News Analysis India

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  • ‘Indiana Jones’ swings into Cannes Film Festival; Harrison Ford honored before joyous festivalgoers

    By Associated Press

    CANNES: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford swung into Cannes on Thursday for the world premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in one of the most anticipated events of the French Riviera festival.

    Fedoras abounded in the throngs of onlookers who watched Ford and company hit the red carpet.

    Ford walked hand in hand with his wife, Calista Flockhart, and later joined his cast mates as John Williams’ score played across the red carpet. Among those in attendance were Disney chief Bob Iger, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy and filmmaker Steve McQueen.

    Ford, 80, who has said “Dial of Destiny” will be his last performance as the character, also received an honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival. Last year, Cannes feted “Top Gun Maverick” and Tom Cruise in a similar manner.

    Inside the theater, Ford was greeted with thunderous applause. He beamed and looked around the theater before receiving the honorary Palme.

    This image released by Lucasfilm shows Harrison Ford in a scene from “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” (Photo | AP)

    “I’m very touched. I’m very moved by this. They say when you’re about to die, you, you see your life flash before your eyes. I just saw my life flash before my eyes,” Ford said after a clip reel of his career was played.

    “A great part of my life, not all of my life,” Ford continued, thanking Flockhart as well as “Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold and co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.It’s not the first “Indiana Jones” film to premiere in Cannes. The fourth installment, “Indiana and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” launched at the 2008 edition of the festival. Critics and fans alike dismissed “Crystal Skull” as a misjudged sequel, though it still made $790 million worldwide.

    This time, “Dial of Destiny” is hoping to make a similar if not larger global impact without its famous filmmakers. The new film, which the Walt Disney Co. will release June 30 in the U.S., is the first “Indiana” film not directed by Steven Spielberg or with a story credit to George Lucas. Instead, Mangold (“Ford vs. Ferrari,” “Logan”) takes the reins for a film co-starring Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas and Mads Mikkelsen.

    CANNES: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford swung into Cannes on Thursday for the world premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in one of the most anticipated events of the French Riviera festival.

    Fedoras abounded in the throngs of onlookers who watched Ford and company hit the red carpet.

    Ford walked hand in hand with his wife, Calista Flockhart, and later joined his cast mates as John Williams’ score played across the red carpet. Among those in attendance were Disney chief Bob Iger, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy and filmmaker Steve McQueen.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Ford, 80, who has said “Dial of Destiny” will be his last performance as the character, also received an honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival. Last year, Cannes feted “Top Gun Maverick” and Tom Cruise in a similar manner.

    Inside the theater, Ford was greeted with thunderous applause. He beamed and looked around the theater before receiving the honorary Palme.

    This image released by Lucasfilm shows Harrison Ford in a scene from “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” (Photo | AP)

    “I’m very touched. I’m very moved by this. They say when you’re about to die, you, you see your life flash before your eyes. I just saw my life flash before my eyes,” Ford said after a clip reel of his career was played.

    “A great part of my life, not all of my life,” Ford continued, thanking Flockhart as well as “Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold and co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
    It’s not the first “Indiana Jones” film to premiere in Cannes. The fourth installment, “Indiana and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” launched at the 2008 edition of the festival. Critics and fans alike dismissed “Crystal Skull” as a misjudged sequel, though it still made $790 million worldwide.

    This time, “Dial of Destiny” is hoping to make a similar if not larger global impact without its famous filmmakers. The new film, which the Walt Disney Co. will release June 30 in the U.S., is the first “Indiana” film not directed by Steven Spielberg or with a story credit to George Lucas. Instead, Mangold (“Ford vs. Ferrari,” “Logan”) takes the reins for a film co-starring Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas and Mads Mikkelsen.

  • ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ to stream soon

    By Express News Service

    On Wednesday, Netflix announced that Mike Flanagan’s highly anticipated horror series The Fall of the House of Usher is all set to premiere on the streamer in Fall 2023. 

