The Big Picture - We Went to Cannes! These Are the 10 Best (and Worst) Things We Saw.

Episode Date: May 21, 2026

Bonjour! Sean and Amanda recap their first trip to the legendary Cannes Film Festival, which has become an incredible bellwether for the Best Picture race over the last five to 10 years. First, they talk through what the actual experience at the festival is like, including how it logistically works, what the vibes are like, and how to survive (0:39). Then, they dive into the slate of films they’ve seen and categorize them into the good, the bad, and the WTF (24:29). Finally, they share their final predictions for all of the main prizes at the festival and briefly cover some potential Oscar implications (1:40:54). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Producer: Jack Sanders Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh and Sarah Reddy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We, Sean Fetesy. Just me, Amanda Dobbins. And this is the Big Picture, a Conversation Show, about Cannes. Today on the show, Amanda and I will recount our first trip to the Cannes International Film Festival, the movies we saw, the energy and controversies of the festival, how it all works, and all the titles you'll be hearing about for the next 10 months. It's all coming up right after this. Okay, Dobbins, you did it. You did it.

How are you feeling? I did it. I feel amazing. I made it to Cannes. You know, it came true to quote our beloved Anne Hathaway. Day nine for me, is that right? Sure, yeah. Day seven or six for you?

You make it sound like you've entered an extinction level event a lot of 28 years later. It is day seven for me. Yes. How are you feeling? Strong? Amazing. Yeah, I'm good.

I would say still moderately jet lagged. Our sleep schedules are interesting at this point, but I've adapted to be a, a festival creature just in time to leave. You know, this is my last morning and then I'm getting on the train. But it's been fascinating and fun and silly and sometimes frustrating and I'm so glad that we came. Me too. So yesterday was, I think, an interesting snapshot of how this experience could work for me. after a long night the night before, I woke up at 7.30 in the morning to go to an 8.30 a.m. press screening of a movie. We will talk about that movie, which is heartbreaking. And then I met you for an 1130

movie. And then I went to a 2.30 movie. And then I went to a 530 movie in between, came back to our apartment, put on some deodorant, and then went out and had drinks and met friends. And we're out until 2 o'clock in the morning. And we're up here at 9 a.m. recording a podcast. It's closer to 10, but that's okay. Good point. A little slower going this morning. That is a snapshot of what it's like here, that if you want to do it right, if you want to experience everything, you kind of need to hard commit. Yeah.

And decide to see everything and also be a social creature at the same time. And I'm certainly feeling the after effects, but I'm glad that we did it. And I'm feeling like I really, the raft of movies that I've now seen, I just feel so powerful. I feel like like, like, I don't even know, like the draft. Dragon Balls E meme, you know, like I'm just been powered up for the next six months. It's amazing. Most people don't do four movies in a day, as you did yesterday. Most people do, as I understand it, one to none and then take a bunch of meetings and go to parties. Sure. You know, I mean, so this has been interesting, right? Because in some ways, this is just another film festival, right? Despite the glitz and the

glamour and the Europe and the yachts and the, um, and the black tie gala's, we have been hoping a trying to see. I never did four in a day. I did a lot of three-day movies a three movies a day. A couple twos. Yesterday was a two. It's fine. I've been here a long time. And, you know, trying to get tickets, trying to get into screenings, trying to find food in between them, like living by the same schedule that you live in Sundance or Telluride or Venice to a lesser extent. A lot of ways, it is very similar to Venice in that it's another ticketed festival. So the anxiety as in getting the ticket and kind of making the schedule puzzle fit together and making sure that you can see everything. And then being heartbroken when you miss something as I did

yesterday. But so we are just being festival rats, right? And then sometimes being a festival rat involves running back to the apartment to put on a tuxedo or an evening gown in like 20 minutes flat because to go see the movie and to be there for the big premiere, you have to wear a tuxedo. And as I reminded you, the bow tie is the actual, it's the only remaining strict dress code, as I understood it. I mean, they want evening dress, but the heels thing is gone. There were no heel checkers as far as I could tell. I mean, I did wear heels. Is that a full-time position with benefits? Heal checker here. Yeah, in France, you know, everything goes.

And there, you had to wear a gown, but it was more flexible for the women. But the men, you had to have a bow tie. Let's talk about the vibe more generally. Yeah. I would say I underestimated the hub of the intensity of humanity that comes to this place. and in retrospect, that makes a lot of sense because it is, this has become the central film festival in the world. It is one of the longest running film festivals,

if not the longest running. It's the one that has launched a thousand ships of cinema history. It's also one that, as we've been talking about for the last five years, has become so central to, frankly, US film and US film award shows. And so there's more attention on it than ever. But also, it's a European inststander. and it's a puddle jumper flight away from many major cities in Europe. So you have not just the film industry that descends, but this kind of mass tourist culture

that also descends upon it. So there's just so many fucking people here. That's the one thing that it just differentiates it from other film festivals. You know, Sundance is a crowded film festival, but not like this. You know, Telly Ride is not a crowded film festival. I know Venice is crowded, but Venice is also the Lido is small. And so it's like it feels maybe more conquerable than what happens here. Yes and no. Again, I think Venice is the closest con because it is also like a European tourist city. And I think what you and I have been taken aback by is not just the crowds in the French system of crowd control, which you can speak about whenever you'd like. But there are just there are a lot of people here just vacationing, right? This is a beach town. It is the Cote d'Azura. And so there are like many families and like pushing their strollers down the quazette like in the middle of a premiere, which is just a choice, not a

choice that I would make, not even as a parrot, but as a person. You know, it's like when the circus comes to town, Amanda's Leivik, but many people are like, hey, let's go see the circus. And so it is, it is crowded. And there are a lot of people who also seem to come to like Galk at the festival, right? There is a culture of not just, you know, camping out for the red carpets, but there are lots of people dressed up holding up signs being like, one ticket please for whatever movie. There are a lot of programs. I learned about three days in Cannes to kind of get younger people here for a certain amount of time, but then they also got to hustle for tickets. So I do think the festival is encouraging a lot of hubbub. But yeah, it's like we're on the front for

Viera. It's like, you know, there are just there are a lot of people here. Yeah. And I don't blame them for being here, but they're, they're in my way, is what I'll say. At least whenever I'm trying to get to a line so that I can get into a film. The state of this year's festival is interesting. We talked a bit about what the lineup was and going in, and maybe there were some films that we expected to be here that turned out to not be here. I think maybe the most significant is the new Ruben-Osslin film. The entertainment system is down.

He's a two-time Palm Door winner, and his next film is with Keanu Reeves and your beloved Kirsten Dunst set on an airplane in which the entertainment system goes down. And everybody assumed that movie would be here and that Rubin would make a bid for his third apartment. It's not here. And so I would say that there was amongst those who really closely follow World Cinema a little bit of doubting in the nature of the lineup. We'll go through all the films at length after we get through our sort of temperature check. But from the moment that you arrived, was it clear that maybe this was not quite the most elite can? week in recent years?

Well, I mean, it is a tradition of grumbling about the lineup, whether you're here or not, right? And it's certainly a tradition among critics, both the critics who get to go here, who get to come to Cannes every year, which we are now an elite few, to, you know, complain, well, I wanted this or that. Last night at dinner, you had your phone out and you were just going through lists of previous years lineups with our friends. It's the most fun thing to do in the world, yeah. Sure. I was actually talking with our friend about human things. But so some of it I knew was just posturing. And also I arrived here a few days before you and didn't know anyone. So I spent my time trying to see as many movies as possible and posting on Instagram. And I wound up posting on Instagram like a little more than I needed to just because I went to see the movies, but it did feel like filler or it didn't feel like anything in the first couple of days was going to be essential. Now one, I

could be wrong. And two, that is the case of any longer festival, right? That's the other thing that we should communicate about. Canna, this is two weeks long. And it is full of movies. And it's not, there is the main competition, which is for the Palm Door, but then there are several other tiers. Then there are special screenings. So just the number of movies that you can see is overwhelming, even as I was kind of like, well, what's going to be essential here? Because you and I, for the purposes of this show, and as you said, for the purposes of American cinema, like, we're palm hunting a little bit because the palm door has been such an Oscars indicator for the last six years, really, I guess, since Parasite won in 2019, 2020. And it has been kind of, you know, it's the top prize. so it opens the door to the rest of what's going on a can and the rest of world cinema to an American audience.

But I, it, it was slow. Yeah, it was a little slow. It was a little slow. And I don't think that anything that I saw the first couple days was like, Sean, like you got to figure out a way to go see this. That was in competition. Yes. Because one of the interesting narratives that has emerged out of this week is that, well, there have been, I think, maybe three or four titles in competition that are very, very good. And there

are, like, a couple that I find to be, like, top-tier stuff. But many of the most exciting things have been out of competition or in the uncertain regard category or in directors' Fortnite or in the special screenings category or even Cann classics. And that's kind of fascinating because the competition itself is full of former Palm winners and former Cannes attendees. And it is a very hallowed group of filmmakers that are here. But the sentiment amongst everybody, that includes both press and your kind of common cinema

goer who's come to this festival. I think through the first five or six days was well, this is not the best year. I think the tide is turning now as we get into the last third of the festival because of the handful of films that have now premiered. But that was interesting to have four or five days in a row where it was kind of rolling their eyes at what

they were sitting through despite the incredible privilege and like just kind of general wonder of getting to see some of this stuff. I mean, for me, obviously, I have wanted to be here my entire life and have been almost afraid to come here. And there's been a little bit of like a myth dispelling that's been going on.

And it is, you're right. In some ways, it is exactly like any other film festival. You know, you queue up and you wait and you sit uncomfortably for two and a half hours in a seat with thousands of hundreds of people that smell bad and that, you know, don't care about your... There's never enough legroom.

Yes, yes. Absolutely, you know, the Europeans. are compact. We are not. And when you're in an unhappy screening, when you're watching a movie you don't care about, that experience is magnified. But when you're in a great film, you don't feel it at all. You never, you don't, I never thought about leg room during one of the films that we'll talk about. I never thought about who was sitting next to me if it wasn't you. So, I, I'm having a great time and I'm hopeful actually for my last two days because you're leaving

today and I have a couple of more days. So we won't be able to talk about the slate in full here. but I'm relieved that we were recording today and not on Monday morning. If we had recorded on Monday morning our time, I think it would have been a little bit more, a little bit more concerned about the state of the festival. Yes, we've gotten several titles. And also our expectations were reset, but positively, because Sunday night at like, what, 3 a.m.,

we had had, we had had one idea of how the festival would go and we had kind of arranged our screenings and our, you know, our tuxedos and our life around that. And then we walked out of the Lumiere, which is the largest theater where all the films premiere. And we were like, uh-oh, or not even uh-oh, but we're kind of like, well, we're going to have to redo this, this episode outline. Uh, we're going to have to put some, you know, extra work in the next two days. But it worked out. And, And, you know, again, that is the way that all of these things go for all of the, there's always an outside machinery that, you know, both making all of the like, quote unquote glamour, but also the narratives that we participate. And I think you and I always watch this happening from afar.

