Category Archives: Movie Reviews

May 19 2012
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Cannes Film Festival, Movie Reviews

"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

…is fantastic. Much like I reminisce about the exponential build of sound that seems neverending in the final scene of “Melancholia” that I experienced last year in the Salle de Soixantieme and the unrelenting roar of applause and ovations after the red carpet premiere of “Drive” in the Lumiere Theatre last year, the opening first few minutes of the “Beasts of the Southern Wild” has become another Cannes moment for me that I will remember fondly forever; its booming crescendo blasting through the Debussy Theatre speakers and pounding my chest as I sat in my center, orchestra seat today.

Beautifully shot on location in southern Louisiana, “Beasts” is insanely realistic in its portrayal of this rogue backwoods lifestyle you can almost feel the sticky humidity in which the characters’ adventures in daily life unfold.

The main character, ‘Hushpuppy,’ is played by an intimidatingly talented six-year-old girl, Quenzhane Wallis, who is not only beautiful but she has a stare that can slay you. She is just the best thing ever!

The score is incredible and moving. The characters force you to engage emotionally despite a lack of dialogue as the film is more heavily filled with narration and playful games between father, daughter, and rough neck neighbors. It is just one of those movies I am SO glad I saw in a theatre so big with an audience so happy to see it. This film is a cinematic journey that reminded me of how fun good movies can be. I think it’ll do big things in its Un Certain Regard competition here at Cannes (and potentially beyond)…  Enjoy it — I did!
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May 14 2012
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Movie Reviews, UGA Students

2012 Students’ Blog Links

Below are the blog links of each of our 27 students attending the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.  They will be doing personal posts as well as school posts where they will provide critical writing reviews of films they see while in Cannes.

Hilary Beth ALLEN – http://hballen.blogspot.com/

Nicole GALONCZYK – nicolegalonczyk.blogspot.com
Alex NICHOLS – http://pdpslt.blogspot.com/   

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May 24 2011
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Cannes Film Festival, Movie Reviews

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Wooohoooo!! A day after I was wishing for some U.S. distribution of “We Need To Talk About Kevin” – this article comes out:

Get excited / Brace yourself, America. ‘Kevin’ is coming…
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May 12 2011
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Cannes Film Festival, Movie Reviews, Red Carpet

Finally!

After two years I FINALLY have red TOMS shoes on the Cannes red carpet. Ta-da!

Granted, I was only allowed to wear them on the red carpet because I was attending a mid-day screening in the Grand Lumiere Theatre sans press and paparazzi. The nighttime premieres at 7:30pm & 10:30pm throughout the festival are more ritzy as those are the ones where cast, jury, etc. are in the theatre watching the screenings as well and there are hundreds of photographers yelling celebrities’ names and snapping photos throughout the long walks down the red carpet. These are the screenings in which we commoners must dress to the nines to fit in with the glamourous event. In other words, my TOMS would be out of the question – unless I was famous, in which case I could wear these shoes and a potato sack and still land on the cover of fashion mags.
I digress.
My daytime presence up the red carpet on this day is to catch an early screening of the highly anticipated in-competition film, “We Need To Talk About Kevin.” Walking the red carpet in my red shoes for this screening ended up being unexpectedly ‘on theme’ with the heavy movie as the color red is used symbolically throughout its 110 minutes. In it we follow a mother (Tilda Swinton) through her current life, the aftermath of a mass murder at a local high school carried out by her son, Kevin (Ezra Miller), amid flashbacks of her life leading up to this point. The storyline is intense enough, but coupled with the expert cinematography with smart uses of the color red – the annual tomato festival in Spain; the Andy Warhol-esque shot of Swinton in a grocery store against a backdrop of tomato soup cans; the paint splattered on Swinton’s small white house as an act of vandalism; and, of course, the blood from Kevin’s victims – is effective and evocative beyond belief.
Rarely has a film hit me as hard as ‘Kevin’ did. The first 40min of the movie, to me, can be compared with the first 20min of “Saving Private Ryan.” The immediate intensity of the situation into which you are introduced is jarring. It takes hold and won’t let go. The glimpses we see of Swinton’s current life (post-massacre) is empty, depressed, and desolate. I literally felt hollow inside just watching her. Her performance is award-worthy.
John C. Reilly plays Kevin’s father in the film and his role is exactly what you want it to be – lovable and light. He represents the half of the parental unit with which Kevin finds joy, be it genuine or not. Swinton, on the other hand, is blatantly and inexplicably hated by Kevin, seemingly since birth. The story portrays both a tug-of-war between mother and son as well as a tug-of-war between Swinton’s internal and emotional struggle. We, the audience, are the knot in the middle of the tug-of-war rope as we are pulled back and forth right along with the plot, giving reason to the exhaustion I felt when the credits finally rolled. I was drained – so much so that I literally had to separate myself from the group and avoid seeing or speaking to anyone for thirty full minutes in order to process what I had just endured.
At the end of it all – I LOVED IT. I was so affected mentally and emotionally, so for me that means the film and its performances were a success. As difficult as the subject matter is to tackle, I do hope that ‘Kevin’ finds its footing for distribution somehow, somewhere in the U.S. as Tilda’s and Ezra’s performances deserve to be seen.
(some stills from “We Need To Talk About Kevin”)


——————-***Update***——————–
Sun. 5/22 – The Closing Ceremonies of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival just aired and Kirsten Dunst (from Von Trier’s controversy-laden, “Melancholia”) scooped up (read: stole from Tilda) the “Best Actress” Palme. Was Dunst’s performance good? Yes. Some are even saying this is the best role she’s ever played. Great. Fine. But what is this being compared to? “10 Things I Hate About You”? “Marie Antoinette”? “Bring It On”? Give me a break. I am happy for Dunst and think this will serve as an incredible rebirth for her career, but was it better than Tilda’s performance? No. Both women play depressed characters in their respective storylines, but Swinton’s performance is the one that made me FEEL depressed too. I don’t know – you be the judge.
‘Kevin’, among others like Almodovar’s “The Skin I Live In,” the subtly erotic “Sleeping Beauty,” and the critically acclaimed (yet unbearably boring) “Le Havre,” were shockingly shut out of the winners circle completely. This makes me want to campaign for ‘Kevin’ and Tilda even harder in the U.S. as I sincerely think her unbelievable performance warrants strong Oscar buzz.

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May 12 2011
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Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, Movie Reviews

Midnight In Cannes

It is well PASSED midnight in Cannes… but I have just returned home from seeing the late-night premiere of Woody Allen’s “Midnight In Paris,” the 2011 Cannes Film Festival Opener. It has been described as ‘a love letter to Paris’ and I can’t disagree with that. Having personally fallen in love with the city some years ago during a semester-long study abroad in the City of Light, I can attest to sharing those love affair feelings with France’s capital. I’ve often said that even seeing pictures of Paris is both wonderful and gut-wrenching at the same time – as if I am looking at photos of an ex-boyfriend. Woody Allen does the city and his actors justice in ‘Midnight’ which is truly a step in the right direction for his recent work.

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