Reviews

“Strange” (sounds better in French: bizarre) is the first label that comes to mind after watching How to Talk to Girls at Parties, from John Cameron Mitchell, which is an official selection (out of competition) of the 2017 Cannes Film Fest. This romantic tale, which tries to mix the subcultures of punk and aliens in a sci-fi milieu, was one of the toughest press screening to get into (It took place at a small venue, Salle Bazin).

It was a somber start for day seven in Cannes as the Festival, like the rest of the world, awoke to the tragic news coming from Manchester. An official statement from the Festival read: “This is yet another attack on culture, youth and joyfulness, on our freedom, generosity and tolerance, all things that the Festival and those who make it possible –the artists, professionals and spectators– hold dear.

Day four of the festival was dominated, at least briefly, by the “security scare” at the Palais des Festivals. As if journalists were not frayed enough by the interminable lines for screenings and the extra security, the several hundred who had lined up for over an hour to see Michel Hazanavicius’ Le Redoutable were suddenly ordered to move back by surging security officers.

Boldly original, Okja, the new film from the talented South Korean writer-director Bong Joon Ho, is not just an ambitious film with a social message, but a charming fable about the incomparable love of a young girl for her special “Super Pig,” whose name provides the film’s title. Working with a larger budget than the usual, and defined by some dazzling state of the art special effects, Okja is the most eccentric film to date in competition at the 2017 Cannes Film Fest.

With the first weekend looming, Cannes is indeed in full swing and traffic on the Croisette, compounded by checkpoints, sold-out café patios and bumper to bumper black sedans  is reaching the customary frenzy. Alongside the main competitions the sidebars – Quinzaine and Semaine de la Critique - have also begun screenings.

You wouldn’t necessarily know it from the line of stragglers still snaking in front of the press office to pick up credentials, but Cannes Day one is in the books. The crowd of journalists is due to the 4000 some credentials which have been assigned for this 70th edition, and the hottest item in the lines is sunscreen: the weather is picture perfect but the sun in the Riviera’s azure skies can take a toll on critics’ delicate complexions.

One week after receiving a standing ovation at its Eccles Theater premiere, Dee Rees' Mudbound was still available for purchase, which is one of the biggest surprises of this year's Sundance Film Festival. Anybody who was at that screening left convinced that it was only a matter of hours until the bleak story of love, friendship and misery would be sold for big money to a U.

It came as little surprise to those who were at the film’s Monday premiere at the Eccles that Patti Cake$ was bought by Fox Searchlight on Tuesday for a reported $10. 5 million price tag.

Woody Harrelson stars as the title character, a curmudgeonly loner in a dark comedy based on a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes of Ghost World fame. If the terms graphic novel and comedy, used in the same sentence, baffle you, you are not alone.

Just ahead of the blizzard, which blanketed Park City with three feet of snow (testing even the most veteran festivalgoers) a welcome touch of cinematic class blew in from Europe in the form of Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name. The Italian director is no stranger to Park City having shown his I Am Love here five years ago.