    The logline for The Fall of the House of Usher states that the series will follow “an unnamed narrator approaches the house of Usher on a ‘dull, dark, and soundless day.’ This house, the estate of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, is gloomy and mysterious.” The series is based on acclaimed horror author Edgar Allen Poe’s short story of the same name.

    Headlined by Bruce Greenwood, The Fall of the House of Usher will also star Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas, Annabeth Gish, and Rahul Kohli, all of Flanagan’s frequent collaborators. Mary McDonnell and Mark Hamill will also make an appearance in the upcoming series. 

    Flanagan has also directed and executive produced The Fall of the House of Usher along with Trevor Macy, Emmy Grinwis and Michael Fimognari. Flanagan and Fimognari have each directed four episodes in the series.

    The Fall of the House of Usher marks the fifth series for Flanagan’s Intrepid Pictures following The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club. 

    On Wednesday, Netflix announced that Mike Flanagan’s highly anticipated horror series The Fall of the House of Usher is all set to premiere on the streamer in Fall 2023. 

    The logline for The Fall of the House of Usher states that the series will follow “an unnamed narrator approaches the house of Usher on a ‘dull, dark, and soundless day.’ This house, the estate of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, is gloomy and mysterious.” The series is based on acclaimed horror author Edgar Allen Poe’s short story of the same name.

    Headlined by Bruce Greenwood, The Fall of the House of Usher will also star Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas, Annabeth Gish, and Rahul Kohli, all of Flanagan’s frequent collaborators. Mary McDonnell and Mark Hamill will also make an appearance in the upcoming series. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Flanagan has also directed and executive produced The Fall of the House of Usher along with Trevor Macy, Emmy Grinwis and Michael Fimognari. Flanagan and Fimognari have each directed four episodes in the series.

    The Fall of the House of Usher marks the fifth series for Flanagan’s Intrepid Pictures following The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club. 

  • Cannes: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s ‘Monster’ with a big heart

    By AFP

    CANNES: Japan’s Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda unveiled his new movie “Monster” (“Kaibutsu”) at Cannes on Wednesday, a heartwarming tale despite its ominous title.

    Treating issues including bullying and domestic abuse, “Monster” bears many hallmarks of Kore-eda’s tender cinema about tough lives and unconventional families that already won him the top prize in Cannes in 2018 for “Shoplifters”.

    “Monster” begins as a disquieting tale of teacher-pupil harassment with a clear baddie, but judgements are swiftly revised as the film switches points of view.

    “I wanted the spectator to be able to search in the same way the characters were doing in the film,” the 60-year-old director told AFP about the movie’s central mystery: who is the monster?

    Shameful systemBut while Kore-eda’s characters emerge with their humanity intact, Japan’s education system does not come off so well.

    “When an institution puts protecting itself at the very top of its priorities… then ‘what really happened is not important’,” said Kore-eda, quoting a line from the film.

    The phrase, he said, “is relevant not only for Japan’s education system but also the majority of collective institutions that have a tendency to want to protect themselves at the cost of many other things”.

    Kore-eda’s film comes just a year after his last one, “Broker”, premiered in competition at Cannes and scooped the best actor prize for Song Kang-ho, the South Korean star best-known for the multi-Oscar winning “Parasite”.

    In a break from his usual working method, Kore-eda did not pen the script for “Monster” himself, but turned to screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.

    “As it’s not me who wrote it, I can say without a second thought that I think it’s really a very good screenplay!” he joked about the intricate, multiple viewpoints narrative.

    Since his first fiction film in 1995, Kore-eda has made more than a dozen critically acclaimed features.

    He was first in competition for the Palme d’Or in 2001 with “Distance”, about the devastating personal toll of a cult massacre.

    His breakthrough outside Japan came three years later with “Nobody Knows”, inspired, like many of his films, by a real-life event, this one set around four young siblings abandoned in an apartment by their mother.

