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Post by sgev1977 on May 22, 2017 0:56:48 GMT
Is there someone interested to talk about the festival? The most talked issue is of course the Netflix vs. French movie theatre owners polemic that forced the festival to ban exclusively streaming movies in the future. There are two Netflix movie this year:Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories. Both were booed when the Netflix logo was on screen and then later applauded when they finished (there is a heartwarming video of Emma Thompson crying during the applause). IMO it's a difficult discussion. On one hand I understand why cinephiles want to watch movies on the big screen but on the other mature movies are actually kind of surviving thanks to streaming services and TV. That's were producers are taking risks. I mean Netflix was the only company that dared to produce Martin Scorsese's dream project with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino!
About the movies the ones that sound interesting are the mentioned Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories with Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller, Loveless, 120 Battements Par Minute and the new Michael Haneke movie Happy End, which according to some critics it's the best movie presented until now. He is also one of the very few famous directors in the official selection. I also can't wait for the new Agnes Varda documentary. She is just great! According to reviews there is a scene in which Jean Luc Godard (there is a biography of him by the director of The Artist which wasn't a hit with the critics, by the way) ignored her after she tried to meet with him! Well, IMHO she is a much better director than pretentious and insufferable Godard!
New movies by Americans Todd Haynes and John Cameron Mitchell weren't so well received.
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Post by coolclearwaters on May 22, 2017 3:43:15 GMT
I love to talk about movies, so here goes:
The Netflix/Amazon contretemps is interesting. I'm siding the French movie theater owners on this issue and not because I'm opposed to streaming. I agree that streaming has an important place in distribution and has allowed some hard-to-sell projects to get made and to find an audience. I also think that, for complicated reasons, theatrical films are a dying art form, but that it might be possible to reverse the trend. Awards, which are mainly about publicity and promotion, are a tiny, tiny part of the landscape. An important award can mean the difference between a film getting theatrical distribution at all in the U.S. I still prefer to see films in a theater and am not ready to abandon that experience all together. I do think that technology and globalization are changing the industry so quickly, that rules need to be established. For instance, people cried racism when Beasts Of No Nation didn't receive any Oscar nominations, but I think the fact that it screened on Netflix first was the real, and very legitimate reason. A movie should be released in theaters.
As for the movies, Loveless is generally well-liked and sounds interesting. The respinse to Wonderstruck have been mixed, but I've read at least one rapturous review. Okra sounds like a disappointment. I'm intrigued by The Beguiled and The Killing of Sacred Deer, and the Michael Haneke film. Apparently, the refugee crisis will be the subject of several films this year.
I would rather be infested with head lice than watch Adam Sandler in anything. I don't react with such visceral dislike to many actors, but I do to him.
I took a course in Godard when I was in college and liked many of his films from the early 60s. He always seemed like an arrogant jerk though.
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Post by mllemass on May 22, 2017 6:39:54 GMT
Me too! I saw a little news item today saying he had received rave reviews at Cannes, and I had to wonder what the competition must have been!
I think streamed movies should be separate from cinematic releases, unless they were released in cinemas first. I don't see why this is different from TV movies, which would never be screened at Cannes or other film festivals. I remember watching a wonderful TV movie years ago - the TV critics agreed that if it had been released in cinemas, it would have probably won best picture Oscar. And I've always thought that Sherlock was so much better than most movies, but it's never going to get Oscar nominations.
If streamed movies don't quite fit into the category of TV, maybe it's time to create a new category of entertainment.
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Post by MagdaFR on May 22, 2017 13:50:54 GMT
I would rather be infested with head lice than watch Adam Sandler in anything. I don't react with such visceral dislike to many actors, but I do to him. Me too! I saw a little news item today saying he had received rave reviews at Cannes, and I had to wonder what the competition must have been! The only movies starring Adam Sandler I saw were Punch-Drunk Love where he was very good and a comedy with Drew Barrymore about a girl who each day woke up not remembering part of her past. The latter was just a comedy but although I don't remember details (except AS was her boyfriend/husband and that they finally find a way to stay together) I don't remember it being bad and I don't remember AS being bad in it either. So I kind of understand he could be praised for his acting. I think streamed movies should be separate from cinematic releases, unless they were released in cinemas first. I don't see why this is different from TV movies, which would never be screened at Cannes or other film festivals. I think TV movies had less quality than cinema movies but that has changed. The quality of TV is so much better now! Isn't the problem about the distribution? I don't think (normal) people go to the cinema because a film won Cannes or Sundance. Maybe the Oscars really means a difference for a movie. I think art is art and it is not important for a prize if the movie is distributed through a streaming platform or theatre. Maybe you can argue that many people aren't going to watch the movie if they don't have Netflix or similar but for many people who can't pay theatre prices it is the same. The Handmaid's Tale was produced by Hulu and is streaming there but I read yesterday it is going to be aired by Channel4 in the UK. As for the movies, Loveless is generally well-liked and sounds interesting. The respinse to Wonderstruck have been mixed, but I've read at least one rapturous review. Okra sounds like a disappointment. I'm intrigued by The Beguiled and The Killing of Sacred Deer, and the Michael Haneke film. Apparently, the refugee crisis will be the subject of several films this year. About The Killing of Sacred Deer the reviews are mixed. Imo Dogtooth > The Lobster but both were interesting and so different from other movies that I'm looking forward to watch it. I hadn't read much about the others.
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Post by mllemass on May 22, 2017 15:50:51 GMT
I would say that nothing comes close to the experience of a darkened movie theatre.
