prestigious Bâloise Art Prize in 2015. Over the last 10 years, Skoog has researched and used as a prime source of inspiration...
- 8/23/2021
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Irony is a word that pops up a lot in discussing the group Sparks — in their content, and in their career. And here’s an irony for you: When brothers Ron and Russell Mael created a project called “The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman” many years back, it was with the intent of it being a movie musical, with roles for 13 actors. That didn’t pan out, so it ended up as an album and nearly impossible-to-stage touring show. In reaction to that experience, they bypassed any thought of their next rock opera, “Annette,” being a movie, and kept it to four key characters so that it would work more easily as a concept album and tour. And, of course, that’s the one that became a movie musical.
French director Leos Carax’s adaptation makes its streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video this weekend after opening in theaters two weeks ago.
French director Leos Carax’s adaptation makes its streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video this weekend after opening in theaters two weeks ago.
- 8/21/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Andrzej Munk Retrospective
An influence on the likes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Roman Polanski, and Jerzy Skolimowski, and more, Andrzej Munk’s filmography is quite unspoken of here in the United States. Hopefully that will change with the arrival of new restorations, featuring his early political documentaries and his subsequent features including Bad Luck, Eroica, Man on the Tracks, and Passenger, which was finished after his untimely death in 1961.
Where to Stream: Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema
Annette (Leos Carax)
In Annette, a provocative comedian (Adam Driver) and renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard) fall in love and have a gifted child. Written and composed by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, the singular rock band that formed in the early 1970s,...
Andrzej Munk Retrospective
An influence on the likes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Roman Polanski, and Jerzy Skolimowski, and more, Andrzej Munk’s filmography is quite unspoken of here in the United States. Hopefully that will change with the arrival of new restorations, featuring his early political documentaries and his subsequent features including Bad Luck, Eroica, Man on the Tracks, and Passenger, which was finished after his untimely death in 1961.
Where to Stream: Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema
Annette (Leos Carax)
In Annette, a provocative comedian (Adam Driver) and renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard) fall in love and have a gifted child. Written and composed by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, the singular rock band that formed in the early 1970s,...
- 8/20/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
This review of “Annette” was first published on July 6, 2021 after the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
When Leos Carax’s “Holy Motors” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May of 2012, it screened just past the halfway mark of the 12-day festival — an ideal position for Carax’s lunatic fantasy to set the festival abuzz, drawing a mixture of raves and boos and WTFs.
But when Carax’s new film, “Annette,” premiered at Cannes, it faced a tougher road. The French filmmaker, after all, has the opening-night competition slot this year, which means his new film can’t come as a breath of fresh, weird air the way his last film did. This year, he’s setting the tone, not providing the contrast.
Besides, “Annette” (an Amazon Studios release) may be bonkers in its own way, but it’s less bonkers than “Holy Motors” was. Carax set...
When Leos Carax’s “Holy Motors” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May of 2012, it screened just past the halfway mark of the 12-day festival — an ideal position for Carax’s lunatic fantasy to set the festival abuzz, drawing a mixture of raves and boos and WTFs.
But when Carax’s new film, “Annette,” premiered at Cannes, it faced a tougher road. The French filmmaker, after all, has the opening-night competition slot this year, which means his new film can’t come as a breath of fresh, weird air the way his last film did. This year, he’s setting the tone, not providing the contrast.
Besides, “Annette” (an Amazon Studios release) may be bonkers in its own way, but it’s less bonkers than “Holy Motors” was. Carax set...
- 8/19/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Legendary French actor Denis Lavant, best known for his collaborations with “Annette” director Leos Carax, has found the latest role he will disappear into.
Lavant is set to star in “Blood Burn,” a French-Georgian gangster thriller which is currently being presented in the Locarno Film Festival’s Alliance 4 Development program.
The film hails from first-time feature director Akaki Popkhadze and is based on his own experiences of immigrating from Georgia to the “poor neighborhoods” of Nice when he was 13 years old.
Set in that environment that Popkhadze knows like the back of his hand, the action in “Blood Burn” kicks off when a pillar of the local Georgian community is murdered. His son Tristan, who aspires to become an orthodox priest, finds himself alone with his grieving mother. Then Gabriel, his older brother with a troubled past, returns from a long exile to try and make amends by washing away his family’s honor.
