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Sunday, May 18, 2008
Our Man in Cannes: Statesman’s Charles Ealy chats with NPR
The Statesman’s Charles Ealy, who has been in Cannes, France for the past week, talks with National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” about how to pronounce “Cannes,” Penelope Cruz sightings, his favorite film of the fest, Angelina Jolie, and the premiere of what should be this summer’s biggest blockbuster, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” among other things.
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Our Man in Cannes: ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ a return to form for Allen
CANNES, France — When you’re watching one movie after another showing every side of depression and gloom around the globe, it’s a welcome relief to see something fluffy and fun.
Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” provides such relief. It probably won’t go down as a classic comedy, like Allen’s “Annie Hall.” But it far surpasses some recent efforts and will reward the Allen faithful.
The movie is set in Barcelona and focuses on two American women who are visiting, staying at the villa of one of their distant relatives. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is straight-laced in all things romantic and is engaged to be married to a rich, young man. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is romantically flighty and is on the rebound from yet another failed affair.
Vicky has arranged the trip and has secured lodgings with two distant relatives. She is there to work on her master’s thesis, and is majoring in “Catalan identity.” When she explains this to her relatives, the wicked Allen humor kicks in. “What do you plan to do with that,” asks one of the relatives. Vicky, of course, doesn’t plan to do anything with it. She’s rich, she’s American, and she’ll marry well.
The setup is right out of a Henry James novel.
When the impetuous artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) approaches Vicky and Cristina one night at a restaurant, he’s so suave that he is actually able to pull off a proposal for a menage a trois within the first minute.
But throughout his seduction of the two women, he continues to talk about his former wife, a talented spitfire portrayed by Penelope Cruz.
The chemistry between Cruz and Bardem is electric, and it’s hard to think of a better romantic comedy team than these two.
So, if you’ve been staying away from Allen comedies because of recent disappointments, you may want to give this one a try.
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Our Man in Cannes: Jolie’s humanitarian work overshadows films
Angelina Jolie has been getting the most attention this year at the festival. It’s partly because she’s one-half of a high-profile couple, partly because she’s carrying twins, and partly because she has two movies here, “Kung Fu Panda” and “Changeling.”
But her work with the United Nations seems to bring out the worst in the international press.
During interviews for DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda,” international journalists kept peppering her with questions about whether she had any words for the Chinese quake victims, what she thought about Darfur, whether she would consider settling down in Sweden, whether she would support a boycott of China’s Olympics.
As the questions continued, DreamWorks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg became increasingly agitated, and rightly so. He was there to promote the movie, and probably spent $1 million or more to do so, only to have to listen to questions about something else.
So, after about a dozen questions that Jolie dutifully answered on Darfur, et. al., Katzenberg turned to the moderator of the discussion and indicated that he didn’t want any more questions about world affairs.
His frustration was obvious to everyone in the room, but unrelated questions kept coming.
Jolie politely answered, while Katazenberg fumed.
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Our Man in Cannes: What are the best movies so far?
We’re about halfway through the festival, and the question arises: What are the best movies so far?
“Three Monkeys” by Nuri Ceylan of Turkey has to be one of the best. It focuses on a lie that begins to multiply and ends up threatening to destroy a family. Good drama, good performances and stunning cinematography.
Then there’s Arnaud Desplachin’s “A Christmas Tale.” It’s not what you’d expect from a Christmas story. The family is as dysfunctional as possible. Catherine Deneuve stars as the mother, who needs a bone-marrow transplant but has to put up with a daughter and son who are at war. Full of French humor and pathos.
And finally, there’s Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir,” an unusual look at the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the early ’80s.
What’s the worst so far? That’s easy. It’s Philippine director Brillante Mendoza’s “Serbis,” or “Service” in English.
The movie focuses on a family that lives in a multistory porn theater where gay men have sex each night.
That may sound like a promising premise to some. But it doesn’t work, and this movie will probably never see the light of day in the U.S.
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Our Man in Cannes: Allen wrote movie role just for Cruz
Woody Allen and two of his stars, Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall, met the press on Sunday at the Martinez Hotel to promote “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
Cruz, as you’ve probably heard, is a knockout in person. She’s petite but dazzling, even after having stayed at a Vanity Fair party until the wee hours of the morning.
She arrived early in a white Chanel dress, beating stragglers Allen and Hall.
Cruz said she had wanted to do a “Woody” for a long time. And when Allen heard this, he wrote the script specifically for Cruz.
Allen said he was stunned by Cruz’s performance in Pedro Almodovar’s “Volver” and was eager to work with the star.
Looking at bit lecherous despite his age, he grinned and said he had one of the greatest jobs in the world, having to spend hours and hours with Cruz and co-star Scarlett Johansson. “This is a very good way to make a living,” he said.
Up next for Cruz is “Nine,” co-starring Daniel Day-Lewis. For the role, Cruz will be a singing, dancing, sultry siren, and has already begun working on her part.
She said she has been a bit of a workaholic in recent years, but doesn’t expect that to change soon. “If I didn’t have a hunger, I’d be very worried. I’ve been very addicted to work.”
But she said she could imagine a time when she’d want to stop for a while and see such places as Africa. “But for now, it’s hard to say no when a good script is offered to you.”
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Our Man in Cannes: The crowd’s verdict: ‘Indy’ is a hit (spoiler alert!)
CANNES, France — The people behind “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” may have feared the Cannes snakepit, but it looks like they’re going to escape without a serious bite.
Sunday’s world premiere was met with roaring approval, and any critical sniping will be deftly deflected by adoring audiences.
The new Indy, released by Paramount, is expected to be the biggest summer movie of the year in the U.S., and those expectations should be easily met.
The flick has much of the humor of previous installments, as well as breakneck action sequences that will make you keep reaching for popcorn.
Trade publications in Cannes had been predicting a possibly rocky reception, partly because bloggers who saw exhibitor screenings back in the States questioned its pacing. Also, another blockbuster that premiered in Cannes a few years ago, “The Da Vinci Code,” was savaged here, despite going on to success.
There were plenty of justifiable reasons for such savagery toward “The Da Vinci Code.” There are few reasons for such a reaction to the new Indy.
The scene outside the Palais before the premiere was chaos. The streets were packed with onlookers out for a stroll on a beautifully sunny day. Dozens of journalists from top-flight publications — with the highest credentials possible for festival access — were shut out of the theater until just before the movie started. And many had to sit in uncomfortable, fold-down seats at the ends of the aisles.
Only those who arrived more than 30 minutes early gained decent seats.
Fans of the Indy series will enjoy the reunion of Harrison Ford and Karen Allen, as well as the introduction of Shia Labeouf. Labeouf, who has stunts involving knives, vines, swords and motorcycles, is believable as the naive sidekick who is drawn into Indy’s wild world. Cate Blanchett, as usual, is pitch-perfect as a villainous Soviet parapsychologist.
There’s not much point in saying more about the movie. It would just give away the plot - and any possible surprises.
SPOILER ALERT: Contrary to earlier Lucas comments, bloggers weren’t wrong about the relationship between Indiana Jones and his new sidekick, Mutt (Labeouf).
Steven Spielberg acknowledged at a press conference Sunday that the secret was out. But don’t let that spoil the fun. Hint: There’s another big snake scene.
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