You might not know it from the blinding , white-hot happenings du jour , but the Cannes Film Festival has begun winding down its 2012 iteration with awards for its Critics Week sidebar. Few if any will likely come to a theater near you in the near future, but if Cannes completism is your thing, I am nothing if not obliging. Read on for the winners, and congrats to all. Nespresso Grand Prize for La Semaine de la Critique AQUÍ Y ALLÁ, Antonio Méndez Esparza (Spain/USA/Mexico) France 4 Visionary Award SOFIA’S LAST AMBULANCE, Ilian Metev (Germany/Bulgaria/Croatia) Prix SACD LES VOISINS DE DIEU, Meni Yaesh (Israel/France) ACID/CCAS Distribution Support LOS SALVAJES, Alejandro Fadel (Argentina) * * * Short films * * * Canal+ Award CIRCLE LINE, Shin Suwon Nikon Discovery Award UN DIMANCHE MATIN (A SUNDAY MORNING), Damien Manivel Mention spéciale O DUPLO (DOPPELGÄNGER), Juliana Rojas
This could be fun: “Gary Oldman has inked a deal to star opposite Joel Kinnaman in MGM’s remake of Robocop . Kinnaman ( The Killing ) plays the title character, a cop named Alex Murphy who is brought back from the brink of death and turned into a cyborg police officer. Oldman will play Norton, the scientist who creates Robocop and finds himself torn between the ideals of the machine trying to rediscover its humanity and the callous needs of a corporation.” [ THR ]
Just about a month before hitting theaters (and right on the cusp of its theatrical marketing campaign), G.I. Joe: Retaliation has been pushed back by Paramount from June 29 to March 2013 to allow for a 3-D conversion. But director Jon M. Chu and the studio had deliberately opted for filming in 2-D before the 11th hour shift. So why opt for 3-D now? Last year, Chu was looking at his filming options but swore he’d rather go 2-D than do a post-conversion: “If we do it in 3-D, there’s no way in hell I am dimensionalizing it. I mean, dimensionalizing can work if you have the time and you have the money. But studios don’t want to put in the time or the money, so what’s the point? There always going to shortcut you, so why put yourself there?” A year later, Chu spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the decision to forgo 3-D as a filming option: “It seemed like a natural thing, but I told them, ‘I know 3-D. This is what we need. If we’re going to do 3-D, we’re going to do it right.’ It had a certain price tag to it, and I was like, if you guys are down I’m down, but I do need more time to do it right. And they were about to do it but they cut it just a little bit short, and [I said,] “if you guys are going to cut it short there is no point. Let’s make a movie — let’s go for it and we’ll go all out. And we shot on film, super-35, and I thought this may be one of the last times I get to shoot on film, and it was actually kind of freeing.” Clearly someone somewhere rethought that choice, and now Chu has nine months ahead of him to complete a decent post-conversion on the film. Over at Deadline , Nikki Finke reports on why the 3-D landscape now might look a little more enticing than it did when Chu and Paramount were planning the G.I. Joe sequel. A studio source explained the move to Finke thusly: “We’re going to do a conscientious 3-D job because we’ve seen how it can better box office internationally… Jim Cameron did all of Titanic ‘s 3-D in post — and look how well that movie turned out.” Here’s the thing: Post-conversion detractors might still cite Clash of the Titans and its infamously muddied conversion job as reasons to avoid the added process just to squeeze out more profit in release, and until very recently I counted myself in that camp. But one upcoming film that I caught actually made me rethink this position: Men in Black 3 , a post-converted 3-D offering that might actually help turn the tide for non-native 3-D. That film’s director, Barry Sonnenfeld, did a surprisingly good job demonstrating how one could pull off the post-conversion process given enough time/the right approach; MIB3 features some of the best post-converted 3-D seen so far, shockingly enough. Granted, Sonnenfeld was able to shoot in 2-D with his eventual 3-D process in mind — featuring camera work and visual gags designed specifically to be enhanced with 3-D — whereas Chu’s G.I. Joe 2 likely was not. So Chu has a challenge ahead of him… but it could yet work. G.I. Joe: Retaliation will now open on March 29, 2013. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Because we’re a little more than two weeks away from the opening of Prometheus , and because the Film Society of Lincoln Center opens its complete, week-long retrospective of his films this Friday in New York, because it’s a quiet morning otherwise and because it’s gone so well with other directors in the past , let’s rank the 19 feature films of Ridley Scott. The order is obvious: [NOTE: Scott’s ” Final Cut ” of Blade Runner and ” Director’s Cut ” of Kingdom of Heaven are considered herein.] 19. A Good Year 18. G.I. Jane 17. 