Lavant is set to star in “Blood Burn,” a French-Georgian gangster thriller which is currently being presented in the Locarno Film Festival’s Alliance 4 Development program.
The film hails from first-time feature director Akaki Popkhadze and is based on his own experiences of immigrating from Georgia to the “poor neighborhoods” of Nice when he was 13 years old.
Set in that environment that Popkhadze knows like the back of his hand, the action in “Blood Burn” kicks off when a pillar of the local Georgian community is murdered. His son Tristan, who aspires to become an orthodox priest, finds himself alone with his grieving mother. Then Gabriel, his older brother with a troubled past, returns from a long exile to try and make amends by washing away his family’s honor.
- 8/8/2021
- by Will Thorne
- Variety Film + TV
Over the next two weeks, we’ll see theatrical releases for two of the year’s most important specialized films. On August 6, Amazon opens the Leos Carax musical “Annette” starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, which premiered in Cannes on opening night. Apple opens “Coda” August 13 — the most expensive Sundance acquisition ever and the festival’s top prize winner this year.
These important titles at key film festivals are now in the purview of their streaming distributors. That turns what was once a relatively straightforward proposal — promoting a film’s theatrical run — into something much more complex, even political. How does a streamer distribute a film that was made to be seen in theaters while not undermining the reason that it bought the title in the first place — i.e., to tempt the public to subscribe so they can see it at home?
It’s an awkward equation, sometimes courtesy...
These important titles at key film festivals are now in the purview of their streaming distributors. That turns what was once a relatively straightforward proposal — promoting a film’s theatrical run — into something much more complex, even political. How does a streamer distribute a film that was made to be seen in theaters while not undermining the reason that it bought the title in the first place — i.e., to tempt the public to subscribe so they can see it at home?
It’s an awkward equation, sometimes courtesy...
- 8/6/2021
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Jury and Award Winners – Photo Closing Ceremony 2021 © Valery Hache / Afp “It’s been an exceptional Festival. It was supposed to be, and it’s certainly lived up to its promise. For 12 days, the 74th Festival de Cannes has celebrated our reunion with the cinema as a great international event full of discoveries, encounters and sharing. On the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, the Master of Ceremonies, Doria Tillier, was joined by the Feature Film Jury chaired by Spike Lee and composed of Mati Diop, Mylène Farmer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Hausner, Mélanie Laurent, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Tahar Rahim and Song Kang-ho, for the announcement of the 2021 Awards.” Feature Films Palme d’or Titane directed by Julia Ducournau “The award was presented by Sharon Stone and Spike Lee. Julia Ducournau said: “There is so much beauty and emotion to be found in what cannot be pigeonholed. Thank you to the Jury...
- 7/18/2021
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
Leos Carax was sitting barefoot on the balcony of the Majestic Hotel in Cannes, chain-smoking as he gazed out at the French Riviera behind the sunglasses glued to his face. “Why don’t people in musicals fuck?” he wondered. “It’s not a rule, but it seems weird. Probably because it’s an old genre.”
With “Annette,” Carax is rewriting plenty of rules. By the time Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard shed their clothes, the Sparks musical has already launched its revisionist approach to the genre. The first song, “So May We Start,” finds Carax, the band, and the lead characters walking down the streets of Los Angeles and literally arriving at the plot of the movie.
The opening night Cannes selection, which Amazon Studios releases in the U.S. this August, blends the “Holy Motors” filmmaker’s usual enigmatic storytelling with a rock opera structure driven by the band’s compositions.
With “Annette,” Carax is rewriting plenty of rules. By the time Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard shed their clothes, the Sparks musical has already launched its revisionist approach to the genre. The first song, “So May We Start,” finds Carax, the band, and the lead characters walking down the streets of Los Angeles and literally arriving at the plot of the movie.
The opening night Cannes selection, which Amazon Studios releases in the U.S. this August, blends the “Holy Motors” filmmaker’s usual enigmatic storytelling with a rock opera structure driven by the band’s compositions.
- 7/10/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The first lavish, in-person film festival premiere since the start of the coronavirus pandemic left critics divided — a welcome return to the relative normalcy that marked life before Covid-19.