Way back, when VCRs and videos were invented, my cousin bought one of the first models for a ridiculous amount of money. He said it was totally worth it because he would never have to pay to see a movie in a theatre again. And for the most part, he never went to the movies again. But I never thought of it as "having" to go to a theatre because I was "getting" to go to a theatre. When I eventually bought a VCR, I only used it to tape tv shows. I think I used my video store membership once, to rent Back to the Future so I could try out my new VCR. I have never rented movies. If I really wanted to see something, I'd go to see it at the theatre. And if I loved it, I'd buy it later to watch over and over. I think movie makers really worried that people would prefer to sit at home to watch movies, but that's not true. There are audiences for tv, streaming, and cinema.
We don't get Hulu here in Canada, but The Handmaid's Tale is being shown on tv, on the Bravo Channel. I'm loving it so far! It was filmed in Canada, and even in parts of my city. In fact, the massive house were Offred lives is about 5 minutes from my house!
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Post by igs on May 22, 2017 20:39:35 GMT
Count me in as someone who'd have to be paid to see an Adam Sandler movie. No head lice though, please. Done that once, it was awful (not the lice per se lol, but the goddamn endless cleaning.) Ok he did 'Punch-Drunk Love' but Paul Thomas Anderson is someone who I've never really got (except for Boogie Nights, which I love.)
I find the Netflix vs. cinema thing...simple. Netflix is to be watched at home, Netflix has TV shows that compete in the Emmys, ergo, Netflix movies are TV movies. If they have a theater release (more than once on a festival just for the sake of it) then I find dissing them on principle alone a bit elitist.
In Finland Handmaid's Tale is streaming on HBO Nordic. Interesting. I haven't watched it yet, I only subscribe to HBO during the Game of Thrones season, but I hope I get a chance to watch it come July (there's 7 weeks of GoT, and I've already a ton of shows/movies on my HBO list!)
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Post by sgev1977 on May 22, 2017 23:36:12 GMT
Me too! I saw a little news item today saying he had received rave reviews at Cannes, and I had to wonder what the competition must have been! Sandler has gave inspired dramatic performances before in Punch Drunk Love, which it's a beautiful movie in general; Spanglish and even in the very mixed Reign over Me. I personally have a soft spot for wild comedians doing drama. He, Ben Stiller and Jim Carey somehow seem extra sad when I watched them in dramas! Sandler tend to plays very tormented men when doing drama. I really doubt he would win the Best Actor award thought! He is Adam Sandler and I doubt the jury would forget that! Also Pedro Almodóvar said he won't award Netflix movies.
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Post by coolclearwaters on May 22, 2017 23:54:39 GMT
I've been watching The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu and have slightly mixed feelings about it. On the negative side, I don't care much for dystopian film and literature, so this isn't really my kind of thing. I also find it rather heavy-handed - especially the early episodes. On the positive side, Elizabeth Moss is absolutely brilliant and riveting. The acting, directing, and production design are superb and I'm finding the story more gripping as it develops over time.
Cannes movies: The Killing of Sacred Deer is getting mainly rave reviews - along with some boos from the audience, of course. I never got around to seeing The Lobster, which was fairly divisive, but I'm intrigues by this film. Maybe I should check out The Lobster first (it's by the same director). Has anyone seen it?
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Post by sgev1977 on May 23, 2017 0:17:09 GMT
I find the Netflix vs. cinema thing...simple. Netflix is to be watched at home, Netflix has TV shows that compete in the Emmys, ergo, Netflix movies are TV movies. If they have a theater release (more than once on a festival just for the sake of it) then I find dissing them on principle alone a bit elitist. For me it's extremely complex. Netflix is a big business but a lot of the "elitist" or romantic reaction by Cannes is related to the pressure by another big business: theatre owners. It's not the first time. When the excellent Beats of no Nation was ignored by the Academy people claimed it was because it was starred by black actors but it was clear since the beginning that it doesn't have a chance thanks to the strong protests by America theatre owners. In the case of Cannes, Thierry Fremaux went from opening the door to streaming (and even TV: Twin Peaks and Top of the Lake sequels will be screened there out of competition) to banning but not before being hardly criticized by French theatre owners. The guy from Netflix actually said they became very close the year before thanks to both love for cinema. I also think it's complex because the nature of the business have change a lot in the last years. Movie studios are becoming more and more a risk avoidance businesses. And it's understandable! The thing that sells now it's almost exclusively superhero movies and that's the thing to do. Indies are not what they were in the 90s and award ceremonies that helped to sell more mature movies in the past, including the Oscars, are less and less popular every year. At the same time TV and streaming reached a quality of image that was unthinkable a few years ago. That definitely have attracted respected directors. And that's the clue. Martin Scorsese, a very visual and daring filmmaker, will do his next movie for Netflix after Paramount decided to let him go because Silence was such a box office failure! Netflix, which doesn't care for numbers , is giving him the money! And that's what people like Bong Joon-ho are saying: they give you the money and then let you do whatever you want! I read an article that said that the people taking decisions for Netflix and Amazon are actually the same people who were involve in the emergence of indie cinema during the 90s. They are becoming the companies that buy most movies at festivals like Sundance at the same time that companies like Weinstein and indie divisions from big studios seems to be fading. Of course, things can change and those companies can, in the future, hire more popular minded people but until now it's them the ones taking decisions that favor adult risky material that big studios just don't want to touch. So yes, I love and have always loved the big screen but it's extremely complex situation when the "bad guy" is the one doing the good thing!
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Post by queenzod on May 23, 2017 0:52:20 GMT
I don't like Nicole Kidman very much, but I'm looking forward to The Beguiled. It's one of my guilty pleasure movies, and I was shocked to see they're doing a remake. Southern gothic. I'm not sure, tho, how Kidman's performance is going to hold up next to Geraldine Page. Still I like Sophie Coppola, although her style isn't for everyone.
As to Adam Sandler, lol, no lice for me either, thank you, but I do like Click and Spanglish. Tea Leoni rocked in that movie.
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