1492: Conquest of Paradise 16. Robin Hood 15. Body of Lies 14. Hannibal 13. Matchstick Men 12. White Squall 11. Black Rain 10. The Duellists 9. Legend 8. Someone to Watch Over Me 7. Kingdom of Heaven 6. Black Hawk Down 5. Blade Runner 4. Thelma & Louise 3. Gladiator 2. American Gangster 1. Alien Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Earlier this week, John Hughes muse (and recent Reddit queen ) Molly Ringwald set the record straight with Out.com on the sexuality of her Pretty in Pink character Andie’s lovesick BFF, Duckie: ““Duckie doesn’t know he’s gay. I think he loves Andie in the way that [my gay best friend] always loved me.” To which the world breathed a knowing sigh. ” Of course Duckie is gay!” Thought everyone. Well, everyone except for, you know, Jon Cryer . A day after Ringwald dropped the Duckie bomb, the Two and a Half Men star chimed in with an objection to Zap2It , admitting that the Duckman was easily prone to such speculation. That said, if anyone would know, it’d be Cryer… right? “I respectfully disagree. I want to stand up for all the slightly effeminate dorks that are actually heterosexual. Just cause the gaydar is going off, doesn’t mean your instruments aren’t faulty. I’ve had to live with that, and that’s okay.” Still, I’m with Ringwald when it comes to Duckie’s romantic prospects with Andie and the alternate ending in which she chooses her squirrelly bestie over pretty boy Andrew McCarthy. She remembered the Duckie ending feeling not quite right: That ending fell so flat — it bombed at all the screenings. I didn’t realize it then — I just knew that my character shouldn’t end up with him, because we didn’t have that sort of chemistry. If John was here now, and I could talk to him, I think that he would completely acknowledge that. That said, how could you not love a boy who sings you Otis Redding? [via Zap2It ]
Also in this afternoon’s edition of Biz Break: Woody Allen’s next adds another actor to its growing ensemble, Kathryn Bigelow picks up another cast member of her own for Zero Dark Thirty , and more… Penn State Doc Gets Green Light From A&E Indie Films Amir Bar-Lev and John Battsek, the director and producer who previously collaborated on The Tillman Story and My Kid Could Paint That , will re-team for the just-announced A&E Indie Films project Happy Valley . The documentary will look back at the trials and tribulations of the titular community during the child sexual abuse scandal that rocked its beloved Penn State football program. Production begins this month. Around the ‘net… Natalie Portman/Lynne Ramsay Western Stirs Buzz at Cannes A bidding war is underway for Jane Got a Gun , screenwriter Brian Duffield’s tale of a woman who turns to an ex-lover for protection when her outlaw husband returns home nearly dead from gunshots. Portman would play the lead with director Ramsay ( We Need to Talk About Kevin ) behind the camera. THR reports . Cannes Auteurs Take a Shine to Americana In related news, while studios may embrace the world downplaying American culture in order to win global box-office cash, auteurs outside the studio system are embracing the United States’ cultural flavor in such Cannes offerings as Lawless, Mud and Beasts of the Southern Wild . LAT’s 24 Frames reports . Mark Duplass Boards Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty The filmmaker ( Jeff, Who Lives at Home ) and actor ( Your Sister’s Sister ) will have a “key supporting role” in the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s drama about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Deadline reports . Bobby Cannavale Added to Woody Allen Project He’ll star along with Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper and Alec Baldwin in the comedy, Deadline reports .
As much as I hate the movie theater talkers, cell phone texters, loud popcorn-chewers, backseat-kickers, nervous leg-jigglers, smelly food-eaters, and armchair hogs who combine evil forces to make going to the movies these days a distracting, living hell, I stop myself short of physical violence when it comes to laying down the law of theater etiquette. Which is what one enraged theater patron in the Seattle area did not do when he caught a case of theater rage and slapped an offending movie talker in the face. Making matters worse: The talker was a ten-year-old kid. Per the Seattle Post-Intelligencer : King County prosecutors contend 21-year-old Yong Hyun Kim knocked out one of the boy’s teeth after the child and several other youths refused to quiet down and stop throwing popcorn in April. According to charging documents, Kim admitted to hitting the boy and appeared ashamed when confronted by police with the boy’s age. Kim allegedly said he thought the boy was an adult when he slapped him in the face. Kim has been charged with a felony assault and probably feels terrible, not to mention he might have to go to jail for slapping a child in the face . The offending kid may or may not have learned a lesson in unruly theatergoing, but he’s missing a tooth. Who’s also to blame, IMO? The management at said AMC Theater who did not stop a bunch of children from ruining another patron’s movie before theater rage took hold. Theater chains, take note: Policing bad behavior is on you, not your ticket-buyers. (And let this be a reminder: Encouraging texting in theaters is still an awful idea .) [ Seattle PI via @thefilmcynic ]