On Tuesday, the Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off with the debut of the Leos Carax film “Annette,” starring two-time Oscar nominee Adam Driver and former Oscar winner Marion Cotillard and featuring original music from the band Sparks. Set to premiere in theaters on August 6 before a streaming release on Amazon Prime Video on August 20, the musical focuses on the star-crossed relationship between a bitter stand-up comedian (Driver) and an acclaimed soprano (Cotillard) and leans heavily on the magical realism for which Carax (whose last film was 2011’s “Holy Motors”) is known.
“Carax has directed just six movies in nearly 40 years, and ‘Annette’ is the latest proof why: Each one turns on such an intense burst of aesthetic desire that it...
On Tuesday, the Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off with the debut of the Leos Carax film “Annette,” starring two-time Oscar nominee Adam Driver and former Oscar winner Marion Cotillard and featuring original music from the band Sparks. Set to premiere in theaters on August 6 before a streaming release on Amazon Prime Video on August 20, the musical focuses on the star-crossed relationship between a bitter stand-up comedian (Driver) and an acclaimed soprano (Cotillard) and leans heavily on the magical realism for which Carax (whose last film was 2011’s “Holy Motors”) is known.
“Carax has directed just six movies in nearly 40 years, and ‘Annette’ is the latest proof why: Each one turns on such an intense burst of aesthetic desire that it...
- 7/7/2021
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
In Annette, a provocative comedian (Adam Driver) and renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard) fall in love and have a gifted child. Written and composed by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, the singular rock band that formed in the early 1970s, the musical is directed by Leos Carax, making his long-awaited return with his first feature since Holy Motors in 2012. (The Maels reached out after Carax used one of their songs in that film.) And though a dyed-in-the-wool collaboration, it remains an unmistakably Caraxian film—not long after Sparks’ overture (“This is the start!” goes the refrain) does the director dip into his own back catalog: a motorbike, shot from low, tearing down an illuminated tunnel at night; glistening limousines; nods to Jean Vigo and Melville; eroticism; lots of cigarettes. It really has been too long.
Held over from last year, Annette was chosen to reopen Cannes as the first...
Held over from last year, Annette was chosen to reopen Cannes as the first...
- 7/7/2021
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Cannes is back, in slightly altered form. It’s hotter in July. Crowds are smaller, hotels are not full, nor are the screenings in the market; many of the usual attendees stayed home, from top critics from the New York and Los Angeles Times and IMDb chief Col Needham to Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard (his partner Michael Barker made the trip).
Supplying Tuesday’s opening-night glamour to the tapis rouge were Jessica Chastain, returning to the Croisette 10 years after “Tree of Life;” French-speaker Jodie Foster, sheathed in white with her wife on her arm, who graciously accepted a Palme d’Or life achievement award 45 years after the Cannes debut of “Taxi Driver;” and “Parasite” Palme d’Or and Oscar-winner winner Bong Joon Ho, who said, “Seeing you all here, I have the impression there hasn’t been a break; maybe the festival had a break, but cinema never stopped.
Supplying Tuesday’s opening-night glamour to the tapis rouge were Jessica Chastain, returning to the Croisette 10 years after “Tree of Life;” French-speaker Jodie Foster, sheathed in white with her wife on her arm, who graciously accepted a Palme d’Or life achievement award 45 years after the Cannes debut of “Taxi Driver;” and “Parasite” Palme d’Or and Oscar-winner winner Bong Joon Ho, who said, “Seeing you all here, I have the impression there hasn’t been a break; maybe the festival had a break, but cinema never stopped.
- 7/7/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Cannes is back, in slightly altered form. It’s hotter in July. Crowds are smaller, hotels are not full, nor are the screenings in the market; many of the usual attendees stayed home, from top critics from the New York and Los Angeles Times and IMDb chief Col Needham to Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard (his partner Michael Barker made the trip).
Supplying Tuesday’s opening-night glamour to the tapis rouge were Jessica Chastain, returning to the Croisette 10 years after “Tree of Life;” French-speaker Jodie Foster, sheathed in white with her wife on her arm, who graciously accepted a Palme d’Or life achievement award 45 years after the Cannes debut of “Taxi Driver;” and “Parasite” Palme d’Or and Oscar-winner winner Bong Joon Ho, who said, “Seeing you all here, I have the impression there hasn’t been a break; maybe the festival had a break, but cinema never stopped.