And we're like, no, no, I'd like to have an opinion and be able to participate. And I'm glad we are. And I think we can't, but at the same time, it's funny how sometimes you don't even have to see the movies to watch how the narrative shapes. Yeah. And that's the last thing I want to say before we get into the slate is that you pointed this out to me when we were waiting to walk up the red carpet steps at the Palais at the end of the mirror. Which was so fun. It was an incredible experience. It was ridiculous.

And unlike at other festivals, at least for Paper Tiger, we were sent. fully up the carpet. And we just walked in the middle of influencers posing for the banks of photographers on either side. And I'm just like navigating various trains to make sure I don't trip in my heels. You got scolded for taking some photos because that's not allowed on the red carpet. No selfies, no phones. It was a broke down palace situation.

I had to go away for a couple days. But that sucks. I would have been so mad. But you walk up these stairs, and the lights are going, and it's absurd and exciting. And I'm so glad that we got to do it. I don't know how many more times we need to do it in our life. I'm very glad to have done it, too. It was an amazing experience.

And I actually didn't even know we would be doing that, even though we had orchestra seating for this premiere. We still did that same experience that, you know, all the filmmakers did and many other people do it. Like, it's hordes of attendees go up and enter in that fashion, too. but I bring that up because as we were waiting to go up the steps, you were sort of pointing out to me the photographers, many of whom looked like they were in their 70s, some even in their 80s, who had been like real canned dogs.

They'd been doing this for a very long time. Also in Texas. Everyone was in tuxes and gowns. And just the mechanics of this, the orchestration of this, the mechanized quality of the entire thing, engineered quality of the entire festival is really interesting. It's not that perfect image that you see from the red carpet. that in order for that to happen, it necessitates thousands of people, millions of dollars,

loads and loads of preparation and planning. And so to watch it be happening and to have it kind of deconstructed and dematologized in real time was really interesting. It made me a little more cynical, as these things tend to. And that maybe influences how I see the movies a little bit, a little bit. Because most other film festivals don't have that. And since I have not been to Venice, most other film festivals, certainly the filmmakers will be there and they'll come in and speak for a moment. But this is a level of grandeur and

I don't like social preparation that is unusual relative to those other festivals. I don't know if it makes me more cynical just because I am already cynical. But, you know, what I said to you in line was, you know, all glamour is manufactured, right? And there's a lot of, and it is kind of all fake and you're doing it all for the image. And I just wanted to see how it was done. and I wanted to see what this version and this scale was. And it, I thought it was fascinating. You know, I, like, I have looked at the photos of the red carpet and also the photo calls. We went to, you know, there are a number of different theaters here at Canada, where they do screenings.

And our favorite theater is behind the Lumiere, and it's called the Agnes Varda. And it sits up some stairs. It has a beautiful view of the harbor, whatever we're calling, the Mediterranean. that's what we're calling it. And as soon as we got up there, I was like, oh, this is where they do the photo calls. Because I have looked at those photos for 20 years, and I instantly recognized, like, the scenery and the backdrop.

So I like understanding those things, and I find it sort of comforting that it is all, you know, a lot of people put in a lot of work, a lot of time and money and effort. And it is, it is, made up, but it's also something that people create out of nothing. So there are two ways of looking at it. Yeah, it's both things. This is the absolute power station of world cinema. This is where some of the most important films of all time have essentially been birthed to the world.

And this is also a place where, like, Dior looms large with its storefront immediately across from the Lumia. It's Dior and Chanel, which is just for my fashion heads. It's really, they're directly across from the red carpet on the quazette. And they both have their latest wares out, including my dream Chanel dress right there in the window. Yeah. And you almost broke the window last night at 2 o'clock in the morning to steal that dress and race down the closet.

But you did not. Anything else you want to close off on before we go through everything we've seen? Do you want to talk about the parties at all? And party culture and the club. Yeah, you've been to more than I have. I've been to a couple of. Yeah. In some ways, yes.

And in some ways, no. because that's another funny one where it just turned out to be like every other movie party, which I don't want to, you know, sniff at because we all know I like a party. But they were all at the quote-unquote beach clubs. So the Quazette is a, it's a road and it runs down the water along the Mediterranean and on the other side of the road are, you know, restaurant beach club type things in the European style, right? and they get rented out by either a movie studio or like Nespresso, you know, brands.

And so then every night after the premieres, there are long lines and people are clamoring to get into these like, frankly glorified beach tents with, you know, the same cocktails, the rosé, abundant. I did have someone hand me a Nogroni at one of the parties, which was like, you know, when I died and went to heaven. And at one point, I am told I was in the same room with Dua Lipa, but did not know it, which was my real heartbreak.

I've got two heartbreaks of Cannes so far. Number one, missing a movie we're going to talk about. And number two, not knowing that I and Dula Lipa were sharing beach tent space. But at the same time, you know, there were plenty of parties, as you pointed out, that we were not invited to. We didn't get on a yacht. And so, you know, it's something to strive for next year. Sure. We didn't get to the cap, which is the famous hotel in Ante, which, you know, I googled many times at like 4 a.m.

And we almost made a last minute bid last night. And we, we restrained ourselves. Yeah, which was the right call because once again, we had to podcast it. We were supposed to be here at 9 a.m. I don't know if we really hit our call time. Sorry, again, Jack and crew. But the, you know, it's the same thing as the carpet and everything else. where the parties are the fixture.

And, you know, Bella Hadid has been photographed, like, all over can, like, enjoyed. Like, she was also on a yacht, like, sunbathing. And it's been 65 degrees and lovely weather here, but not, you know, yacht, sunbathing weather. So what you see on Instagram or, you know, the photos and then the reality, they are like everything else different. And not bad, just different. I wonder as we talk about the movies if there will be a similar experience for people, when these movies start to come out into the world, too. That's something I always think about is how much of the reaction is, quote, unquote, correct from the outset and not.

I pointed a couple of times to the infamous Eddington premiere here last year. And Ari Aster's movie opened here. It perceived a very negative response and then opened over the summer. And while it didn't make it very much money at the box office, it kind of very quickly accrued a staunch defense system for what, it was trying to accomplish. And I think the reputation of that movie has transformed a lot in 12 months. And that's something that maybe will happen to some of the movies that we talk about here, where at first glance or in the room and how much the room affects your reaction will indicate in one way or another. I'm not sure if there's too many examples, not as divisive a slate this year,

I would say. I can think of a couple of examples where you and I, which room you and I saw a film period can had a real effect on our interpretation of it, as opposed to people. And, you know, it's really, are you there for the gala premiere in the room with everyone versus a press screening, which it's not just the audience that's different, but with the energy. It's a little more work today. And what you're willing to buy into depends a little bit in which room you're sitting in whether it's in a different room and can or at home. So that's right. That's right. And you and I have access to two different press screening rooms in addition to the Varda, in addition to, you know, external movie theaters on the Quazette.

There are various just general audience movie theaters that are screening films here over this two-week period as well. So we, I feel like I've now really had the gamut. Like, I've been in, I think I've been in every single room. I've been in the Bunwell. I've been in the Basin. I've been in, you know, the Debussy. I've been in arcades. I've been in Olympia. Like there's, there's a lot of places to go see movies. You didn't go to Sinanam, but I did. And so that is, yeah, that's a movie theater like three miles away. And I, and I, I mean, I saw a movie on the same floor as like a screen X. It was just a basic movie theater with like a lot of people going on a Saturday afternoon

to see normal movies. And that was also cool because it was clear there was another can culture of seemingly younger or younger than me, people just waiting out at different location to kind of try to see the second and third run movies away from the hubbub. And they were just like sitting on the floor at your local. AMC or whatever. I don't think AMC operates and is allowed to operate in France. But just hanging out and trying to see movies.

And so that's an even different kind of room and different reception, which is cool. There are people here who like movies. There's, in addition to all the crusty dogs that I was talking about, there's just a ton of young people. And I know I'm a clown whenever I say cinema is alive and we're back. But like, it's impossible to not feel that way when you're here because everyone is just so excited to see things. There's so much enthusiasm for this stuff. And I'll use that as an entree into the discussion of the films. The moment in which I felt that the most deeply this week was at an 8.30 a.m. screening

of Jordan Firstman's Club Kid, which is a movie that I will say candidly when I saw that it was accepted to the festival. I was surprised. I wouldn't say it was extremely high on my list of two Cs because I arrived a couple of of days late. It had already premiered and gotten very warm reception, but I was like, I'll see for myself. And from my perspective, it may end up being my favorite movie at the festival. There have been a couple of movies in the last couple of days that have risen to it. But for three or four days, I was like, well, this is not just the surprise, but it is the straight up best movie here, even though it is in one certain regard and not in the main competition. And as soon as I saw, as soon as it

was over, I texted you immediately. And I was like, this movie is fucking. wonderful. Like you have to see this. And you did. It did. Yeah, later that afternoon. Yeah, it was, you know, as you said, that moment very early on when you're sitting there in a movie and you're just like, oh, this is happening. Like, it's all clicking. And you can tell very quickly. And it's such a special movie. It's really classical in a lot of ways, despite being a movie set in the, like, club kids, you know, in like queer clubs in 2016. and then now, you and I both learned a lot of lingo about some subcultures that we didn't previously know about.

