This weekend two mid-sized studio films will be released trying to take advantage of the last few weeks of spring. Additionally, "Furious 7" will continue to dominate while the Indie breakout "Ex Machina" will expand nationwide.
Latin Post had the chance to speak with 'Havana Motor Club' director Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, who has made several documentaries and has screened them around the world. The director discussed his struggles in making the film and the fascinating experience of working in Cuba
The Cannes Film Festival has announced its official selection with 17 films up for the top prize the Palme D’Or
The festival is one of the biggest events in the movie industry and one that also kicks off awards season. Every year a number of Cannes competition films become major awards players depending on how they are received and obtain huge distribution deals. For example last year 10 out of the 18 competition films obtained huge awards pushes. Films like “Foxcatcher,” “Mr. Turner,” “Wild Tales,” “Two Days One Night,” “Leviathan” and “Timbuktu” all received Oscar nominations. Meanwhile Palme D’Or winner “Winter Sleep,” “Mommy,” “Maps to the Stars” and “Saint Laurent” either represented their country or were campaigned for specific awards.
However, this is not always the case as certain years' Cannes slates have very little impact on the Oscar race. In 2013 only three of the films actually obtained Oscar nominations. These included “Nebraska,” “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “The Great Beauty.” “Borgman,” “Heli,” and “The Past,” went on to represent their respective countries while Palme D’Or winner “Blue is the Warmest Color” had a huge awards campaign for its actresses since France did not select it. “The Immigrant” was released in 2014 and therefore qualified for 2014 awards and won some major prizes.
This year there are a number of Oscar contenders that made the competition slate. Two of the most anticipated on the list are “Macbeth” and “Carol.” Both films are being distributed by the Weinstein Company and they have obtained a lot of buzz for a number of months. “Macbeth” actually showed a preview at the Weinstein Company’s annual press conference last year.
Gus Van Sant’s latest film “The Sea of Trees” starring Matthew McConaughey will also make its world premiere after having been sold in the festival market last year while Denis Villeneuve returns to Cannes after a number of years with his new film “Sicario” starring Emily Blunt. Both directors have been notable awards draws as Van Sant has been nominated for his work on “Milk” and “Good Will Hunting” while Villeneuve had a big breakout for his work on “Incendies” and his recent Oscar nominated “Prisoners.”
Jaques Audiard returns to the competition slate with his new film “Dheephan.” The director has been in competition before
with “A Prophet” and “Rust and Bone” and this film has been getting buzz ever since IFC Films picked it up for US distribution.
Matteo Garrone returns after winning two Jury Prizes for his films “Gommorah” and “Reality.” This time he has “The Tale of Tales,” his first English film and one that stars Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel and John C. Reilly.
Also returning is Paolo Sorrentino with “Youth.” The director has screened a number of films at the festival including the Oscar winning “The Great Beauty” and “Il Divo.”
Valerie Donzelli also returns to Cannes with film “Marguerite and Julien” after her outstanding movie “Declaration of War,” which ended up representing France at the Academy Awards a few years ago and which opened the critics week sidebar in Cannes.
“Dogtooth” director Yorgos Lanthimos brings his first English language effort “The Lobster” while Maiwenn will bring her latest “Mon Roi” after winning the jury prize for her film “Polisse.”
The Asian community will represented in competition with three films, Jua Zhang-Ke’s “Mountain May Depart,” Hou Hsiao Hsien’s “The Assassin” and Kore-Eda Hirokazu’s “Our Little Sister.”
The lineup is rounded out by Joachim Trier’s “Louder than Bombs,” Nana Moretti’s “Mia Madre” and Stepahne Brize.
The competition slate definitely boasts number of A List directors and also looks promising in terms of awards. In particular France has a number of films that could easily come out of the festival to represent the country at the Oscars as well as Italy. Asia also has films that could represent at the Oscars.
However this year lacks a Latin film or an African film.
The festival also announced it’s out of competition slate and that includes Pixar’s “Inside Out” and Woody Allen’s “The Irrational Man.” This bodes well for these two films in terms of reviews and awards chances. The last time Pixar presented a film at Cannes was in 2009 with Pete Doctor’s “Up.” Allen also reserves his best works for Cannes. For example he showed “Midnight in Paris” at the Croisette before it headed to become an Oscar winner.
The animated film “The Little Prince” will also be shown and that is likely to make huge waves as an Oscar contender.
Festival director Thierry Fremaux said there would be more films announced in the next days and perhaps that will see another competition film added.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 13 to 24 and will open with “La Tete Haute.”
All in all "Ex Machina" is a beautifully produced Science Fiction film that represents the best of filmmaking and also showcases the possibilities in an overproduced genre.
Ultimately this action soap opera delivers on a number of fronts, but most importantly in sending one of its big heroes away on a touching and sincere note. Paul Walker has been a huge part of the "Furious" movies and now the franchise will never be the same.
With the holiday weekend coming up many families will want to stay home to celebrate Easter. They will ignore the current movie fare at the box office including "Furious 7," "Cinderella," "Home" and "Insurgent." For those not interested in this type of fare, Latin Post takes a look at "Hop" and a number of films to watch this holiday weekend.
All in all, 'Serena" seemed like the perfect film on paper bringing together an A-List cast in Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper and a top-notch director. However, the finished product falls flat because of an unfocused script, making the movie a difficult watch.
The SXSW Film Festival has announced its annual Grand Jury Prizes with "Krisha" winning the Narrative competition and "Peace Officer" winning for best documentary.
This weekend a number of holiday films will be released just in time for spring season. The films come from a variety of genres and they include such popular hits as "Annie" and Oscar nominee "Song of the Sea.
"Cinderella" won the box office and demonstrated once again that Disney has a huge audience for these new live action adaptation. But will that success mean that we'll soon see live-actin renditions of classics like 'Aladdin,' 'Mulan,' and 'The Little Mermaid'?