    The Cannes Film Festival runs until May 27 with 21 films in competition, including other past Palme winners such as Britain’s Ken Loach and Germany’s Wim Wenders.

    CANNES: Japan’s Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda unveiled his new movie “Monster” (“Kaibutsu”) at Cannes on Wednesday, a heartwarming tale despite its ominous title.

    Treating issues including bullying and domestic abuse, “Monster” bears many hallmarks of Kore-eda’s tender cinema about tough lives and unconventional families that already won him the top prize in Cannes in 2018 for “Shoplifters”.

    “Monster” begins as a disquieting tale of teacher-pupil harassment with a clear baddie, but judgements are swiftly revised as the film switches points of view.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “I wanted the spectator to be able to search in the same way the characters were doing in the film,” the 60-year-old director told AFP about the movie’s central mystery: who is the monster?

    Shameful system
    But while Kore-eda’s characters emerge with their humanity intact, Japan’s education system does not come off so well.

    “When an institution puts protecting itself at the very top of its priorities… then ‘what really happened is not important’,” said Kore-eda, quoting a line from the film.

    The phrase, he said, “is relevant not only for Japan’s education system but also the majority of collective institutions that have a tendency to want to protect themselves at the cost of many other things”.

    Kore-eda’s film comes just a year after his last one, “Broker”, premiered in competition at Cannes and scooped the best actor prize for Song Kang-ho, the South Korean star best-known for the multi-Oscar winning “Parasite”.

    In a break from his usual working method, Kore-eda did not pen the script for “Monster” himself, but turned to screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.

    “As it’s not me who wrote it, I can say without a second thought that I think it’s really a very good screenplay!” he joked about the intricate, multiple viewpoints narrative.

    Since his first fiction film in 1995, Kore-eda has made more than a dozen critically acclaimed features.

    He was first in competition for the Palme d’Or in 2001 with “Distance”, about the devastating personal toll of a cult massacre.

    His breakthrough outside Japan came three years later with “Nobody Knows”, inspired, like many of his films, by a real-life event, this one set around four young siblings abandoned in an apartment by their mother.

    The Cannes Film Festival runs until May 27 with 21 films in competition, including other past Palme winners such as Britain’s Ken Loach and Germany’s Wim Wenders.

  • Steve McQueen’s marathon documentary divides Cannes

    By AFP

    CANNES: Eyelids grew heavy and bums numb on Thursday at a four-and-a-half-hour screening of Steve McQueen’s documentary on Amsterdam during World War II, which Cannes critics either adored or suffered through.

    The director of Oscar-winning ‘Twelve Years a Slave,’ tells the story of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, a city where he now lives without a single shot of archival footage.

    Instead, he films people in their homes and scenes around the city, while a narrator recounts, without emotion, the horrors that took place in that spot when the Netherlands suffered one of the highest rates of Jewish deaths in Europe.

    Much of the documentary, ‘Occupied City’, was filmed during the Covid lockdown, and images of boarded-up stores, an announcement of a curfew, and protests, at times play as a backdrop to the World War II narration.

    The disconnect between the past and the present is purposeful.

    “It’s about living with ghosts and about the past and the present sort of merging,” McQueen told Variety magazine.

    However, the lengthy museum-installation-style documentary had several audience members nodding off. More than two dozen left before the 15-minute intermission, with others not returning for the second half.

    Some critics gushed over the monumental project and its novel approach, with Deadline calling it one of the “great WWII-themed films,” while others slammed it as “numbing.”

    “The film is a trial to sit through, and you feel that from almost the opening moments,” said Variety.

    “It’s more like listening to 150 encyclopedia entries in a row. Who did McQueen think he was making this movie for? If it plays in theatres, it seems all but designed to provoke walk-outs.”

    “Occupied City” is inspired by a book written by McQueen’s historian partner Bianca Stigter:  “Atlas of an Occupied City (Amsterdam 1940-1945).”

    McQueen shot 36 hours of film for the project over three years.