This is a very drugs forward movie. But also not in an annoying way. I guess that is one thing that every description of it sounds kind of irritating if you're not a subscriber to it, but it is warm-hearted, a lot more depth than I think either of us expected and like has as much in common with Kramer versus Kramer as it does with, you know, Reckman for a dream or whatever. So it's, um, but there is nothing like not knowing anything and going in or knowing very little or not having the hype of six months of, you know, secondhand. Ooh, I saw this and that and just having something work so totally. And that's the

other thing, it is completely formed. Like, it works beginning, middle, and end. They make several smart choices, great performances, very funny. And funny, even if you don't get all the New York inside jokes, as most of the crowd I was with didn't. But also the New York inside jokes are great. They are very good. So, first, then, people will know him from, I Love LA, the HBO, Rachel Senate series, maybe rotting in the sun, which played Sundance a few years ago, just like a very funny online comic figure. And as you said, like, I maybe had not expected that he would deliver a movie with this level of depth and craft and sincerity. It very quickly pivots away from being a very in-your-face comedy to being a much more sincere drama, honestly,

about parenthood. And I... And growing up. And growing, certainly. And also maybe arriving at that stage in your life in your early 30s where you're like, uh-oh, maybe I'm not, wasn't as prepared part of my life as I needed to be, which is also, I think, will be very resonant for a lot of people. And I very quickly noted that the producer of the movie, one of the producers in the movie was Alex Coco, who was Sean Baker's producer on Anora and is widely considered one of the smartest independent film producers around. And you can definitely sense his influence and I'm sure helping Firstman develop this movie and get it to where it is because, and make just an incredible combination.

And I'm really excited about this movie and it was acquired by A-24, which I think every living human who was watching it was like, how is this not already an A-24 movie? Yes. But it's so far the big pickup of the festival and I expect will be a big thing through the rest of the year. Any other thoughts on Club Kid? I'm just excited to talk about it for the rest of the year. And it's going to be a fun one to have around.

Very fun press tour. and like it's going to it's going to be a great however many months once it comes out. So I'm I'm really excited. Okay. Let's talk about Fjord. Okay. Fjord is a fascinating film. It was my pre-festable pick for the palm.

And I don't know if it's my pick for the palm quite yet. We'll get to our predictions in a moment. Oh, so you're wavering now? Well, I don't, I don't know. I don't know. I have some, my feelings are moving in a lot of directions. but Fiord is Christian Manjou's new film, the Romanian filmmaker, who previously won the Palm back in 2007

and has been here a couple times before. And this film is, I'm reluctant to say that his most mainstream film, but it does star Sebastian Stan and Renata Reinsva. And they play a couple that has immigrated to Norway from Romania. Rinesva's character is Norwegian, but she lived in Romania with her husband, played by Stan, and they come with their five children. And once they arrive in Norway,

they learn that the culture of Norway is very different from the country that they have come from. They're a very religious, conservative family. And Norway is, of course, understood to be a very progressive country. And the movie pursues the differentiation in cultures and what can happen to this family and the community surrounding them. And I absolutely love this. and it is exactly the kind of thorny debate forward movie that I think thrives in this environment here. It is the, you know, in shades of anatomy of a fall, I would say, where as soon as the movie is over,

you want to be like, well, okay, so what do we really think was going on here? And elicited, I would say a pretty strong reaction, not a rapturous response, but a very clearly solidly, this movie is very, very good. What did you think? I think we both walked out and we were like, yes. And Fjord premiered on Monday, which was also essential because, like, we needed it. There was a lot writing on Fjord being good. I think it was probably, it's to both of our tastes, both in the actors, Sebastian Stan and Renata, Rinesvah.

You know, it's set in a beautiful mountain town in Norway. So you were pretty psyched about that. And I thought it looked beautiful, even though I don't want to visit. And, I mean, it is, it's about. kids, among other things. So there was a certain, like, pulling, like a very personal pulling or gnawing in my stomach during all of the debates, which you lean in, right? It has, it's, it's definitely this year's anatomy of a fall. To me, it was a little, I was thinking of the drama a little bit where you're, like, arguing with the screen in real time. I'm being like, well, I don't know. Who do I

think is right? And what do I think is right? And, like, where am I going? And it does maintain that tension and I think gives you enough information, but to a point you made as we were walking out also withholds enough. It does not spell everything out for you in a way that I think is very smart and disciplined. So yeah, I was really into it. And, you know, once again, the Scandinavian peoples, like a tough break in the, in the filmic space, I guess, depending on your... They take some else in this point. Yeah. The Norwegians take some else. There's no doubt. about it. And that doesn't necessarily mean that the people of Norway are wrong and the issues that are explored in the film. But that's sort of what is so fascinating about it. And, you know,

we're reluctant to really spoil any of these movies because they may be five, six, nine months away from release. But this one in particular is a unique case where I think in the wrong hands and this movie may get into the wrong hands. Who knows? It could be refracted and misrepresented culturally in terms of what its purpose is. I think it makes a choice in the, last third that I think, I do think it worked for me and brings in another dimension, but to your point can also can start, be taken down the wrong conversational path. Yeah. And I think if you're dogmatic in your thinking, then the movie is, it necessitates a nuanced interpretation. Otherwise, I think the movie kind of falls apart. Much like the Norwegians. Well, yeah. I mean, my takeaway,

As I said to you immediately after I walked out of the movie, I was like, it really feels like Christian Manjou went on like a terrible two-week vacation in Norway. His director's statement about the movie says, this is set in Norway, but it could happen in any Nordic country. We've thought about it so often. Very, very entertaining. Stan and Rinesvah are both wonderful. Stan in particular, I thought was terrific as this extremely tightly wound Romanian man.

Stan's family, his mother is from Romania. He speaks Romanian. This is a bee shaped his head for this role. It's a very unglamorous part. Both actors, I would say, not very showy performances, much more restrained because this is a very kind of tight and religious family that they're portraying. But I was very impressed. I just think it's very cool that he and Rinesvub choose to use this moment in their careers to make movies like this, which is really a difficult film. But also very entertaining and kind of edge of a series thriller.

It's not fun. It's not Club Kid. It's not heartwarming, but it is absolutely engaging and watchable. That's the thing. You're not sitting there being lectured about capitalism. We will get to that. Want to segue? Yeah.

Do you want to go? Let's talk about all of a sudden. Well, if you're ranking them, it's, we're getting close, right? Yeah. I think that this is, well, I'll hold off on Minotaur for a minute since you haven't seen that. But yeah, we're sort of moving in order here in terms of preference. all of a sudden is Rice Gay's Hummoguchi's new film, and it is a 196-minute epic about elder care and the French health social services system.

Sure. And also love and humanity. It truly is that. And it is, it's a ride. It's a ride. I would say roughly halfway through the film, I was genuinely concerned that it was an utter miscalculation and by the end I was in tears. And it is durational and I think led me to like a real moment of kind of this like ecstatic realization of what he is pulling together,

which is something that more or less happens in all of his movies. But this one, I would say, is also more didactic and more, even more ideas for it. As I said to you, like, it's so rare to see a director who takes his theme and just makes it the, text in the movie. So this is a movie about the way in which systems degrade humanity, particularly capitalism, and remove this kind of essential human connection that we seek because we are forced to participate in this broader system. And especially by setting the movie in a world of elderly people who are kind of at the end of their life and who have fewer people who are caring for them or looking after them. And there's this very select group of people

in these elder care facilities who have to like really take care of these people. in every aspect of their lives, you know, taking them to the bathroom, cleaning them, you know, caring for them, making eye contact with them.

Like, every level of detail is portrayed in this movie. But also it has like a kind of like, um, puckish, sincere, funny spirit to it.

You know, it's not, it's not a doom and gloom movie. But the movie does spend a lot of time specifically talking through the ideas, including one, perhaps soon to be, notorious wipeboard sequence in which capitalism is explained at large for 12 minutes.

I mean, as I was sitting there, I just thought the memes will be amazing. And I have found myself throughout the week as this scene, this is this is the scene that turns a lot of people or that people have complained about, I guess, in the not so warm reviews, which it has been, people really admire this movie if they aren't like jumping up down about it. But then you hear about the whiteboard scene. And I just have to say that I, instant classic, you know, I was like, oh, here we go. I know how I will be using this. Once, once everyone has seen this, I will be using it for many years to come. And, you know, that is cinema in its own way as well. This one, I was really moved by this one, which I did not

expect to be about, you know, I'm not always a patient filmgoer. I also accidentally slept through my first screening of this film. You mean, you slept in. You didn't sleep during the movie. No, no, I didn't sleep. Yeah, no, I accident. I set my alarm for PM instead of AM and I woke up at 2.30 in the afternoon and was like, well, there goes that.

And meanwhile, you are, you quite literally texted me, are you alive? So this is one where I, you know, met the rest of my commitments and I was there at 8 a.m. to see a three-hour and 15-minute movie about the front health care system. And I was like, I don't know how this is going to go. I don't know if I'm going to be in the right headspace for this. And it does require you to give yourself over to it. And you know, you can almost, it, and I think this is like a good thing, like a public service. It can be a how-to manual at times for how to care for an older person or a disoriented person, but also like, how to be a person in the world.

But to your point, there is that level of specificity. And that level of time spent, I don't think the truncated version would work because there is something magical that it does. It forces you to either leave or sit through all of this and learn and get into like a different headspace. And a headspace where I am in Adobins don't spend a lot of time. I liked the whiteboard scene. but imagine me sitting through, you know, a lecture of someone drawing to me on a whiteboard in real life.

Even you would never happen. So we should start doing that, though. I should start doing like coaching style breakdowns, like John Gruden style breakdowns of films while you watch. I mean, listen. You know, we can be like coaching class. I do need access to a Telestrator, you know, I just do. We just need Amanda's Telestrator segment. I've made this request.

Just imagine like all of the production design breakdowns. that I could do this, that and the other, drawing the arrows. But there is something, there is something like meticulous and like kind of exquisite in the construction of the movie where, as you said, in the last hour, it all comes together. And there is kind of a wonder of like, wow, I can't believe we all got here. And I can't believe. 100%. That's it.

I can't believe that you landed this. And I've never seen it done. in quite that way. But it was very, very moving and cool. And again, unique, I thought. Like, it's an unexpected. Yeah. So Virginie Afira, the French actress, plays the director of the nursing home.

And an actress Tao Akamoto plays a woman named Mari who comes into her life. She's a theater director. And they form a very quick bond. And they create an unusually intense friendship connection. And it's really her performance, I think, that kind of like makes the movie work ultimately. And she's a very empathetic, very open actor. And what happens to her character, I think, is kind of what kind of transforms the community of the story. And it's, I totally agree with you about that last hour where you're almost like, I felt like with like 30 minutes after I was like, wow, this actually did come together.

I can't believe this came together. Because I was, like I said, I was very dubious halfway through. I was like, this kind of feels like a bungle. And it wasn't. It's clearly designed to do exactly what it does. But it is also, it's a really big cast because it's set at a care facility. And so, and you spend time with the patients, you spend time with the other nurses and caregivers. And then he nails every single for casting, every single performance.

