Here's a late breaking report Father Geek got from our team in Cannes. Lots of stuff still happening even as the fest begins to whine on down...
Hello... Cannes Festival is little by little coming to
an end... H.G. Wells sent us this nice little report
on the Festival, from a different perspective... Then
the extra-eternal-terrestrial Ozymandias will give us
more news on different deals struck here...
Here's first H.G. Wells...
Last night, in the Room K of the Palais on the side of Salle Bory, I popped up in the middle of the screening of THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, directed by Terence Davies, with Eric Stoltz and Gillian Anderson... since the screening was available only to people with invitation only (sorry, market pass isn't enough on this one...), I had to wait a while to sneak in without them noticing it... Although I lost nearly first half, I could follow pretty well since I know Edith Wharton's novel reasonbly well.... From my personal opinion, the movie is a downer, ends in tragedy, with the sort of british melodrama we used to know (same tone as JUDE from Michael winterborom).... the only thing that might slip between the media attention is obviously Gillian Anderson in her first corset drama. She is so fit into character that she will get noticed for Oscar and Golden Globe nomination time, in case HOUSE has some resonance at the box-office which I doubt, really...
The funny thing that I had to comment about is that nearly the end of screening, a Miramax jerk-ass assistant executive hyping up as the Lord almighty of the Palais, gets inside the room with cell phone and everything, looks astounded at us in the dark, and whispers "What the f#@*% is going on...?!" - "Hey, Mike, this f$%#@&*!~ room is booked for something else, nobody told me anything about it, what the heck is going on- i want an explanation, right now!!!"-kinda of declaration....
What turned out to be after lights went up once the end credits start scrolling and buyers started leaving the room, I have checked that the idiot was storming up for nothing (it's just that HOUSE ran way longer than the usual 150 minutes of screening). NOW, what I saw is that the poor female assistant was holding a small can of film to show a piece of trailer just for private screening for top movie executives with red Miramax t-shirts to be given to them once the trailer was finished.
I could smell and tell right away what trailer they were about to show: buddy, from all the show off attittude just for a single piece of a 3-minute trailer, you could see what they were going to check for the first time with Harvey and team. Apparently, the trailer came straight from the Fedex adress in New Zealand... The shitty thing is that I couldn't sneak in this time around. DAMNED!!!!
Wrap up time...
Seeya next e-mail...
Ciao,
H. G. Wells
PS: Saw "Dancer In the Dark" this morning. Harry, Believe or not, I was disappointed... just didn't like as much I thought I would like... Editing is messy, trade back to BREAKING THE WAVES-style of filmmaking, it's fine as a normal film, but it's too deepdown tragic (specially the end) to overcome the overall scope of pic, yet artistically it's Von Trier "weakest" entry (my favorites are so far ZENTROPA, ELEMENT OF CRIME and BREAKING THE WAVES- in this order). I understand his idea of "deconstructing" the musical genre but he just doesn't replace with any other new ideas or concepts to be filled in....
So far, my favorite (but out of the competition) is SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE. Take my word, this pic is gonna be the cult hit of 2000...
PS 2: The New X-MEN trailer premiered this afternoon in the huge Jumbotron videoscreen on the sidewalk of the left side of the main entrance of the Palais. It shows more stuff of Sabletooth fighting in the snow, Rogue and more Wolverine stuff. This one is more an update of the previous first official trailer than a complete new one.
PS3: Funny but true- French waiters hate to come to your table and get your money to pay the food (it takes forever to get the check out...) Maybe they sense the ripoff in our pockets...
PS4 to Harry: You bitched about the taxi fee from Nice Airport to Cannes-Bocca. I understand that. Next time you come in, please walk just a couple of blocks and take the train TGV to Cannes. it takes 20 minutes and costs 35 french francs (one-way), which is something like 9 canadian bucks...just helping you out, man...
And now the Ozymandias News (or more simply ZE OZY NEWS !!)
* The latest Saturday Night Live spin-off movie will star Mike Myers as 'Dieter', the star of a German talk show called SPROCKETS, which he co-hosts with a monkey. David Hasselhoff will play himself and the story concerns Dieter's mounting popularity in Germany, and his show overtaking Baywatch as Deutschland's top TV programme. Hasselhoff is none too pleased, and is a prime suspect when Dieter's monkey gets kidnapped. No casting news yet as to who will be the monkey.