    “It wasn’t a case of wanting to do something long,” McQueen said in an interview with IndieWire. “It was a case of wanting to do something right.”

    “As much as it is about the past, this film is extremely about the present,” McQueen said.

    “Unfortunately, we never seem to learn from the past. Things sort of overtake us,” he said, referring to the rise of the far-right in modern times.

    CANNES: Eyelids grew heavy and bums numb on Thursday at a four-and-a-half-hour screening of Steve McQueen’s documentary on Amsterdam during World War II, which Cannes critics either adored or suffered through.

    The director of Oscar-winning ‘Twelve Years a Slave,’ tells the story of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, a city where he now lives without a single shot of archival footage.

    Instead, he films people in their homes and scenes around the city, while a narrator recounts, without emotion, the horrors that took place in that spot when the Netherlands suffered one of the highest rates of Jewish deaths in Europe.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Much of the documentary, ‘Occupied City’, was filmed during the Covid lockdown, and images of boarded-up stores, an announcement of a curfew, and protests, at times play as a backdrop to the World War II narration.

    The disconnect between the past and the present is purposeful.

    “It’s about living with ghosts and about the past and the present sort of merging,” McQueen told Variety magazine.

    However, the lengthy museum-installation-style documentary had several audience members nodding off. More than two dozen left before the 15-minute intermission, with others not returning for the second half.

    Some critics gushed over the monumental project and its novel approach, with Deadline calling it one of the “great WWII-themed films,” while others slammed it as “numbing.”

    “The film is a trial to sit through, and you feel that from almost the opening moments,” said Variety.

    “It’s more like listening to 150 encyclopedia entries in a row. Who did McQueen think he was making this movie for? If it plays in theatres, it seems all but designed to provoke walk-outs.”

    “Occupied City” is inspired by a book written by McQueen’s historian partner Bianca Stigter:  “Atlas of an Occupied City (Amsterdam 1940-1945).”

    McQueen shot 36 hours of film for the project over three years.

    “It wasn’t a case of wanting to do something long,” McQueen said in an interview with IndieWire. “It was a case of wanting to do something right.”

    “As much as it is about the past, this film is extremely about the present,” McQueen said.

    “Unfortunately, we never seem to learn from the past. Things sort of overtake us,” he said, referring to the rise of the far-right in modern times.

  • Pedro Almodovar’s ‘queer’ Western ‘Strange Way of Life’ heats up rainy Cannes

    By AFP

    CANNES: The premiere of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s queer Western, with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as tormented lovers, received rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday and left many wanting more.

    The 31-minute “Strange Way of Life” was the hottest ticket in town on the French Riviera, with hundreds lining up huddled under umbrellas in the pouring rain, many of them left furious after being turned away at the last minute.

    Those who got in were treated to the presence of Almodovar, 73, discussing only his second-ever English-language project — following another short film with Tilda Swinton, “The Human Voice” — as well as a flash of Pascal’s backside onscreen — the only nudity in a movie which chose dialogue and tender moments over explicit sex.

    The Chilean-born Pascal, 48, who has become a global icon thanks to TV hit “The Last of Us”, stars as former gunslinger Silva.

    He travels to see an old acquaintance, Ethan Hawke as a raspy-voiced Sheriff Jake, and the two spend what Almodovar calls an “orgiastic” night.

    The next morning, however, the tone changes, as it emerges “both of them have an ulterior motive,” said Almodovar.

    The two men grapple with their feelings for each other, duty, family, and what it would look like for two men to actually build a life together.

    “I wanted to make a classic Western where I talk about the desire between two cowboys,” said Almodovar, an avowed fan of the genre.

    He said “Brokeback Mountain” by Ang Lee has come the closest, but sees his film as the first “really queer Western”.

    He compared his film to 2021’s “Power of the Dog” starring Benedict Cumberbatch but said “the sexuality of (its) protagonist is very ambivalent. They never talk about desire, and of course they didn’t” have sex, he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

    Not that he is only interested in eroticism.