Per LaDonna Harris, president and founder of Americans for Indian Opportunity (ahem): “‘Johnny is reprising the historic role of Tonto, and it seemed like a natural fit to officially welcome him into our Comanche family. I reached out, and Johnny was very receptive to the idea. He seemed proud to receive the invitation, and we were honored that he so enthusiastically agreed. Welcoming Johnny into the family in the traditional way was so fitting,’ Harris said. ‘He’s a very thoughtful human being, and throughout his life and career, he has exhibited traits that are aligned with the values and worldview that Indigenous peoples share.'” [ Indian Country TMN via THR ]
Ken Loach and The Angels’ Share star Paul Brannigan in Cannes Tuesday. Cannes has a soft spot for Scottish director Ken Loach. His latest film, The Angels’ Share , is his eleventh film in competition and he even won the Palme d’Or for The Wind That Shakes the Barley back in 2006. His latest, a comedy — or perhaps more precisely a dramatic-comedy — is a rarity of sorts for the director who is accustomed to critical acclaim though his well-crafted films can leave audiences depressed. But The Angels’ Share involves a pack of offenders hoping to turn good, a last ditch crime, and a whole lot of high brow whiskey. The story serves as one more canvas for the plight of the working class. And for this screening, Cannes used subtitles to guide audiences through the characters’ thick Scottish brogue. “I’d rather have subtitles so people can understand what’s going on,” said writer Paul Laverty. “It’s much [preferable] to diluting the local language and Americanizing it so you miss some of the local [nuance] of the film.” In the film, newcomer Paul Brannigan plays Robbie who is part of a posse of hooligans who are ordered to enter a community payback program. Harry (John Henshaw) oversees Robbie and his fellow Scottish brood. One day, Harry offers Robbie a taste of rare whiskey to celebrate the birth of his son, which gives him an idea. If he can get his hands on a single barrel of the malt, the cash would be enough to erase their financial problems allowing them to start over. “I’m familiar with what Robbie came from,” Brannigan said Tuesday in his thick Scottish lingo. “I came from a rough neighborhood in Glasgow where there are thousands of unemployed.” Brannigan said he had a chance meeting with Laverty who had found him walking out of a community center in a scene that would not have been unfamiliar in the film and the two started talking. The result was simply life-altering for Brannigan who didn’t hold back words. “He saved me — he saved me! It was tough. I had no money. Hands up, I think he saved my life because who knows what I would have done to get money — who knows.” Though Brannigan said that after this film comes out he’ll again be unemployed, he did manage a part in the upcoming Scarlett Johansson starrer Under the Skin and hopes to continue acting. Though he kept pretty quiet about details, he apparently gets naked in front of Johansson’s character in the movie, which he did with some anxiety. “She’s an absolutely fantastic girl and once I got to talking with her, I felt much more at ease,” he said. Never inclined to sugar-coat language, Loach and Laverty embraced the inner-city vernacular that surrounds Robbie. The festival offered up subtitles during Monday night’s premiere and similarly to the recent Weinstein Company documentary Bully in the U.S., Angels’ Share ran into conflict with the U.K.’s MPAA counterpart for excessive language, receiving the equivalent of an R-rating in Britain, though unlike Bully ‘s F-bombs, it was the C-word that ran afoul of censors. “We were allowed seven ‘cunts’ but only two of them could be aggressive ‘cunts,'” said Loach, laughing. “You get into the realm of surrealism here in terms of language. The British middle class is obsessed with what they call ‘bad language.’ But the manipulative and deceitful language of politics is accepted. I’d call those bad words. Embracing the ancient swear words that have gone back for centuries and words we all enjoy should be embraced.” Get more of Movieline’s coverage of Cannes here . Follow Brian Brooks on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Are you obsessed with designer ladies’ shoes, or do you know a woman who is? (Aren’t we all? Let’s go shopping, OMGZ!) Then here’s the documentary for you: God Save My Shoes , from director Julie Benasra, which purports to be “the first documentary to explore the intimate relationship that ties women to their shoes.” Watch Fergie, Dita von Teese, and a bunch of other real life Carrie Bradshaws gush over their Louboutins in the film’s trailer (which, incidentally — of course — includes Louboutin himself). Look, I like shoes as much as the next girl. And there are certain angles to this exploration of the ladies’ shoe that could be fascinating enough. (Why is a stiletto so sexy? Because it elongates your silhouette and can double as a murder weapon, perhaps? Discuss.) But this chick caressing the curve of her pump, these ladies drooling over their shoe caverns, Fergie Ferg insisting that shoes tell the world who you are… I can’t even. And then there’s Kelly Rowland, credited as “Singer/Former Destiny’s Child/ Shoe Mommy .” SHOE MOMMY. Is that a thing?? (Seriously, what is that?) Maybe Shoe Mommy is what she calls herself because, apparently, she names her shoes like they’re her children. God Save My Shoes is available On Demand.
