CANNES FILM FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS

Palme d’Or DHEEPAN, Directed by Jacques Audiard Grand Prix SAUL FIA (Son of Saul), Directed by László Nemes Best Director Award Hou Hsiao-Hsien for NIE YINNIANG (The Assassin) Jury Prize THE LOBSTER, Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos Best Actress Award Rooney Mara in CAROL, Directed by Todd Haynes Emmanuelle Bercot in MON ROI, Directed by Maïwenn […]

LETTERMAN FINALE DRAWS ALMOST 14 MILLION VIEWERS

Wednesday’s finale of CBS’s The Late Show with David Letterman drew a massive 13.76 million viewers from 11:30 p.m.to 12:55 a.m., according to preliminary Nielsen ratings. It was Letterman’s most-viewed telecast since Feb. 25, 1994, when the show followed the network’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics. By contrast Wednesday’s telecast followed the final half-hour […]

OLDER STARS BRING “YOUTH” TO CANNES

At a news conference at the Cannes Film Festival, where his latest movie Youth was screened on Wednesday, veteran actor Michael Caine, 82, quipped: “I came to Cannes 50 years ago with a movie called Alfie. Alfie won a prize and I didn’t, so I never came back. I’m not going all that way for […]

DRUG WAR DRAMA “SICARIO” SCORES AT CANNES

In his 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino created a fictional World War 2 that was swiftly won by the allies when they spurned international law and adopted relentlessly brutal tactics against the Nazi occupiers of France — torture, murder, even suicide bombings. In Denis Villeneuve thriller Sicario, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival […]

AT CANNES, FILMMAKERS, REPORTERS DODGE TALK OF LESBIAN LOVE IN “CAROL”

At the midpoint of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Todd Haynes’s Carol appears to be most critics’ choice as the frontrunner for the top prize, the Palme d’Or. The film, which stars Cate Blanchett in the title role and Rooney Mara as her lesbian lover in the early 1950s, was described as an “impressive lesbian […]

“PITCH PERFECT 2” LEAVES “MAD MAX” IN THE DUST

Breathing new life into the musical-comedy genre — and confounding box-office pundits — Pitch Perfect 2 flew past Mad Max: Fury Road to win the weekend box office with an estimated $70.3 million. That was $5 million more than the original film, which opened with $14.8 million, made during its entire domestic run in 2012. […]

CRITICS CUT DOWN VAN SANT’S “THE SEA OF TREES”

Add Matthew McConaughey to the list of actors who quickly appeared in a stinker following their Oscar victory. (To be sure, McConaughey did star in the blockbuster Interstellar after winning the Oscar for Dallas Buyers’ Club last year, but that film was virtually “in the can” by the time the awards were announced.) What persuaded […]

WOODY ALLEN RETURNS TO CANNES

Likable, intellectually intriguing, but — in the end — forgettable — that would appear to be the consensus of critics about Woody Allen’s latest movie, Irrational Man, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday but is not competing for the festival’s Palme d’Or award. Critics have had a love/hate relationship […]

“MAD MAX” HITS THE ROAD AT CANNES

Director George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road roared off at a blazing world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, a day before its opening in the U.S. At a press screening, international critics cheered and applauded many of the most elaborate action scenes. (Unlike U.S. critics, overseas film writers tend to be unapologetic […]

CANNES OPENER SERVES UP TASTY REVIEWS

The opening film at the Cannes Film Festival often seems to be selected with an eye on attracting a procession of glamorous stars who appear in it to the pristine red carpet rolled out at the Palais des Festivals. Last year’s flashy opener, Grace of Monaco, received scathing reviews from critics, but the red-carpet march, […]

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