Supplying Tuesday’s opening-night glamour to the tapis rouge were Jessica Chastain, returning to the Croisette 10 years after “Tree of Life;” French-speaker Jodie Foster, sheathed in white with her wife on her arm, who graciously accepted a Palme d’Or life achievement award 45 years after the Cannes debut of “Taxi Driver;” and “Parasite” Palme d’Or and Oscar-winner winner Bong Joon Ho, who said, “Seeing you all here, I have the impression there hasn’t been a break; maybe the festival had a break, but cinema never stopped.
- 7/7/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The stars of Cannes Film Festival opener “Annette” opened up on Wednesday about the demands of making Leos Carax’s rock opera and the film’s parallels with the real-life demands of fame.
Launching the festival on Tuesday night, “Annette” was met with mixed reception. The musical — about two star-crossed artists who give birth to a baby girl, Annette (who is largely portrayed by various dolls), and whose lives are chronicled by the paparazzi — is in no way conventional and chock full of melancholy songs that were sung live by stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard during filming.
Hundreds of people left the screening halfway through, but that didn’t stop the film from getting a five-minute standing ovation, during which the “Holy Motors” director lit up a cigarette he shared with Driver.
The actor, who also executive produced the film, was absent from the Wednesday press conference. While a...
Launching the festival on Tuesday night, “Annette” was met with mixed reception. The musical — about two star-crossed artists who give birth to a baby girl, Annette (who is largely portrayed by various dolls), and whose lives are chronicled by the paparazzi — is in no way conventional and chock full of melancholy songs that were sung live by stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard during filming.
Hundreds of people left the screening halfway through, but that didn’t stop the film from getting a five-minute standing ovation, during which the “Holy Motors” director lit up a cigarette he shared with Driver.
The actor, who also executive produced the film, was absent from the Wednesday press conference. While a...
- 7/7/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Well that’s one way to kick off Cannes.
“Annette,” the opening-night film of the festival that stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, turned some heads Tuesday with some surreal, head-scratching moments and a few divisive reactions from critics, even as it earned a five-minute standing ovation from the crowd.
“Holy Motors” director Leos Carax’s latest film is a pop opera with a story and original songs by the duo Sparks, and the movie features everything from a marionette baby, musical head trips and, as at least one critic pointed out, two shots of Driver even briefly singing into Cotillard’s vagina.
“I thought Adam Driver doing Bo Burnham-style stand-up and having a horrifying robot baby with Marion Cotillard was weird but ‘Annette’ just kept outdoing itself,” critic Iana Murray wrote of the film. “A true s—post of a movie. Don’t know if i like it...
“Annette,” the opening-night film of the festival that stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, turned some heads Tuesday with some surreal, head-scratching moments and a few divisive reactions from critics, even as it earned a five-minute standing ovation from the crowd.
“Holy Motors” director Leos Carax’s latest film is a pop opera with a story and original songs by the duo Sparks, and the movie features everything from a marionette baby, musical head trips and, as at least one critic pointed out, two shots of Driver even briefly singing into Cotillard’s vagina.
“I thought Adam Driver doing Bo Burnham-style stand-up and having a horrifying robot baby with Marion Cotillard was weird but ‘Annette’ just kept outdoing itself,” critic Iana Murray wrote of the film. “A true s—post of a movie. Don’t know if i like it...
- 7/6/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
The musical groove of Amazon Studios’ “Annette” has landed within the confines of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. While the terms “strange” and “quirky” will be understatements used to describe the operatic musical, it’s the type of eclectic and artistically charged cinematic endeavor that has always brought a cinephile to the movies, and one that could appeal to the European voting arm of the Academy Awards in multiple artisan categories, and attainably major recognition for Simon Helberg in supporting actor. Contingent on how the rest of the dense and packed year shakes out from other studios, there could be a prospect for its top-billed stars, and perhaps even a best picture nomination play. Still, it will require an ardent and vocal base within the Oscar ranks to get this kind of peculiar object through the awards machine.