And they're all pretty essential. It all has to work together. Like the puzzle pieces are very small. And so when you see. the smaller bit characters also have gross and be resolved. And they each kind of get their moment. But it doesn't feel like, oh, so-and-so got their moment too. It really just, once you see how it all works together, it's pretty songshick.

It is. We will be covering it again in the future. Let's talk about Paper Tiger. That was the first premiere that we attended that you mentioned. I was in Toxio and Gown. this is James Gray's new film. It is extremely familiar terrain for Gray. In fact, I think the movie was originally conceived as a kind of sequel to Armageddon

time, and it turns to become much more of a kind of genre crime film than what was what transpired in Armageddon time. But it stars Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson. It is perhaps the stariest movie that we have here. Driver and Teller were on the red carpet, and Gray has been to the Cannes Film Festival. still six times. And this movie is, as I said to you, and as I feel with him, so many of Gray's movies, who's like, who's my buddy? You know, so, you know, just all, all objectivity aside here. It's just so eerie how it's so similar to so many aspects of my family's life, that when I

watch his films, especially Armageddon time in this film, and to some extent we own the night too, that I have a little bit of an out-of-body experience at a certain point. Well, I'll just set up what the movie is about. It's about two brothers living in Queens in 1986. And Teller is an engineer and kind of a working-class guy, married to Scarlett Johansson. He has two sons. Driver is a retired police officer who's kind of a swashbuckling endeavoring businessman. And he comes to his brother with an idea for a new business.

and that business involves the oil industry in Sheepshead Bay and the Russian mafia. And I can imagine that things don't go well from there. And they get into some serious trouble. And the movie at times isn't utterly gripping thriller. There are some moments in this movie that I think are as good as any moments in James Gray's entire photography. But there was a, there's a moment in the film where the camera leans in on a photograph of Adam driver in a policeman's uniform and he looks exactly like my father.

Like, and there's just, and the home that Teller's family lives in, the brick home is the home that my mom grew up in. Like, there are so many weird details. And this sounds a little bit like, well, you wouldn't understand it if you don't have a kid, but he just kind of gets that world, which is his world. The film is extremely autobiographical, you can tell.

Gets it so right. And for me, it obviously elevates it and I'm already lacking a certain objectivity when it comes to James's films. But I really, really like this movie. What did what did you think? Yeah, this is a James Gray podcast. We are, we're James Gray's dance. And this was the one where I was like, I need to be at this premiere. And it was a little bit, as you mentioned, because it was, it was the American movie in

competition. And so kind of like the biggest stars that had the Saturday night gala premiere 930. And, you know, lots of curtain calls. So I wanted to be there for the fanfare, but also I wanted to see these actors that I really love in a director who I really love. So it's a James Gray movie. So, you know, two thumbs up for me. It has Scarlet Johansson doing the, well, we all know that I'm up and down with Scarlett Johansson, but, and I think she's good in this, but she's doing now what I'm going to call either the Song Song Blue or Mom Drag, which is like a, you know, a modern,

glamorous actress putting on a bad wig. and frumpy clothing and being like, ah, shucks. Like, I'm, I'm just a mom. And she's given more to do. And there's emotional depths. But I'm starting to become slightly to resistant to this particular type of performance. Unlike, everyone else thinks she's the best thing in the movie. So, you know, it's always your mileage will vary.

Yeah. We had some interesting conversations in the aftermath of this movie with other critics and folks who covered films where some said, this is Gray's best film. This is his opportunity to break into the Oscar race after all these years of being such a critical favorite. And some were like, I hated it. And it's an interesting divide. I'm I'm much more leaning towards this is his best film, but it's, to me, it is not his best film. But it is so interesting the way it borrows from so many components of his other movies. I just spent a lot of time rewatching Little Odessa, his debut film, because I interviewed James

for the Criterion Collection edition that they're putting out in August. And so I watched that movie maybe two or three times. And, you know, it's a movie about two brothers in Brighton Beach who get mixed up in a world of crime and who have a complicated relationship with their families. Like, the same is true for the yards. The same is true for we own the night. The same is true for a lot of these. It's kind of a, it's almost like a collage collusion of a lot of ideas that he's

been working on over a 30-plus year period of time. The thing is, I thought the Scarlet Johansson performance worked because very similarly she just sounded like my mom. Like that character, like I was talking to David Irr, like the Indy Wire critic whose family is also from that part of the world. And he was just like, that is what that woman sounds like. That's how she acts. And it can seem a little bit like drag when it's a movie star doing it.

But I thought it was at least on point. Adam Driver in the movie is phenomenal. It is among the best things he's ever done. And his character is fascinating. And he's also a very familiar archetype to me of a certain kind of you know, industrious New York guy. And also Miles Teller,

who I think has been kind of mailing it in for the last five or six years, but you can tell, put in a lot of work on this movie. He looks good. And he sold his wonderful, uh, alcohol company.

I'm happy to say, what was saying a bit? Tall drink, long drink. Long drink. Long drink. Long drink. He sold long drink.

He sold long drink. Someone, someone DMed me being like, should I try long drink? I'm just like, why are you DMing me? Just buy the, it's, you know, $5.

Because we drank it on this podcast. Yeah, it was pretty good. Yeah, it was pretty good. But I like Teller, too. So I think all three of those kind of core performances are good. Driver is, I'm kind of wondering now if Driver's going to win Best Actor here. Like, you know, I don't, if the movie does catch the Oscar heat, like, there's a campaign there for him. You think he'd be in Best Actor and not Best Supporting?

That to me seems like a real, a supporting. That would be a good strategy, yeah. Launchpad. Yeah. And then he does, he walks away with every scene, but it is about the Miles Teller family. So he and Scarjo would both run in supporting, were I running it? Because I don't care about category fraud. I think, I think that's really smart.

And maybe you actually have a chance. He's dressed like Patrick Bateman most of the time. And it's quite powerful. Or, you know, like Gordon Gecko. It's late, mid late 80s in New York. And he's wearing the suits. and it's powerful stuff. It's a movie about how, if only this family who was experiencing such turmoil,

could have waited three months to watch the New York Mets win the World Series. You know, that's really what it's all about. It's 1986. That's when it's set. We see a Mets banner on one of the young sons' walls. Right, but they aren't watching any Mets games at the point. No, but if only they had let themselves get to October. We see Shea in the background, right?

Yeah, yeah. Gigi and Shay, but it's an elite, elite outer. New York movie. Three minutes in, you turned to me and you were just like, this is where, like, this is it. This is me, you know, once again. I've been in all those houses, you know? There's just something, there's something to that.

But yeah, so it'll be interesting to see how this is received because it has been divisive and Gray has just not been able to get over those humps, you know? He hasn't won a prize here, Ken, before. We'll see if he does this year. He hasn't been nominated for an Academy Award. There's definitely an original screenplay story to be told here. There's a bunch of acting opportunities potentially.

This movie is coming from neon, presumably in the fall. So we'll be talking about it again here soon. I'll talk about Minotaur and you talk about Camiasma, okay? Okay, yes. Minotaur is Andre Zagestev's new film. It is a kind of not so loose remake of Claude Chabroles, the Unfaithful Wife, which is also probably best known to American audiences, as the Adrian Lottin film Unfaithful,

starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere. And it is his version of that story, which is about a woman who's having an affair with a younger man and what happens when her husband finds out. And this is set against the Ukraine-Russia war. And so this filmmaker, this Russian filmmaker, there's been a lot of press about him over the last five years and how he hasn't made a movie in some time

and how he was very ill and I guess was pronounced dead for like 40 minutes a few years back, has kind of reemerged, left Russia and has made this new movie, which portrays the ways in which kind of individual violence is mirrored and protected by state violence and the way that the kind of Russian oligarchy

manages and navigates the way that individuals are allowed or not allowed to live in that country. Extremely interesting movie that plays for about an hour and a half as a pure thriller and then pivots in its final 45 minutes into being a much more clearly socially constructed metaphorical pursuit. I think it's very good.

I'm a little reluctant to proclaim it great. Some of our colleagues here are proclaiming it great. You didn't get a chance to see this movie. It does feature very strong performances from a Russian cast that I'm not very familiar with. I found the overarching metaphor to be an inch, obvious, but I do think it has incredible social import. And so because of that, I do think that the film is going to draw a lot of attention. And it is a filmmaker who has not won the pollen before, you know, has been, you know, he made Leviathan, he made endless. Like, he's made a bunch of

movies now that are very, very well liked. And so I, I don't know if it's my resistance to it, in part because what happens is you see a movie like Fjord and you're like, oh, well, that's what I want that that feels like the best to me. You also want to be right because you predicted Fjord last week. And so, and there is a bit of this where, you know, people here, critics, people on the street. I mean, we were stopped by a very nice listener, I believe, from the Netherlands, who was just like Minotaur.

That's it. That's the one. And I was like, fuck, because for scheduling reasons, I couldn't get there. Also, I mean, I'm just pissed that I missed. I didn't understand the premise and the connection. to my beloved unfaithful in quite the way that it's fine. I'll see the film and then we can... Part of my issue is I'm like, this is just unfaithful.

Instead of, you know, set in the world of a war in Russia. Yeah. But let me say that I would watch an unfaithful every single year. I'm very, very pro that movie. And so anyway, but there are people, everyone is picking their winner, right? know, everyone's like picking their little bit of grounding, like, no, it's going to be Minotaur, no, it's going to be Fjord, no, it's going to be the Hamaguchi. So you picked your corner and you're defending your corner.

And I think that's fine. It's good to believe in yourself. Yeah, I like the movie. Iris Lebedeva, who plays the wife, gives an amazing performance. Anatolie Belli gives an amazing performance as the husband. It's a very good film. but, and maybe it will emerge, triumphant, we will see. But talk about teenage sex and death at Camp Maya Zva.

So this is the new James Sean Brun film, and it premiered. It's also an uncertain regard, and Club Kid, which is kind of like the, I mean, not to be rude, but sort of the JV leak. And it was the big premiere. So they brought the jury up on stage, and it stars Julian Anderson and Hannah Einbender, and they were both there. And, you know, dressed up. It's not black tie required.

at the Uncertain Regard premieres, but people make their best effort. And this is, it will surprise no one to learn, a meta-slasher movie about a director who is trying to reinvent and kind of resuscitate an old genre, like an old, an old franchise, and goes to meet the Gloria Swanson-esque star of the original, the original franchise in an order to convince her to star in the new one. And then there are revelations about the self and one's relationship to two screens and to life. It is definitely my favorite of the Jane Stonebren movies because it's many of the same themes and even some of the same executions. Like there are many Easter eggs and lots of recreations and homages and it comes from real love of movies and knowledge of movies.

