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I’ll tell you why, the film criticism that we dearly loved is dead and most film critics are now too scared to step out of the consensus in fear of the repercussions they might get. The legendary booing at Cannes which you’ve read about at Cannes all these years almost exclusively occurred at press screenings. Rarely has it occurred at a film’s actual world premiere. In 2016, “Personal Shopper,” “The Neon Demon,” and, more importantly, Sean Penn’s “The Last Face” were booed there, and this set Cannes to install tightly-knit embargoes — press were no longer allowed to watch movies before the red carpet premiere....

With all that being said, a source deep within the selection committee of the festival is telling me that Thierry Fremaux and the gang are desperately trying to nab Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film “Soggy Bottom” for official competition. Suffice to say, this would be a major get for Cannes and it could lead to a reluctant U.S. press corps actually making the trek down to the croisette two months from now....

The working title is “The Island”, set to shoot in 2023. Described as a drama/thriller, the film is loosely based on real events. I wouldn’t expect this one until 2024. Mara and Phoenix will play an American couple in the 1930s who escape to their own private island and live off the land. However, a millionaire disrupts their tranquil lifestyle, as he passes by on his yacht, turning the couple into a tabloid sensation....

So, fine, Tarantino has reiterated the fact that he wants to end his career at 10 movies. I have, justifiably, prayed that he wouldn’t end it with his R-rated Star Trek movie, a passion project which seems to have started a few years back. Just to recap: Tarantino had pitched an idea to ‘Trek’ producer J.J. Abrams about an R-rated ‘Star Trek’ movie. This set off Abrams into sending scribe Mark L....

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Whether you like him or not, Ostlund is a major part of the future of cinema; FORCE MAJEURE, THE SQUARE and TRIANGLE OF SADNESS are all great satires of 21st century absurdism. I absolutely love this win. I also adore that Dhont had to share his Grand Jury Prize with Claire Denis’ “The Stars at Noon” (possibly her worst film). Fabulous stuff. And, why give the Dardennes a “Special 75th Anniversary Prize”?...

“Empire of Light” currently has a 58 on Metacritic and 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. I keep hearing the reception at Telluride was “warmly polite”. You can bet pundits will try to push this one all season long. Folks like Jeffrey Wells, Sasha Stone, Pete Hammond, Scott Feinberg and Clayton Davis are praising “Empire of Light”, but critics? They have their fangs out for Mendes. We can theorize that in the past, critically-maligned films like “The Blind Side” (53 MC Score), “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” (46) and “Bohemian Rhapsody” (49) still managed to receive Best Picture nominations....

Speaking at the Rome Film Festival (via THR), Martin Scorsese showed regret in not directing every episode of his misbegotten HBO series “Vinyl." “It was ultimately tragic for me because we tried for one year. I did the pilot. We tried for one year with HBO, but we couldn’t get the creative elements together,” Scorsese said. “It was something that I realized, in order to make it right…I think I would have had to direct every episode and be there for the three to four years....

Where some of the films that were scheduled to premiere at SXSW go now is anybody’s guess, but, chances are the Toronto International Film Festival could handle more than a few titles in September. Meanwhile, we are still keeping a close eye on the Cannes Film Festival which could very well have the same fate as SXSW in the weeks to come. SXSW would have happened between from March 13th to March 21st....

I already listed the likes of Tarantino (cross your fingers), Malick, Eggers, Jarmusch, Sachs, Almodovar, Dardenne, and Joon-ho in the title, but let me add Dolan, Bonello, Desplechin, Dumont, Herzog, Ferrera and, not to mention, Dexter Fletcher’s Elton John biopic “Rocketman.” And those are just a few of the many familiar names that will be gracing the Croisette this year.. So, give me a break, Cannes is very much alive with relevance and about to embark on a stacked edition next month....

And yet, no film this year aimed higher than “Babylon.” That in itself should earn your respect for this rousingly frenetic epic. What I gathered from its NYC/LA screenings was that there would be a lot of love/hate for this film. Polarizing movies tend to, sometimes, be the best kind of cinema — the ones so maddeningly risk-taking that they can’t help but rub a good percentage of people the wrong way, but elate others....

Johnson, in a recent Twitter post, revealed that he was the original choice, even before Kevin Hart, to host the gig: “I was their first choice to host this year, and my goal was to make it the most fun and entertaining Oscars ever,” Johnson tweeted. “We all tried hard, but couldn’t make it work since I’m shooting ‘Jumanji.’ Academy and I were super bummed but maybe one day down the road....

People tend to forget what a great actor Cruise actually is. You can’t watch a film like “Born on the Fourth of July” without noticing that talent. Yes, there’s his affinity for starring in all of those “Mission: Impossible” movies, but Cruise built his career as a dramatic actor first and as an action star second. I do hope he starts concentrating his energy on more dramatic roles during, what will probably be, these last 10-20 years of his acting career....

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This latest opus from the Danish writer-director, titled “Too Old to Die Young,” will premiere on television in June. It will probably have a few of its episodes premiering at Cannes this coming May. The trailer was just released and, well, it looks very Refn-esque. It stars Miles Teller (“Yo Whiplash”) as “a grieving police officer who, along with the man who shot his partner, finds himself in an underworld filled with working-class hit men, Yakuza soldiers, cartel assassins sent from Mexico, Russian mafia captains and gangs of teen killers....

These modern-day dating sites are nothing less than a blessing for those seeking cougars for casual hookups. Now, people don’t have to go out to look for a partner who might only be looking for a no-strings-attached relationship. These dating sites are now quite secure, and they rely on modern matchmaking algorithms and software solutions to safely meet British cougars. You can even browse anonymously, which means you don’t need to disclose your identity unless you know you’ve found a good partner....

At the moment, I have Hong’s “Walk Up”, Christophe Honore’s “Le Lyceen”, Sebastien Lelio’s “The Wonder”, Maria Schrader’s “She Said”, Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light”, Tobias Lindholm’s “The Good Nurse,” Ulrich Seidl’s “Sparta,” and Abel Ferrera “Padre Pio”, although the latter appeared in a side section of the fest. Meanwhile, Netflix didn’t event bother to submit the “Knives Out” sequel to Venice. Ditto, Universal with Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans.” I’m sure I’ll get more info on other titles when the time comes....

There haven’t been many great US movies so far in 2022. The three best reviewed American releases (“Turning Red” “X,” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once”) just confirm that a sort of infantilism has invaded film criticism in the US. These are not normally films that would get critical praise, maybe the subpar Pixar, I guess, but the times are changing and now anybody can be a movie critic. Even worse, big media companies are hiring for cheap and letting young millennials review new releases....

“People around Harvey are saying he’s desperately trying to hire a ‘skirt’—their term—for the team as he feels it will soften his image,” an insider told the publication. There are already three female lawyers representing Weinstein, but he he demands there be more ladies. However, he “does not want to pay premium fees,” instead, Weinstein tells these female candidates that representing him will be a career boost. “His arguments to women lawyers are like the ones he used on young actresses who felt underpaid: It will be good for your career to be on my team for the notoriety and fame,” according to The Post....

One of the best examples of the latter is James Cameron, the 67-year-old Canadian director who has presided over some of the biggest hits in movie history. One could argue that “Titanic” and the top-grossing all-time film “Avatar” make for the most successful one-two punch any director can boast of. That said, even these movies were not revered for dialogue (or in the case of “Avatar” even performances). It was Cameron’s touch that raised them both to such lucrative heights, in perhaps one of the clearest examples of the significance of a director having both a vision for a project and an understanding of the audience....