“Annette” tells the story of stand-up comedian Henry McHenry (Adam Driver) and...
“Annette” tells the story of stand-up comedian Henry McHenry (Adam Driver) and...
- 7/6/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
‘Annette’ Review: Adam Driver Is a Deranged Force of Nature in Carax’s Mind-Blowing Musical Fantasia
Before “Annette” dives into 140-odd minutes of moody songs and swooning tragicomic twists, director Leos Carax takes charge. In a grumbling voiceover, he advises his viewers to “hold you breath until the very end of the show.” It’s exactly the sort of impossible request that makes sense for this mind-blowing musical fantasia:
Combining the energizing compositions of Sparks with Carax’s ever-enigmatic creativity, “Annette” powers through its expressive rock opera conceit with a propulsive Adam Driver at its center. He sings through virtually every scene as if the world depended on it. And for the purposes of this movie, it does: Carax’s first directorial effort that he didn’t write, “Annette” turns on the peculiar balance of the Sparks’ compositions, Carax’s operatic style, and Driver’s deranged performance as a comedian doomed to fail. Sure, there’s also a wooden baby that sings and the occasional cutaway to a melancholic gorilla,...
Combining the energizing compositions of Sparks with Carax’s ever-enigmatic creativity, “Annette” powers through its expressive rock opera conceit with a propulsive Adam Driver at its center. He sings through virtually every scene as if the world depended on it. And for the purposes of this movie, it does: Carax’s first directorial effort that he didn’t write, “Annette” turns on the peculiar balance of the Sparks’ compositions, Carax’s operatic style, and Driver’s deranged performance as a comedian doomed to fail. Sure, there’s also a wooden baby that sings and the occasional cutaway to a melancholic gorilla,...
- 7/6/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Debuting on opening night of the Cannes Film Festival a full year after it was originally expected to appear, “Annette” arrives on a pedestal from which it’s too easily toppled. This latest dose of weirdness from “Holy Motors” director Leos Carax — a tortured celebrity love story set to the maddening music of Sparks and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard — would surely fare better in an underdog position than anointed from the outset. It’s not for everyone, as there’s little demand for 140-minute bummer musicals at the moment, though Carax’s grand experiment is certainly bold enough to find its share of defenders.
Maybe “Annette” is just ahead of its time, as champions of avant-garde duo Russell and Ron Mael, aka Sparks, like to say of the pair who wrote it, although Carax’s interpretation of their ironic endeavor reaches backward, braiding the sincerity of silent film with postmodern self-awareness,...
Maybe “Annette” is just ahead of its time, as champions of avant-garde duo Russell and Ron Mael, aka Sparks, like to say of the pair who wrote it, although Carax’s interpretation of their ironic endeavor reaches backward, braiding the sincerity of silent film with postmodern self-awareness,...
- 7/6/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Since 1984, Leos Carax has only made five features, and all but one of them have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, usually to feverish anticipation. This year, festivalgoers will be looking to see how the 60-year-old French maverick—aka Alex Christophe Dupont—will top his intoxicatingly strange 2012 competition entry Holy Motors, which featured talking limos, chimpanzees and Kylie Minogue. They’ll get their answer when Cannes raises the curtain tonight on this year’s opener Annette, a thematically dark, visually kaleidoscopic rock opera he co-wrote with U.S. pop duo Sparks, and which stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard.
Deadline: What is your strongest memory of Cannes? Do you associate it with good times or bad times?
Leos Carax: What makes the Cannes experience special is the mix of good and bad— taste, faith, luck, etcetera.
The only time I stayed during the screening of one my films here was...
Deadline: What is your strongest memory of Cannes? Do you associate it with good times or bad times?
Leos Carax: What makes the Cannes experience special is the mix of good and bad— taste, faith, luck, etcetera.
The only time I stayed during the screening of one my films here was...
- 7/6/2021
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Leos Carax’s Annette is the much publicized and awaited opening film of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival kicking off tonight, but actually it is filmmaker Mark Cousins who can claim the glory of being the first film of the festival this year, and it just wrapped up its premiere screening this afternoon at the Debussy.