It's like it's playing to the crowd, but also playing to personal interests. And but then also the themes of identity and sexual discovery and, how hard it is to be in the world and what can make that easier. I found it a little more pop, honestly. There are a number of reasons for that, including that there's a whole plotline about the directors' interactions with the agents and Hollywood individuals. So it's less academic and more. more accessible is what I would say, some great music cues. And it certainly gets involved in the last

third of the movie, but I was along for the ride. So I thought this movie was really interesting and a lot of fun. And I'm excited for other people to get to see it. This is the one I'm most jealous to have missed. And because I came a couple of days after you, I wasn't able to see it. Hopefully it'll be able to see it. It opens in August. And yeah, Jane was on the show for I saw the TV glow, which I thought was utterly fascinating and frankly, a deep textual analysis of the relationship for the relationship we have to Slashers is like

9% of my personality. So I'm pretty excited about that movie. Let's talk about Fatherland. We're still in the good category right now, that these are movies that we liked here at the festival. Fatherland is Pavlovakowski's new film, his first film since Cold War. It is a yet another,

black and white, beautifully shot movie with Lucasol, the cinematographer. It stars Sandra Hewler and Hans Ziesler and August Diehl, three icons of German cinema. And it is about Thomas Mann, the German novelist, writer, philosopher, literary icon, his daughter, Erica, and their return to Germany after World War II after he and his family had fled during the rise in Nazi power. A very brief film, sub 80 minutes long, sub 75 minutes long. Yeah, 72, I think, was the clock that I checked. Which is very different here from most of the other films, which are roughly two and a half

hours each. And this is a very stately thoughtful examination of cultural and national identity, individual thought versus the state, some similar ideas to Minotaur and Fjord here. It is a quiet movie. I did see a couple of people describe it as melatonin-esque. I liked it more than that. That's rude. I think so, too.

It was like this third film I saw here, and so I think I was very eager to have a kind of quality otore effort. I think that's what it is. I think this is a good movie. I think Sandra Hewler is amazing in it, as she often is in most things. And I think it had actually a little bit more verve. There's a party sequence that is a lot of fun. Yes.

And a beautiful ending sequence. And an amazing opening sequence also. Very memorable one shot. But as I said to you, in the trilogy of black and white examinations of post-war trauma, which is, you know, Eda, Cold War, and now fatherland, it's third. But that doesn't mean, that doesn't mean that it's bad. It just means that the other two are spectacular. And this is really good.

And, you know, it's variations on a theme, which is cool. We should let filmmakers, you know, try things for the most part. And it's much like the James Graeme, much like Paper Tiger, it is rewarding to be familiar enough with the Notura and their interests and their frame of reference to be able to compare and contrast. the Jane Joan Brohman is also like that. So I'm, I'm totally with it, but it, you know, it's, it's not either. That's all. And when you're making a film in the same visual style and in the same thematic, like, neighborhood, you know, you're, you're going to, you're going to think about it. Yeah, you are going to think about it. Okay, let's talk about two more good movies and then we'll talk about the bad and the what the fuck, because those are also fascinating. You want to talk about

naggy notes before I, I go last? Yeah. This is another early in-competition movie. It's directed by Koji Fukata and based on a play. And it is, it's another quiet movie about people discovering things and also with a way that the systems of the world perhaps inhibit them from discovering things that's set in a, small Japanese town, Nagy, where a woman comes home to, yeah, she comes home or she comes to see

like her ex-sister-in-law and to like take a break from Tokyo. And it's about these people's lives and their, you know, their artists and their loss loves. And also, and it's all set to the backdrop of like a local military base.

And, and the training that is going on, which is just kind of like in the background, setting the tone and setting the pace of the movie, really. But it, you know, again, it's about like self-discovery. And also it's about making art. One of the characters is a sculptor,

so it has a lot of that cool. I love it when filmmakers really figure out how to communicate the actual, the making, the physical making of the art. the, a lot of times spent on that. And it is like the Hamaguchi in that people over time, hopefully learn something about themselves, but there is no, it's not quite as didactic, which is nice. It's more observed. But I thought it. I thought it, you know, lovely can sound reductive, but it is like a slightly wistful, lovely film. That's great. I'd not

I'm going forward to seeing it. You know, you've got to have a couple of those at a film festival. You do. The last one is that I was able to pre-screen this movie, which is Kyoshi Kurosawa as the samurai and the prisoner, which just screened last night and seems to be getting borderline rapturous reviews, which is very cool to see. Kurosawa has come up quite a bit on the show over the last two years, I would say. A veteran Japanese filmmaker probably best known for Kure, Adam Neiman, is a super fan.

and has very eloquently explained what makes him such a special director. He had Cloud. Last year, he had the short film Chime. He remade one of his own film Serpents Path, which was just released this year as well. He's having a moment, Corrosawa. And this new movie is his first samurai film. And it is a really interesting film. It's basically, what if a sort of samurai lord in 15,

century, Japan was also Sherlock Holmes and has to solve a series of mysteries while bunkered down in a fortress during a time of a war between clans. And he takes a prisoner from the opposing side, and that prisoner kind of becomes his Watson. And so Masahiro Motoki plays the Sherlock Holmes-esque samurai. and Masaki Suda plays Kandai, his kind of, his Watson. And even though he's imprisoned in an basement, they kind of confer and they talk about the details of every mystery that keeps coming up. Really interesting movie.

Beautifully staged. Incredible production design. It's missing just an inch of that, like, insidious discomfort that I think comes in a lot of Kurosawa's best movies. It's not quite as funny as Cloud was. to me, which I thought was just a hilarious movie about dumb, dumb criminals. But not interesting to see a guy, you know, who's in his 60s, you know, who's still, who's kind of an icon of Japanese cinema at this point, taking on what is widely considered

the most hallowed genre to the culture and making something new and different, something that I've not seen before. And last night at the premiere of the film, there was this cool moment where all of the Japanese filmmakers who are present here, including Herakazu Koryeda and Hamaguchi and a handful of others where they're basically just to doff their caps and cite the influence that Kurosawa has had on their careers. So that's cool that that can happen. I don't wish I had seen it there instead of alone in a screening room now because it might have felt more like more of an ecstatic moment of arrival for that movie. But again, that movie is also out of competition

as are a bunch of these good films that we're talking about here. They're not really competing for the palm. And there's something kind of fascinating about, I don't know that I totally understand why this movie isn't in competition. I get the case for why Jane's movie and Jordan Firstman's movie are in certain regard. Jane's movie probably should be in competition, honestly. Yeah. It's their third film, their previous two films were huge critical sensations.

Right. They're becoming like a big deal in indie cinema. first minute, I get it as a debut. This movie, though, I'm like, I don't, this is a terrific genre mashup from a Japanese master. Why is this out of competition? Anyway, maybe there are reasons that we don't understand.

But this is one of those things where they're still like, there's still unexplained, unexplored stuff even when you come here. Yeah. Well, I mean, maybe one of the reasons. And again, we don't have access to Tieri's Google Docs to understand. Oh, but if we did. Oh, yeah.

You think, you think Tieri's on Google Doc? Could be. Is that they had to make room for, you know, the great masters of world cinema, even if those films were not really up to par, which perhaps takes us to The Bad, which includes some of the greatest working filmmakers, just not making their greatest films this year. Yeah, the second movie that I saw at the festival is parallel tales,

which because you and I... This is another 830 for you, right? It was. Yeah. Yeah. You had seen this movie before me because when I arrived, you and I did not immediately connect, even though they were staying in the same apartment. I didn't see you for like the first 24 hours.

You said I would have just spared you and said, do you just don't need to go see this. But this is a Esgar Farhadi, Iranian filmmaker, who is a Palm Door winner, has made a great many terrific films over the last 25 years, a very skilled master, making a French film with Isabel O'Hare and Binsacassell and, Virginie Afeira and Catherine Dinov shows up in this movie. It is a collection of French luminaries. And it is a kind of soft adaptation of a handful of Christoph Kislauski stories from the Decalogue and I think red.

It has some elements of red in it. And it's a snooze, man. It's boring. It's D-O-A. Yeah. It's just not very compelling. The performances are a little. dull. It has a core idea in it that is actually somewhat similar to the idea in the Pedro Almodovar

movie that we will talk about around creation and sort of like an author's vision and where those ideas come from. And in some ways, they'd be a neat pairing. But what Almodovar does is like so much more interesting and entertaining and ultimately resonant. Um, you know, that's, we'll talk about that movie in a second. But this movie is just like, it's two and a half hours and it's dull. And, and Cass isabel Huper as the old crone who doesn't get to leave her, you know, it's like Isabel Huper's rear window except if, you know, Jimmy Stewart had no juice. And, and then there's, and there's no like Grace Kelly hate popping at Henningham. Yeah. Yeah. You can't do that. And then Vinza Casals is cast. He plays a double role, but it's another man with no juice. And you're just kind of like,

yes, hello. These are your. French stars who have major juice, what are we doing here? And that's kind of the minute that you know, and you keep waiting like, oh, are you going to let Isabel Hooper outside? Is she going to get to do anything? And, you know, she does not. And the movie didn't know what to do with her or Missies is her and Missis is everyone else. I don't, I don't understand. And that was a real, like, why am I watching this movie? I did feel the first few days I watched a lot of like just okay wise of there is absolutely. It's not even that I don't understand the personal connection. It's just, did anyone, was anyone here? What was interesting about this to any person? And I, well, the premise, sure,

but. No, I mean, it raises, um, a useful discussion also around the next film, uh, which, uh, you didn't get a chance to see, but I saw it, which is sheep in the box, which is Coriata's new movie. Now, Farhadi and Coriata are both Palm winners. And so if they have a new film and they're directors with proven track records, it's probably hard to say to them, no, you're not going to be in competition this year. And so both of these movies are in competition. Coriatus film on paper sounds very like familiar terrain for him as well.

It's about a couple who are experiencing tremendous grief after losing a child. And so in order to counteract that grief, pursue a sort of like robot AI replacement for their son. who is looks, sounds, and mostly acts like their son. And, you know, we've seen stories like this before. We've seen Spielberg's AI. And it felt like Coriata just did not know what to do with this idea.