* Steven Seagal is sticking to what he knows best - no snide comments, if you don't mind - and has signed up to star in the action-thriller TICKER. The 'Under Siege' star will play a burnt-out cop on probation, who is called in by the bomb squad to face the case of his life chasing after a ruthless bomber. There seems to be confusion over the name of the movie though, with some sources calling it KICKER. There also appears to be some disparity over who is actually starring with Seagal. Over at Variety they report the actor's co-stars as Gary Oldman and Dan Hedaya, while Hollywood Reporter says it will be Dennis Hopper (effectively reprising his 'Speed' role) and Tom Sizemore ('Saving Private Ryan').
* Tony Scott is in advanced negotiations to direct the Robert Redford/Brad Pitt thriller SPY GAME. The announcement comes just days after original helmer Mike Van Diem left the project because of "a different vision for the pic's tone and scale", according to Marc Abraham, president of Universal-based Beacon Communications. Van Diem had been developing the project for the past 18 months. Redford and Pitt will play CIA agents, Pitt being Redford's protégée. On his last day with the force, Redford is forced to lead a rescue for the younger man who has been captured by the Chinese. If Scott does come on board, it will mean him leaving the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced flick 'Take Down'. A new director is currently being sought to replace him. With two big name stars and a well-known director, the budget on 'Spy Game' now looks to be heading towards the $70m mark.
* Following Wes Bentley's sharp exit from the big screen adaptation of the Anne Rice novel QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, Josh Hartnett has emerged as the leading candidate to take his place. Bentley was due to star as the Vampire LeStat but left the project, claiming he needed a rest having filmed two movies and done the press rounds for 'American Beauty'. Hartnett, who is currently working with Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale on the big-budget WWII movie 'Pearl Harbor', has yet to carry a movie on his own, so 'Damned' will be a big step up for the 21-year-old if he gets the part. American singer Aaliyah, who made her acting debut in the Jet Li movie 'Romeo Must Die', is attached to the movie to play the titular queen.
* George Clooney is set to star in the new film by Danny DeVito. The 'Three Kings' star is in talks to take the lead role in REVELATION, DeVito's first film as director since Roald Dahl adaptation 'Matilda' in 1996. Clooney and DeVito forged a friendship while working on Steven Soderbergh's 'Out Of Sight' two years ago (Clooney starred in it; DeVito produced) and it's thought this played a large part in Clooney's interest. The movie is about an internal affairs cop who's shot while saving the life of a cardinal. The cop then finds his own spirituality while trying to discover the identity of the would-be assassin.
* Singer Geri Halliwell is to tie in her forthcoming movie with her next album - writing two or three singles especially for the feature film. The former Spice Girl will also spend extra days on the set of THERAPY, recording material for videos to be released with the songs. Halliwell described the £7 million British movie as "a cross between Working Girl, Sex and the City and Alfie". In the film, she plays Amy, a London career girl with a long-term boyfriend who falls for her engaged therapist. Halliwell's character will deliver to camera "Alfie-style" speeches in Therapy.
* Britain's FilmFour and Italy's Key Films have come on board to co-finance the first English-language picture by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg. Titled IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE it's the story of two separated lovers - one an ice skater disillusioned with her celebrity - who are reunited in New York and go on a road trip to rebuild their relationship. Pic marks a stylistic departure from the Dogma vow of chastity under which Vinterberg shot his debut picture ''The Celebration'' The new project will create a magical near future including everything from global freezing to the disappearance of gravity in Uganda. Shooting in planned for March 2001 in New York and Scandinavia.
* London-based producer Thomas Hedman has lined up Canadian distributor Lions Gate Films and European media powerhouse CLT-Ufa to co-finance ``Kevin of the North'' and ``Ignition,'' both set to shoot this summer in Canada. ``Kevin'' is a $15 million comedy starring Skeet Ulrich, Natasha Henstridge, Leslie Nielsen and Rik Mayall. It will be directed by Brit helmer Bob Spiers (''Spiceworld''). Pic, set in L.A. and Alaska, is the story of a young man in a dead end job who gets an unexpected inheritance. But it comes with a condition - he has to take part in the world's toughest dog sled race.``Ignition,'' a $20 million action-thriller, stars Bill Pullman, Lena Olin and Rutger Hauer. Directed by Canadian Yves Simoneau, it's the story of a helicopter pilot who has to find a new career after an accident. He becomes a bodyguard for a federal judge (Olin), and together they stumble on a plot to topple the U.S. government. ``Kevin'' starts shooting June 12 in Vancouver, while ``Ignition'' is set to go July 17, also in Canada.