When fest director Thierry Fremaux saw The Story of Film: A New Generation, Cousins’ mouthwatering and mesmerizing two-hour, 40-minute tribute to recent cinema, he knew it was just what was needed for this year’s fest — the first in over two years and moved to July from May because of the lingering effects of the world pandemic that forced cancellation in 2020 of the all-important Cannes event for the first time since World War II. The aftermath of that pandemic is also part of Cousins’ sweeping survey of cinema spanning 2010-21 as a way of uncovering...
When fest director Thierry Fremaux saw The Story of Film: A New Generation, Cousins’ mouthwatering and mesmerizing two-hour, 40-minute tribute to recent cinema, he knew it was just what was needed for this year’s fest — the first in over two years and moved to July from May because of the lingering effects of the world pandemic that forced cancellation in 2020 of the all-important Cannes event for the first time since World War II. The aftermath of that pandemic is also part of Cousins’ sweeping survey of cinema spanning 2010-21 as a way of uncovering...
- 7/6/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
This year’s Cannes promises to be an edition unlike any other. More movies, fewer guests, plus a slew of logistical hurdles all add up to an epic case of Fomo — fear of missing out — for those too cautious to attend.
For those who do make the trek, however, Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux and his cohortsdown the Croisette seem determined to make it worth their while.
They’ve served up a slate that, sight unseen, has cinephiles salivating: The festival will kick off with “Annette,” a musical from “Holy Motors” director Leos Carax; and includes Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” (a film we could scarcely imagine premiering anywhere else); Paul Verhoeven’s portrait of a nun on fire, “Benedetta”; three films featuring auteur darling Tilda Swinton; four starring Léa Seydoux; plus a bounty of anticipated titles from leading international directors.
It’s a sampling that would get audiences excited in any year,...
For those who do make the trek, however, Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux and his cohortsdown the Croisette seem determined to make it worth their while.
They’ve served up a slate that, sight unseen, has cinephiles salivating: The festival will kick off with “Annette,” a musical from “Holy Motors” director Leos Carax; and includes Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” (a film we could scarcely imagine premiering anywhere else); Paul Verhoeven’s portrait of a nun on fire, “Benedetta”; three films featuring auteur darling Tilda Swinton; four starring Léa Seydoux; plus a bounty of anticipated titles from leading international directors.
It’s a sampling that would get audiences excited in any year,...
- 7/6/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival begins this week and one of the films that is going to debut there will be “Annette,” the movie is helmed by French filmmaker Leos Carax (“Holy Motors“) with a script penned by Carax alongside Ron Mael and Russell Mael, aka The Sparks Brothers, who will also have roles in the film. The siblings were recently the subject of a rock documentary “The Sparks Brothers” directed by Edgar Wright.
Read More: Review: ‘Holy Motors’ Is Beautiful Madness, Rabid And Resplendent
The contender has a cast consists of two-time Oscar-nominee Adam Driver (“Marriage Story,” “Logan Lucky,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Silence,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens“), Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard (“Flesh & Bone,” “Contagion,” “Macbeth,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Inception,” “The Dark Knight Rises“), Rila Fukushima (“The Wolverine,” “Ghost In The Shell“), Simon Helberg (“A Serious Man,” “Big Bang Theory“), and the aforementioned Sparks Brothers.
Read More: ‘The Sparks Brothers’: Edgar...
Read More: Review: ‘Holy Motors’ Is Beautiful Madness, Rabid And Resplendent
The contender has a cast consists of two-time Oscar-nominee Adam Driver (“Marriage Story,” “Logan Lucky,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Silence,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens“), Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard (“Flesh & Bone,” “Contagion,” “Macbeth,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Inception,” “The Dark Knight Rises“), Rila Fukushima (“The Wolverine,” “Ghost In The Shell“), Simon Helberg (“A Serious Man,” “Big Bang Theory“), and the aforementioned Sparks Brothers.
Read More: ‘The Sparks Brothers’: Edgar...
- 7/5/2021
- by Christopher Marc
- The Playlist
By the time the first red carpet rolls out at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, it will have been more than two years since the usual crowd of festival fans, cinephiles, journalists, filmmakers, stars, and assorted gawkers and hangers-on descended upon the small seaside city for one of the world’s most lauded festivals. The 2020 edition of the festival was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and while the festival still named a number of films as part of its Official Selection, 2021 marks a return to “normal” festival-going that feels both scary and worth celebrating.