And the movie is kind of wandering. And at times it feels like it is kind of in defense of this particular conceit. And it wants to try to have empathy for the parents. But I found the characterization of both of those figures, the mother and the father was too vague. to really get emotionally connected to. You know, honestly, the movie didn't look that great, and I found that surprising.

It had a kind of, like, halo glow on it that, and Cori's films usually feel like so kind of grungy and in the real world, you know? Like, he won for shoplifters, which is one of the more beautiful evocations of family and, like, what you're forced to do when you're in a family. And this was just a huge miss. Everybody in the room, you could tell.

Similarly, it just died. Like it just... This one, you said I didn't get a chance to see it. And by that, you mean, you told me, like, you really do not have to go see it, go see something else. And there was... I met no defenders. So I did actually just skip the creative movie at Cannes in competition, which felt a little heretical, but, you know, there's no one saying this was a good idea.

Yeah, it happens, you know, like in any filmmaker's career, like you just, you just, you You do one and it doesn't work. And the Farhadie didn't work. The Corridi didn't work. And honestly, John Lennon, the last interview, I don't think worked. But for a very specific reason. And so we should talk about it. This is Stephen Soderberg's new documentary.

As much as this is a James Gray podcast. This is a Steven Soderberg podcast. We love Soderberg. And a Beatles podcast. Until the four movies, in which case it's over. That's meant it's not a podcast anymore. So the last interview is, A chronicle of the last interview that John Lennon gave to three San Francisco radio hosts in,

was it, is it 1980 when he passed? Yes. In the year that he passed. On the day. Yes. Well, I didn't want to spoil that. I don't know. That was actually a revelation to me that he did that.

Okay. Sorry. Well, all right. It doesn't matter. It's a known fact in the world. But upon the release of Double Fantasy, his album with Yoko, oh, no, no, they both sat for this extended interview with these radio hosts. And so the movie is a kind of chronicle of how they got the interview, how the, how the host pursued it.

And there is interviews with all three hosts. And then much of the film is the audio of the conversation between Yoko Lenin and these hosts. And it uses a lot of your kind of standard archival music documentary and a lot of photographs, a lot of, you know, speaking over images that we would recall. from the period of Lenin and Ono's lives. And it's an amazing interview. And both Lenin and Ono speak insightfully. I think they have a ton of prescience about where culture's going. It's interesting to watch them talk about their pasts, their love lives, their, you know,

his notions of fatherhood I found to be super interesting. I don't know that I had ever read this interview or heard it before. And so in that way, even though there's just frankly too many John Lennon documentaries, the text I thought was interesting. Yeah. But, and we knew this going into the festival, Soderberg makes this choice to solve a problem that I have thought about and that I have worked with filmmakers on and making music documentaries, which is what do you do when you don't have enough archival footage to help tell the entirety of a music story?

Because music, of course, is an audio artful. And Soderberg chose to use AI to animate some of the themes and literal ideas that Lenin is talking about. And it's just a fiasco. Like, it's just a disaster. And it's literally, it looks like GROC AI images of like, you know, very, very obviously not very elegant constructions of these ideas. And it's distracting and weird and feels way out of place. and kind of torpedoed the movie for me. A thousand percent.

Listen, Stephen Soderberg is my guy, and he likes to try things. And, you know, it's everyone can try things once. So if this is the experiment and then it's done, we tried it. It didn't work. We move on. Then I'm okay. But this categorically does not work. And it's not just an ethical, you know, don't use AI, you know, replacing like actual

filmmakers and humans, all of which I believe, by the way, but it's actually in the execution. All of the AI descriptions look like what your mom or grandma would produce when typing into like Sora or whatever. I don't even know what exists anymore because I've never done it, but they are so literal and it looks so bad. It's a useful case for, hey, actually AI is not a helpful tool in filmmaking because there's, there are many bad sequences, but there's one with some, some cavemen.

Um, and also some like imagined Napoleon battlefield shots where you're just like, what? How did this get past you, Steven Soderberg? I mean, I guess, I guess you were just like committed at this point and we're,

all the, all the other components are just so normal and well handled. So it, it really sticks out. And I agree that it is clearly like an experiment and let's see what this can manifest. And frankly, maybe made by a movie who doesn't spend all this time online. And if you are online and you see these images, they represent something different. They represent, there's the kind of a cheapening of art.

And if you're not living in that world. And frankly, if you're not living in that world, congratulations. That sounds amazing. But I am on the line. It's still, listen, if he's not online, he's got a screensaver. And like, you know, and he's seeing what those. look like, and this is worse. So I just am very, very confusing. I guess we've all learned together that this is not an option. So, and maybe that's good. So now we know the technology

is not ready. This doesn't work. It's not a good idea. We'll all move on. Briefly, that's going to happen? No, no, I think I was going to take over. And we're going to be out of jobs. And then soon they'll be Skynet and we'll all be dead. That's what I think is going to happen. Briefly, speaking of our imminent demise, I saw a colony, which I was pretty excited about and disappointed me. It's Yon San Ho's new movie who directed Train to Busan, which is one of the best zombie movies of all time about a train full of zombies. And he is a, like George Romero, returns over and over again to zombie storytelling.

This new one has a really cool idea, really cool idea, which is that the zombies in this film, which there's an outbreak after a scientist develops a kind of concoction that infects people and makes them create zombies. But they operate as like a hive mind. And they use, he uses the technology after studying ant colonies. And so they operate like ants. And so the actual zombie core ideas are very cool in this movie, but the movie features no real characters of interest and totally fine performances and leaden storytelling.

And it has like one or two cool actions that pieces, but it was a big disappointment because I like Young Sanghaos movies quite a bit. It did remind me a little bit of another Asian action film that we will talk of South Korean action film that we will talk about momentarily. I don't know. Did you want to talk about Butterfly Jam at all? Sure. So this open director is Fortnite, which is another category here at Cannes.

And it's directed by Kantemar Baligoff, who was here at Cannes with Beanpole. and it stars a lot of actors, you know, Barry Keogan, Harry Melling, Riley Keogh. And it explores masculinity in, like, in New Jersey in a particular sarcassian, I think, yeah, immigrant community. And so I thought that everyone was being a little mean about it because it got really panned, really, really very early on in the festival, but it's quite uneven. There is an entire subplot about a teenage wrestler. And there's a lot going on that just doesn't make sense. It looks very nice. The good actors aren't bad. But, you know, this is another one where this is a director who's

been to Cannes before, who's gotten some acclaim. And so the film's here, but it's not a competition. It's not even an uncertain regard, you know, so you kind of know going in, I doubt anyone's super happy. But it, yeah, it doesn't work. Yeah, I probably will end up seeing this, but not a very strong reception for that one. Let's talk about the WTF a little bit. And there are different ways to define the WTF films this year. We'll first talk about Hope, which is Nahang Jin's new film, his first film in 10 years that is in competition and you and I attended the Sunday night black tie gala premiere of.

Yes, at 9.30. And the reason we did that is because there was chatter and there was discussion that this could be a palm contender. And so I said to you, if it is, we want to be there in the room for it. You know, we don't want to be next door 30 minutes later in the press. You want to see, you want to see the standing ovation. You want to see how it's received by the people. We haven't really talked about the ovations, but that is very much a thing. I mean, they're really fake. They're like faker than everything else. And usually just, you know, people clapping politely while looking at their phones led on by the very hardworking movie teams who are trying to keep the ovation going for as long as possible. And listen, those people

deserve our respect. They, they do a lot to make this happen. Yes, they are artists. But, you know, we knew that it was going to be like a high-energy action creature movie because we saw a little bit of the footage at CinemaCon. And it came after many days of, you know, the inner lives of Europeans. And it's just the stream of this festival and every festival. And we were like, we need, we like, we need something different. Like, we need a vibe shift. You know, we just, we need some oomph. And we want to see it on the biggest screen possible.

And if it is going to be that exciting thing, we want to be there with people cheering or see if people cheer or see how it plays. And isn't it funny that they're going to do this for all of these fusty people in Texas? And I will say it was funny that they did this for all these fusty people in Texas. And it was exactly what you just described. It was an incredible change of pace. And if I liked it, it's in part because of that. It was so different from anything else that we had experienced.

It is hilarious that they put this in competition because it could not be further from a competition movie as we historically understand it. You know, Naa is a very respected filmmaker. The Whaling is a beloved horror movie from 2016, but he's not exactly classy. He makes really nasty, violent movies and Hope is a massive Michael Bay-Bae-esque alien invasion thriller

and features, frankly, some of the most exhilarating action sequences that you'll see this year, or really probably this decade, but also features like really bad monster CGI and very little characterization of any human people. And it maybe aspires to a couple of social ideas about kind of closed off communities and how we don't understand each other. But like, it's not really working too hard to do. Yeah. I mean, apparently in all the directors, in the director's statement, there's like, pans to that, you know, like when two communities that don't understand each other, could be like have conflict, here's what happens. But like, that's not what the movie is.

The movie is a big, it's a bug hunt movie, you know, it's a chase movie. What's the other community? The aliens? The aliens, yeah. Okay. I mean, sure, they definitely don't understand each other. Uh, because something critical happens to one of the families in the film and then that leads to a, like a series of destructive moments. That is true. A couple things about this movie. Number one, it starts with what? A 45-minute opening set piece hunt that is exhilarating and amazing to watch and so exciting and crucially, pre-CGI.I.

It is before you see any of the bugs. So it builds both like on the dread and the fear, but is also just chasing all, around this town, like amazing choreography, really, really exciting. And that got like full applause when it was done, as if like someone were seeing an aria and an opera. Like, it was awesome. Second thing is that there's a, there's a moment where Ho Yan from Squid Game shows up that is like the room burst into applause. It was like, it's, it was just like rock and roll James Cameron action movie moment. And again, so that's why I'm glad that we made the decision to get dressed up and go see it with all the other people.

The other thing that I knew about this movie going in and that has been billed, and they were there on the red carpet, was that Michael Fastbender, Elisi Vikander, and Taylor Russell are in this movie. How they're used in this movie is not something I knew going in. And I don't want to spoil anything other than to say that it wasn't what I expected. And the moment when I realized that that was what was happening, I was like, oh, okay. So this is the kind of movie that this is going to be. Also, you realize that about an hour and a half in.

You kind of keep waiting. It keep waiting. This is a long movie. Two hours and 40 minutes. It is really, really long. I don't know if it needs to be that long. Yeah. There's the, you know, here's what I'll say.

