Cannes Film Festival – Page 2 – This Had Oscar Buzz

212 – The Bling Ring (with George Civeris)

StaightioLab cohost and Gawker editor George Civeris returns to us this episode, and we’re going to Paris’. In 2013, Sofia Coppola delivered another tale of disaffected youth, this time ripped from gossip column headlines with The Bling Ring. With a post-Harry Potter Emma Watson at the center, the film follows several Los Angeles celeb-obsessed teens who famously got busted for breaking into the homes of tabloid staples like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Already demoted to Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section (after Marie Antoinette was notoriously booed in competition), the film was one of the director’s most harshly received films for its depiction of teen misguidedness.

This episode, we talk about our varying opinions on Watson’s performance and our picks for the weakest films in Coppola’s oeuvre. We also talk about comparisons to another film from A24′s first year, the film’s atypical portrayal of the gay teen experience, and the film’s precisely-timed soundtrack.

Topics also include how mid-aughts celeb culture has evolved to today, Secret Celebrity Drag Race, and another round of Alter Egos.

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173 – My Blueberry Nights

With the release of Criterion’s retrospective box set, film lovers have been revisiting the work of living master Wong Kar-wai. But this week, we’re going to be talking about his least celebrated (and one omitted from that treasured collection). His first film in the English language, My Blueberry Nights is an episodic movie about a woman who mends her broken heart by finding herself on the road, leaving behind a could-have-been romance with a pie shop man back in New York. For his lead star, Wong Kar-wai selected adult contemporary sensation Norah Jones, a few years after wracking up a bundle of Grammys and selling millions of albums for her debut Come Away With Me. But opening the 2007 Cannes Film Festival was high positioning for this slighter effort from the maestro, and largely unkind critical notices left them film as more of an afterthought once it finally saw a US release almost a year later.

More of a fascinating failure than the fiasco its reputation would lead you to believe, the film meanders through its chapters where Jones plays opposite three stars at transitional stages of their careers: Jude Law post-2004 laughing stock omnipresence, Rachel Weisz post-Oscar, and the beginning stages of Natalie Portman Doing A Voice. This episode, we get into the 2007 Cannes Film Festival (and its charming poster), the work of Wong Kar-wai, and Jones’ Grammy success.

Topics also include Starbucks CDs, the Roku City screensaver, and how this is one of the few movies where David Strathairn is NOT hot.

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172 – Money Monster (with Katey Rich)

Our Thanksgiving tradition continues this year, with Vanity Fair’s Katey Rich joining us as a guest, this time to talk about quickly forgotten prestige thriller Money Monster. Premiering out of competiton in 2016 at the Cannes Film Festival to middling reviews but embarrassing no one involved, the film stars George Clooney as a cable news financial guru, Julia Roberts as his beleagured producer, and Jack O’Connell as the man holding their studio hostage after the show’s financial advice ruins his life. Directed by Jodie Foster, the film is a strange artifact of the immediately-pre-Trump moment that misunderstands the Occupy Wall Street and fails to capitalize on its star power.

Despite the presence of the headliners reuniting post-Ocean’s, the film is perhaps most interesting as a footnote in the few years when Jack O’Connell was poised to be the next big thing. We look back at O’Connell’s roles while also discussing Catriona Balfe’s role here as Belfast primes an awards run this year, Clooney’s few acting roles in recent years, and Foster’s directorial career.

Topics also include Pat Kiernan NY1 movie cameos, Dominic West getting meme-ified, and the ghosts of Flora Plum.

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135 – The House of the Spirits

By today’s standards, this week’s film stands out for its gobsmacking cast of Meryl streep, Gleen Close, Jeremy Irons, Antonio Banderas, and Winona Ryder. But back in the 90s, The House of the Spirits caught attention as both an adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel and the biggest acquisition Miramax had ever landed. Set over decades in Chile with mild mysticism and political revolution, the film whitewashed and condensed the novel into a poorly received epic long forgotten by year’s end – with Miramax enjoying their biggest success yet in Pulp Fiction.

The film was the follow-up to back-to-back Palme d’Or wins for director Bille August, after The Best Intentions and the Oscar-annointed Pelle the Conqueror. This episode, we look to Palme d”or winners for a round of Alter Egos as we discuss the film’s many problems. We discuss the false narrative of Streep vs. Close among Oscar obsessives, Ryder as a quintessentially 90s star, and Streep’s early 90s roadblocks.

Topics also include “an abundance of juices”, Irons’ expanding set of false teeth, and Close’s Oscar chances this year.

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117 – Melancholia

This episode, we’re bringing you one of our most requested films starring one of our most requested performers. In 2011, Kirsten Dunst triumphantly returned from a short break to work with a director notorious for lauded and tumultuous collaborations with actresses, Lars Von Trier. With Melancholia, the actress stars as a woman afflicted with severe depression as the end of the world looms, landing Dunst the best reviews of her career. But after the film’s rapturous premiere, Von Trier’s glib comments regarding Hitler and Nazism immediately tainted the film and perhaps his star’s awards potential, as well.

Dunst would win Best Actress at Cannes along with some critics prizes, but Von Trier’s banishment from the establishment kept the film from more mainstream consideration. This week, we look back at Kirsten Dunst’s underrated work, including her collabborations with Sofia Coppola and her versatile comedy trifecta in 1999-2000. We also discuss Lars Von Trier’s fraught history with actresses from Björk to Nicole Kidman.

Topics also include how 2011 was a great year for Best Actress despite an underwhelming set of nominees, the history of small distributor Magnolia Pictures, and the gender dynamics of “Actress Gets Consumption” movies.

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115 – The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

For his first English language film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, Cannes darling Xavier Dolan assembled a stunning prestige cast that promised a major leveling up from the filmmaker. And then disaster struck. Filming began shortly after his critically reviled It’s Only the End of the World debuted and at Cannes and Dolan’s response cemented his bratty reputation. And then years of post-production and a reported four hour cut resulted in a very quiet premiere at TIFF 2018, with an even quieter release on VOD over a year later. Starring Kit Harington as a young hearthrob and Jacob Tremblay as a gay preteen who wrote fanletters, the film is also a story of mothers and sons and fame with Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, and Thandie Newton rounding out the cast.

In this episode, we unpack everything that makes Dolan a fascinating filmmaker, from his extensive career at a young age to openly sparring with his critics to his creative peak with 2014′s Mommy. We also discuss Jessica Chastain’s highly touted role cut from the film, Mads Mikkelsen’s memed reaction to Dolan’s Cannes win, and the film’s sometimes cringey use of popular music.

Topics also include Dolan’s video for Adele’s “Hello”, actresses we would like to see work with Dolan, and Magical Scarved Homosexual Strangers.

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028 – The Paperboy

An episode that asks that oft-repeated eternal question: will the Academy ever be ready for a movie where Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron? In 2012, Lee Daniels followed up his Precious Oscar success with a film that scandalized Cannes and answered that question with a resounding “no”. McConaissance be damned!

The Paperboy may be a pulpy southern crime saga that shows Daniels at his most excessive, but it got shockingly close to Oscar thanks to Kidman’s audacious (and divisive) performance. But while negative reviews and the film’s definitive griminess kept it out of Oscar history, it still gave us Efron dancing in his tighty whities in the rain.

Also in this episode, we look at some highs and lows of the this era of the McConassaince, 2012′s odd Supporting Actress year, and an underrated performance from Macy Gray.

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