A number of films bestowed with those asterisked 2020 laurels will finally make their bow at the 2021 festival, along with a slew of brand-new titles (including a few even made during the pandemic), some returning stars, and some major new names to know. Of the dozens of films set to premiere at Cannes, we’ve honed in...
A number of films bestowed with those asterisked 2020 laurels will finally make their bow at the 2021 festival, along with a slew of brand-new titles (including a few even made during the pandemic), some returning stars, and some major new names to know. Of the dozens of films set to premiere at Cannes, we’ve honed in...
- 7/5/2021
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
With the Cannes Film Festival back on the calendar after last year’s pandemic-enforced hiatus, what competition titles shouldn’t be missed?
Here is a look at some potential highlights in a main lineup stacked with art house A-listers.
Annette
Director Leos Carax
Nine years after Holy Motors, his crazy, darkly comic kaleidoscope of an actor’s existence, France’s punk poet of love both ecstatic and doomed returns with an English-language debut that takes him into the most romantic of genres, the movie musical. Adam Driver plays a stand-up comic married to Marion Cotillard’s famed opera singer in a story that revolves around their surprisingly gifted daughter. The ...
Here is a look at some potential highlights in a main lineup stacked with art house A-listers.
Annette
Director Leos Carax
Nine years after Holy Motors, his crazy, darkly comic kaleidoscope of an actor’s existence, France’s punk poet of love both ecstatic and doomed returns with an English-language debut that takes him into the most romantic of genres, the movie musical. Adam Driver plays a stand-up comic married to Marion Cotillard’s famed opera singer in a story that revolves around their surprisingly gifted daughter. The ...
- 6/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
With the Cannes Film Festival back on the calendar after last year’s pandemic-enforced hiatus, what competition titles shouldn’t be missed?
Here is a look at some potential highlights in a main lineup stacked with art house A-listers.
Annette
Director Leos Carax
Nine years after Holy Motors, his crazy, darkly comic kaleidoscope of an actor’s existence, France’s punk poet of love both ecstatic and doomed returns with an English-language debut that takes him into the most romantic of genres, the movie musical. Adam Driver plays a stand-up comic married to Marion Cotillard’s famed opera singer in a story that revolves around their surprisingly gifted daughter. The ...
Here is a look at some potential highlights in a main lineup stacked with art house A-listers.
Annette
Director Leos Carax
Nine years after Holy Motors, his crazy, darkly comic kaleidoscope of an actor’s existence, France’s punk poet of love both ecstatic and doomed returns with an English-language debut that takes him into the most romantic of genres, the movie musical. Adam Driver plays a stand-up comic married to Marion Cotillard’s famed opera singer in a story that revolves around their surprisingly gifted daughter. The ...
- 6/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sparks, the long-running electro-pop duo featuring brothers Russell and Ron Mael, have released another duet between Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard from their upcoming film, Annette. “We Love Each Other So Much” straddles the line between Eurodisco and the melodrama of a Phantom of the Opera outtake, as Driver sings about “scoffing at logic” and Cotillard describes their union as “counterintuitive.” As with many Sparks songs, it builds from there.
The song follows the release of “So May We Start,” another song with Driver and Cotillard, that features in Annette,...
The song follows the release of “So May We Start,” another song with Driver and Cotillard, that features in Annette,...
- 6/28/2021
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
In his new film “Annette,” Adam Driver takes the stage and channels the mystique and strange charisma of Sparks, the pop-rock duo made up of brothers Ron and Russell Mael who have been thrust back into the spotlight thanks to the new documentary “The Sparks Brothers.”
“Annette,” however, is based on a script by the Maels and also features an original score by Sparks. “Holy Motors” director Leos Carax directed the film, which will open next month’s Cannes Film Festival.
“Annette” is set in present-day Los Angeles and stars Driver as a stand-up comedian who forms a happy couple with a world-class singer (Marion Cotillard), only to have their life turned upside down with the arrival of their baby daughter, Annette, a mysterious girl with an exceptional destiny.
Driver is certainly not playing Ron or Russell Mael on stage, but a few shots of him in the moment, as...