One, I had really good time. Yeah, it was fun. I really enjoyed it. I think it is very flawed and that's okay. Most movies like this are. I'm a Michael Bay fan. I'm a fan of the erector set filmmaking, and there's some extraordinary production design

in this movie in terms of creating the chaos. The only thing that really feels like CGI all the time are the aliens, everything else feels deeply real and this kind of burned out, like post-apocalyptic. Presumably Korean setting, but actually, nah, I was sort of being playful on saying, like, is this movie even set on Earth? I didn't say it was.

So something kind of funny about that, too. Okay. I mean, yeah, some incredible science corners for everyone once the movie is widely seen. Yes. I think it's coming out this summer. And so we'll talk about it again. But, you know, it looks like it's unfinished effectively. The CGI is not quite clean and click.

Yeah, there are moments where it's very bad. And then also, as you said, it's just too long. And I'm a little reluctant to levy that criticism too often on the show because I like long movies and I want filmmakers to be able to stretch out. But this is a rollicking action movie. It's not a personal drama. And unlike, say, the Hamaguchi movie, like, you don't get to the third hour of the film and feel like, oh, wow, this patience really paid off. It's just a series of action sequences over and over and over again.

So I actually think they would do really well to cut about 20 minutes out of the movie, and it would really help the movie. Yeah. But I still had a great time fascinating to watch the stuffy Euros in the room be utterly baffled by it. I mean, and that is a little bit of the genius of the Cannes Film Festival. To your point, it's really, really funny that this was in competition and got a gala premiere. And it's maybe coloring like the reception of from those stuffy people and from everyone saying, oh, this shouldn't be in competition, but also brings a lot of attention to the festival and the movie and its own way. It's very savvy.

Like, you got to make moments. And there are many different ways to make moments. And this was a really funny moment. Yeah, I felt this immediately after the screen. I woke up the next morning. I was like, I'm so glad we came for this. Like, that was just, it was just really a lot of fun. Also in WTF, one of the highlights of the festival for me was getting a chance to see the Devils,

which is Ken Russell's long simmering, but difficult to watch masterpiece starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave about a real life, French city, Lundon, in the, I don't want to get their century wrong. I'll say 16th century, but I think that's wrong. That goes absolutely apeshit. And the movie, which was released by Warner Brothers, was considered an absolute scandal at the time, features some wildly aggressive

and some considered anti-Christian imagery, extremely violent and sexual. And it's like one of the masterpieces in the 1970s. I'd seen the movie before, but I'd never seen this director's cut, which Russell helped to oversee before he passed away. The screening itself was amazing. It was one of the absolute toughest tickets at Cannes.

I was very lucky to score a ticket thanks to a friend. And it's the first project from Clockwork, which is this new imprint that Warner Brothers has just launched. They're producing the new Sean Baker film. They also announced some other news that they're producing the next Park Chain Wilk film, which apparently they picked up here at Market during Cannes. And they're also distributed. through Warner Brothers, this 1973, all-time classic that is just very rarely been seen.

And even in the screening, I would say 90% of the people who were there had never seen it before, they raised their hands beforehand during an introduction with Mark Kermode, the incredible British critic who I got to spend a little bit of time with, which was also a real highlight for me because he's such an icon. And yeah, the movie was extraordinary. I'd only seen it on a shitty DVD, and it just took my breath away and was hilarious. in many ways, and the sequence that was missing from the original cut of the movie has been put back in at least one sequence that I could tell that was shocking and fun.

And I hope people get a chance to watch it when it comes to movie theaters in October in the United States, which is a very cool thing the clockwork is doing. Okay, let's talk about the unknown. Arthur Harari is the co-writer of Anatomy of a Fall and Justin Trita's life partner, and he has made quite a hilarious new film about... trans substantiation, a Kafka-esque story of what happens when you fuck a stranger. In a club basement. Yes, in a club basement.

Not fuck a stranger in the ass, as announced in the Big Lobowski, but literally have sexual intercourse with a person you don't know who is perhaps haunted by some sort of demon force and allows that sexual act to then transpose your soul and brain into another person. movies. Well, I guess it's not, it's not very specific about what, what is being transferred. And right? And that's the expiration is what is, what is the self? And what part of the self remains? And what part of the self is trapped in Lacey's body? Yeah. Real head scratcher of a movie, kind of pretty effective, I thought. I thought very unnerving and upsetting, a real downbeat, difficult European film, you know, shades of David Lynch, shades of Bunwell,

not a fun hang of a movie. Lesse-Du has 25 lines of dialogue over a two-and-a-half-hour film. She's the star. She's always good, but she is not given too much to play here. I found myself enjoying kind of unpacking the idea, but also this is a movie that people are like, this is a one-star disaster. So, you know, your mileage may vary on the unknown. I thought it was silly.

Good premise, right? And you and I have had a lot of fun, you know, arguing the specifics of it and its repercussions and what it's even trying to say about the morals or ethics of having sex with a stranger in a club basement. But I'm not sure what I learned, you know, which is maybe that's a little on me for not fully emotionally investing. I will say it didn't really capture my... You kind of almost warned me off it

because you're like, it's not an Amanda movie and it's really grim and a tough hang. And I guess maybe I was just tired, but I didn't find it that difficult to watch. Like, again, I thought we were setting up for something really messed up. And instead, it was just kind of, you know, what if you could fuck your way into someone else's body?

Yeah, it's unpleasant for sure. Okay, let's... let's ping through some European excursions. We briefly mentioned Bitter Christmas, Pedro, Almodovar's new film, which is already open here in Europe, but has not come to the United States yet. And another movie that through like an hour and a half, I was like, wow, what a fiasco. And then in the last 15 minutes, I was like, delightful, absolutely terrific. And I kind of don't want to say anything else about it because it would almost ruin what I think was in part the design of the

film, which is all about inspiration and where Almodovar takes his ideas from and the experience he witnesses in real life and the way that that continues to become a part of his art. But just an absolutely hysterical final 15 minutes of this movie that I really enjoy. Yeah. And, you know, also has once again, like a perfect apartment. And I'm wondering now whether I should cut my hair to the length of the main character. You know, it has all of the Amo Dover style and a lot of wit and knowing this as well, which I appreciated. But yeah, we won't spoil the ending. I was pro.

Yeah, I was too. And, you know, back working in his native Spain after making an American feature and some shorts in the English language. And it's just very comfortable, clearly working with these actors, a bunch of actors that he's worked with before, Barber Lennie. And so I would definitely recommend that one. Yeah, I didn't see the Beloved, though. You did.

I did. And I paired it here with Bitter Christmas for a couple of reasons. It is also a Spanish film directed by Rodrigo, Sorgoyan, and stars Javier Bardem. And I can best describe it as normie Spanish sentimental value. It is, Javier Bordam plays a filmmaker who is making a film set on the Canary Islands, which is also where part of Bitter Christmas is filmed. We see the tourism Jeep and both. and he casts his daughter, his adult daughter,

who he doesn't have much of relationship with in this film that he is making. And so then it is about the exploration of their relationship and making a film and art and what you can mean to each other as parents or as directors. And she's an actress. I mean, it opens with a scene in a restaurant, just like the scene in sentimental value when Stelandskarsgaard gives her Renata runs me the script and it's like, I want you to star in this. It's much longer. I found that cinematography is very obnoxious.

But there's one really great set piece, like a making of a movie set piece that you're a movie, if you're a movie nerd, you get really into it. And it's funny. And then it becomes like very emotional. and it's like, I mean, it's not the silent film scene from Babylon, but it kind of, it encapsulates it all. And I was really excited by that scene and that performance. I always like Javier Bardem. So I was, I was not uncharmed by this, you know? Okay. I'm going to check it out. Unfortunately, I couldn't see it here. I get it's normie, said mental value, but, you know, I'm a normie, I guess.

Well, okay, tell us about a woman's life in just. mental monster. Ah, yes. Speaking of the inner lives of Europeans and or women who cannot have it all. So a woman's life is directed by Charlene Bourgeois

techie. And it is about a woman of a certain age who is a surgeon and is she's working and she's living and she's

trying to figure out how much she wants to work and how much she wants to live and then she meets someone else and explores love. And then that also kind of reconbobulates how much she wants to work and how much she wants to live. It was fine. It wasn't bad. There were a few things that made me chuckle, including at one moment when, you know, because she's a surgeon, and so they're moving, there's a lot of administrative headache, which I thought was portrayed well. It can be annoying when people, when you're managing stuff and people aren't doing whatever. But she just yells at the dentist are stealing our supplies.

And I have thought about that a lot. Just out of context, it's funny. You're an anti-dentic, as always. Well, sure, but the dentists come in and they're stealing her supplies. It's not nice. I met a lovely listener here who said that the movie is divided into chapters. And one of the subtitles was essentially having it all. and this lovely listener was like,

I thought of you, Amanda, as soon as it said having it all. So I guess that is my influence. But, you know, this, this to me is representative of the, the canon really in any film festival trend of. This is a festival set in France. And so we're going to have a certain number of movies

starring French actors about French, about like the lives inner or outer of Europeans. And that's fine. You know, everybody's going to do what they're going to do. The other gentle monster is written and directed by Marie Kruitzer who made corsage, which we both really liked. And this one stars Leis-Sadu. And I thought that, and it's about, it's another movie about the lives of French people.

In this case, Leis-A-Due plays a French mom who's husband, is arrested within the first 15 minutes on charges of child pornography sales or, you know, whatever is going on in that world that I don't really want to know anything about. So it is really grim and tough because it's what is this mom going to do as her husband is accused of and goes through the system for these absolutely heinous charges. And it doesn't, I mean, it obviously doesn't show anything, but it's like, it is like grim. It uses, it doesn't shy away from the subject matter. It makes you feel really bad.