“Annette,” however, is based on a script by the Maels and also features an original score by Sparks. “Holy Motors” director Leos Carax directed the film, which will open next month’s Cannes Film Festival.
“Annette” is set in present-day Los Angeles and stars Driver as a stand-up comedian who forms a happy couple with a world-class singer (Marion Cotillard), only to have their life turned upside down with the arrival of their baby daughter, Annette, a mysterious girl with an exceptional destiny.
Driver is certainly not playing Ron or Russell Mael on stage, but a few shots of him in the moment, as...
- 6/22/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
One of the most anticipated films of 2021, “Annette,” is opening the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival next month. “Annette” marks the first English-language film from visionary director Leos Carax (“Holy Motors“), with music by Sparks’ Ron and Russell Mael, recently featured in Edgar Wright’s terrific documentary, “The Sparks Brothers.” “Annette” stars Adam Driver, and Marion Cotillard is based on Sparks’ original story.
Continue reading ‘Annette’ Trailer: Adam Driver & Marion Cotillard Star In A Cannes-Bound Musical For Leos Carax & The Band Sparks at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Annette’ Trailer: Adam Driver & Marion Cotillard Star In A Cannes-Bound Musical For Leos Carax & The Band Sparks at The Playlist.
- 6/22/2021
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Musicals are mounting a major return to a platform near you — nearly a dozen are set to release by the end of the year. Why are there are so many lined up? It’s both flukes of timing and market forces. Some are big-budget studio efforts held back until the pandemic was “over,” others are smaller scale films, some are strictly online events. Not all will make it to theaters, especially after Jon M. Chu’s movie adaptation “In the Heights”, a less-well-known Broadway musical from “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, nabbed stellar reviews but disappointed in theaters after launching the Tribeca Festival. How it performed on HBO Max is less clear.
But there’s still a lot of Miranda — among other musical talents — in the 2021 pipeline. See below. Here’s what’s going on.
1. Studios are chasing pre-branded hits.
Despite the disaster of “Cats” ($75.5 million worldwide), global smashes like “Mamma Mia!...
But there’s still a lot of Miranda — among other musical talents — in the 2021 pipeline. See below. Here’s what’s going on.
1. Studios are chasing pre-branded hits.
Despite the disaster of “Cats” ($75.5 million worldwide), global smashes like “Mamma Mia!...
- 6/22/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Musicals are mounting a major return to a platform near you — nearly a dozen are set to release by the end of the year. Why are there are so many lined up? It’s both flukes of timing and market forces. Some are big-budget studio efforts held back until the pandemic was “over,” others are smaller scale films, some are strictly online events. Not all will make it to theaters, especially after Jon M. Chu’s movie adaptation “In the Heights”, a less-well-known Broadway musical from “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, nabbed stellar reviews but disappointed in theaters after launching the Tribeca Festival. How it performed on HBO Max is less clear.
But there’s still a lot of Miranda — among other musical talents — in the 2021 pipeline. See below. Here’s what’s going on.
1. Studios are chasing pre-branded hits.
Despite the disaster of “Cats” ($75.5 million worldwide), global smashes like “Mamma Mia!...
But there’s still a lot of Miranda — among other musical talents — in the 2021 pipeline. See below. Here’s what’s going on.
1. Studios are chasing pre-branded hits.
Despite the disaster of “Cats” ($75.5 million worldwide), global smashes like “Mamma Mia!...
- 6/22/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
After the Covid-19 pandemic forced last year’s in-person festivities and competition to be cancelled, the Cannes Film Festival will be returning in full force this year, running from July 6 until July 17. The top prize there is the coveted Palme d’Or, and this will be the first time it’s awarded since 2019 when Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” claimed it. That film would go on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, becoming the first to claim both prizes since “Marty” did it in 1955. This year’s jury will be headed by Oscar winner Spike Lee, who won the Grand Prix in 2018 for “BlacKkKlansman,” which went on to win him the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.
The track record of a filmmaker at Cannes can sometimes offer tea leaves as to who might be in a good position to take the Palme. Eight of the entries this year come from...
The track record of a filmmaker at Cannes can sometimes offer tea leaves as to who might be in a good position to take the Palme. Eight of the entries this year come from...
- 6/13/2021
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
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