It also does the thing of that, it's the opposite of Fjord where it like really kind of makes things very clear to you. You don't wonder what's going on. Everyone, but LESA do seems to have figured out. what's going on. So you just feel real bad. There's a hairbrained plot involving the investigator that is maybe trying to teach us something again about how, you know, women have to deal with men's imperfections and, um, and are always at a disadvantage, but it, that doesn't work at all. And I thought it was kind of trashy, honestly. Like, I think it tries to get to some sort of revelation

beyond the Hallmark movie of it all, but it doesn't. And once again, Leisadu doesn't really get that much to do except to, oh, I guess she's kind of Bjork. She's like a Bjork as pop star artist, so that's cool. Again, there's a lot going on in this movie. None of it adds up to anything. Catherine Deneuve, Bingo, once again, she's the mom, a concert pianist of her own. It's like, it's messy.

it is it's provocative but doesn't deliver and and as also feel bad because it's about pedophilia. So good luck to everyone, but no. I skipped this one. Yeah. There's a couple of other movies that we haven't seen yet or haven't seen it all. We both missed Moulon, which is Laza Nemesis's new film. We missed Garantz, which is a new Adel Exarchopoulos movie, which I'm actually kind of interested in,

and I read some reviews of it that sounded intriguing to me. So I'm still here for a couple more days, so I'll be seeing Lucas Don't's coward, film La Bolanegra, which is a Spanish movie that is generating some buzz that premieres tomorrow, and the man I love, which is Iris Sacks' new film and one of the only other American films here at the festival. We did see Avedon, which I thought was a very good portrait of Richard Avedon,

the famed fashion photographer. And Ron Howard director, directed it and he was here at camp and presented the movie at our screening and pretty like standard but comprehensive and this is now the third consecutive documentary that Howard has made after Pavaray and Jim Henson IDMN where I'm like I'm glad I watched that learned a lot pretty went down easy thoughtful really good interviews he kind of got everyone that you would want to hear from I would say who with exception of Atowintura and yeah I thought it was effective Yeah, also, you know, that's one where you have enough archival to work with.

I mean, there's, I mean, there are a lot of interviews. Yeah. Yes, exactly, which is really helpful. But you could just, you can and do look at photographs for a long time. And there are no AI caveman. So thumbs up. That was a relief. Okay, let's do some brief predictions here.

Okay. Gut check based on everything you've seen and heard. What do you think is winning the Palm Door? I'm going to zag because I think the jury might. and I think it's going to be the Hamaguchi. Okay. That's interesting. Hamaguchi did not win for drive my car in 2021.

And that was considered a bit of a snub at the time. And the film went on to have this incredible run where it got nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Award. It's still one of the wildest best picture knobs in the history of the Oscars. Park Chinwick is the jury president. And so I am certainly wondering if we are all playing the game wrong somehow. One of the reasons why people thought Hope was good had a chance

to potentially win the palm before anyone saw it is because, you know, Nah is also a South Korean filmmaker. It's a genre movie. I think I'm going to, I am going to pivot my prediction to Minotaur now because of the...

Okay, you think that's where the... The juice is going. The murder plot quality of it, you know, that comes from that story that, you know, it's a... movie that has like some stuff in common with decision to leave. And so I don't know how, you know, aggressive park is going to be. It to me, it really does feel like it's between Fjord and, and this movie. Maybe, maybe something like the Bullenegra like breaks through

near the end of the festival, too. That's all that there's also a possibility. But I like that you're predicting all of a sudden. And I'll, I'll go officially with Minotaur. Um, but frankly, I'm rooting, I'm rooting for a fjord. Why are you, this is like F1 and best picture all over again. It is. And I know what I might be wrong. Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this? Well, because I just can't help but overthink these things, you know? Okay. So then the Grand Prix, what do you think is going to win the second place prize?

Let's see. I'll go with Fiord. Okay. All of a sudden. And Fiore sentimental value won the Grand Prix last year, right? Did. So different movies, I guess I'm just being, you know, two Scandinavian here. but they could occupy a similar spot for me.

Okay, Jerry Price. And that's just for the one. You could see that going to hope, right? Have a little fun. Oh, that would be fun. That would be fun. Yeah. Okay, I'll get on board with you on that.

You don't have to. Throw something else out. Best best, no, no, I think that's, I don't know, I don't even know what else could possibly be contending. That's the thing is when you've got this situation where you've got club kid and you've got teenage sex and death of camp my asthma. Those movies are not up for these prizes.

You know, Sam, around the prisoner is not up for those prizes. I think I'll stick with hope on the jury prize. I would just be really funny if that happens. Best director, Paul Likowski? Yeah. Could see it.

Right? Yeah. It's currently, I checked this morning and it's still leading the father Lynn is still leading the can critics. which is very unscientific for a number of reasons. It is, but it is indicative typically of prize winners. And he's very admired as a filmmaker. So that feels like, feels like where it's going.

Okay, actor and actress, thoughts? You throw some out. Here's my gut right now. Yeah. It'll be driver and actor for Paper Tiger. Oh, interesting. And maybe Leicay Dio for the unknown as an acknowledgement of her contributions here. Yes.

You know, that feels like something that could happen? Yeah, I can see. Sandra Hewler is also possible for Fatherland. Could see that as well. Sure, but I know, I think director and then, you know, this festival is proud of its, it's French actors and actresses. and I know that the jury is separate. There are a lot of Americans on the jury.

Have you been following the jury fashion competition at all? I haven't. They're really using this to debut their looks. They're spending a lot of time and money, the women at least. Okay, that's good. I like it. You know, Leia said you could put in the work, even if it didn't deliver. She's doing her best.

Has she ever won't? I know she's the best up-and-coming actress. I don't know if she's ever won best actress that can't. I don't think so. Something to keep in mind. I could be wrong about that. Okay. Last prize is best screenplay.

I mean, I'd really like for it to be James Gray for Paper Tiger. It's a wish casting thing. Definitely could happen. Definitely could happen. Best scene I think he should get. There's a scene at the end of the movie that is unreal. that is, it is, I don't want to spoil it, but it is amazing. Who's winning on certain regard?

Teenage Sex and Death or Club Kid? Club Kid. You think I'm wrong? I don't know. I don't know. Club Kid's very American. Sure. And it's not been an American festival, but we were remarking after Paper Tiger.

And this was the first week. The end of the first week was Paper Tiger. but the three titles that people were most excited about were were Camasma Club Kid and Paper Tiger, the American films in a very un-American film festival. So, you know, things have loosened up a bit. But it's a different jury for uncertain regard. And it's, you know, my asthma is definitely more mainstream than any of the other films.

but there's just kind of something irresistible. Club kid, you just settle right in. And it's irresistible. Any thoughts on the camera door, the best first film prize? See that, see to me, like you could go Cam Myasna for concern regarding the camera door. Could go to first men. That feels like a way to kind of split the baby. Do the juries, you collaborate in that way?

Is there like backroom dealing? I don't know. for many. Okay. I'm but a, but a, a naive first timer here it can. So I haven't, I haven't dug into the rules. What do you think? You think it's going to, you think it's going to split? Yeah.

I mean, maybe it'll be something completely different. You know, it could be a movie that we're not, it could be Mubble and I could be something completely different, you know, like I didn't, we didn't mention like Romney Mollick, people think has a chance for best actor here. I haven't, I haven't seen that Irish sex film yet, but he's in, he's the star of the man I love. So there's still some things to be played out. I think by at this time two years ago, Anora had not yet premiered at the festival. So it's like we feel like we're recording late, but there's still a lot of festival to go. So it's a little, it's impossible to be accurate with

these predictions. Also, who knows? It's all based on the jury. It's not, it's not a point scoring system. It's what is, how do Demi Moore and Park Chan Wook speak to each other on this jury? I genuinely don't know. I hope, but I hope. I would like to know. Yeah. Yes, I would too. Oscar implications. We should at least briefly mention this because coming out of last year, I think, I mean, north of 10 films that premiered, or north of 10 nominations from films that premiered at the Ken Film Festival hit last year,

including the bulk of the international feature slate, two movies and Best Picture, multiple acting categories, multiple screenplay nominations, you know, that included. It was just that accident, sentimental value, the secret agent, Sarat, There were a number of movies here last year that really made their way into the award season. I'm kind of interested to see if that's the case this year. There is a part of me that thinks that, like, maybe not a lot of these movies make it in

and maybe only one or two based on what I've seen so far. What do you think? Well, they've revamped International a bit this year, not as much as we would like, but that there can be multiple submissions from a single country. if they win a prize at a festival. If they won a prize. Oh, right. So who did we predict in this?

We predicted Fjord or Minotauri. Yeah. I don't know. If Hamaguchi wins a prize here, you could, Japan could, could, or maybe, I don't know, maybe France would, maybe is all of a sudden it's considered a French film. And so France could have two submissions based on this film, particularly winning a prize here. Yeah.

But it is also that this is a year where aside from the French films, we're seeing like, you know, one from each country. So it's like it's maybe moot, at least in the can lineup. I don't know. I think, you know, Fjord for sure because it has those recognizable Hollywood or Hollywood crossover stars. You've, I am so mad about Minotaur, but it does seem like it will, it will break through and it has enough in, you know, common with movies that people are familiar with to be like, oh, sure, I'll check out this version. It's been a while since there's been like a big Russian breakthrough. That hasn't been super strong in recent years. Yeah. I mean, it does feel like all of the, all of the authors who made like decent to good movies. So Pablikowski for Fatherland and James Gray for Paper Tiger and, you know, Hamaguchi for all of a sudden will be in the conversation because they have. name recognition from previous films. And it's almost like it's the the ghosts of

Kahn pass doing the work in order to let these through. I don't, I can't tell what any surprises would be yet. But again, there's more Kahn to go. And there are more movies to go. Yeah. And you got to go to your train. Yeah, you got to come with me actually. Yeah, we're going to carry some bags. You're going to Paris. I'm going to see more movies. You're happy that we made this happen? I really am. Thank you. Thank you for doing this with me. I'll say that off mic too, but I'm very grateful.

And it was really fun. And I want to come back. Also, thanks to everyone we met who listens and who said hello. It's really, really nice. You guys were all very cool and international, and I'm not sure why you need to hear from two people podcasting from their apartment. But we appreciate it. It was wonderful to meet everyone.

It was so sweet how everyone was like, this is your first can. They were like, they were excited for us. They seemed to know that. I know it was really nice. That was, it's been very special to just wait in line

and hang out and talk to people. And that's one thing I do love about going to film festivals is just kind of making new friends every day and connecting with people and just talking movies all day. It's a really, really lucky thing for us. And, you know, as always, me and you, we always travel well together. We had a lot of fun.

Yeah. That's good. It was great. So see you next year. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see. We'll see.

I want to say thank you to Jack Sanders, our producer, and Lucas Kavanaugh and Sarah for being up at ungodly hours to record this episode because we are in Europe. Thank you to all three of them for helping us arrange this. If this episode doesn't look that good, I'm sorry, this is the best that we could do. That's really all I have to say about it. We will be back next week. You will return from Europe, as will I, and we will go see the Mandalorian and Grogu. With our children?

And we'll take our kids. And, you know, early word, not strong, I'll say. But, you know, you never know. Star Wars could be back. Could not be back. We'll talk about it all next week on The Big Picture. Thank you for spending this time with us at Cann. We'll see you very soon.