    “My movies have had many scenes of explicit sex, but as time goes by, I want to show pleasure in another way,” said Almodovar, a regular at Cannes, where he won best director in 1999 for “All About My Mother” and best screenplay for “Volver” in 2006.

    He also highlighted the seemingly banal details of the film, saying “in no Western have you seen two men making a bed.”

    George Steane, from left, Jason Fernandez, Ethan Hawke, director Pedro Almodovar, Jose Condessa, and Manu Rios pose for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Strange Way of Life’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, May 17, 2023. (Photo | AP)

    Rave reviewsPascal, who is so popular he has been dubbed the “Internet’s Daddy,” did not attend the screening.

    Hawke was present and hailed the chance to work on “a Western that wasn’t pretending to be old… and to get a chance to work with Almodovar.”

    Asked about expressing desire with Pascal, he said: “I like to be wanted, I don’t care and if it happens to be a very attractive, extremely talented man, all the better.”

    Variety magazine was among many to praise the film, saying: “In a world where auteurs are becoming increasingly entitled to overly long runtimes, ‘Strange Way of Life’ begs for more.”

    CANNES: The premiere of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s queer Western, with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as tormented lovers, received rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday and left many wanting more.

    The 31-minute “Strange Way of Life” was the hottest ticket in town on the French Riviera, with hundreds lining up huddled under umbrellas in the pouring rain, many of them left furious after being turned away at the last minute.

    Those who got in were treated to the presence of Almodovar, 73, discussing only his second-ever English-language project — following another short film with Tilda Swinton, “The Human Voice” — as well as a flash of Pascal’s backside onscreen — the only nudity in a movie which chose dialogue and tender moments over explicit sex.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The Chilean-born Pascal, 48, who has become a global icon thanks to TV hit “The Last of Us”, stars as former gunslinger Silva.

    He travels to see an old acquaintance, Ethan Hawke as a raspy-voiced Sheriff Jake, and the two spend what Almodovar calls an “orgiastic” night.

    The next morning, however, the tone changes, as it emerges “both of them have an ulterior motive,” said Almodovar.

    The two men grapple with their feelings for each other, duty, family, and what it would look like for two men to actually build a life together.

    “I wanted to make a classic Western where I talk about the desire between two cowboys,” said Almodovar, an avowed fan of the genre.

    He said “Brokeback Mountain” by Ang Lee has come the closest, but sees his film as the first “really queer Western”.

    He compared his film to 2021’s “Power of the Dog” starring Benedict Cumberbatch but said “the sexuality of (its) protagonist is very ambivalent. They never talk about desire, and of course they didn’t” have sex, he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

    Not that he is only interested in eroticism.

    “My movies have had many scenes of explicit sex, but as time goes by, I want to show pleasure in another way,” said Almodovar, a regular at Cannes, where he won best director in 1999 for “All About My Mother” and best screenplay for “Volver” in 2006.

    He also highlighted the seemingly banal details of the film, saying “in no Western have you seen two men making a bed.”

    George Steane, from left, Jason Fernandez, Ethan Hawke, director Pedro Almodovar, Jose Condessa, and Manu Rios pose for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Strange Way of Life’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, May 17, 2023. (Photo | AP)

    Rave reviews
    Pascal, who is so popular he has been dubbed the “Internet’s Daddy,” did not attend the screening.

    Hawke was present and hailed the chance to work on “a Western that wasn’t pretending to be old… and to get a chance to work with Almodovar.”

    Asked about expressing desire with Pascal, he said: “I like to be wanted, I don’t care and if it happens to be a very attractive, extremely talented man, all the better.”

    Variety magazine was among many to praise the film, saying: “In a world where auteurs are becoming increasingly entitled to overly long runtimes, ‘Strange Way of Life’ begs for more.”

  • Scandal-mired French film ‘The Homecoming’ warms hearts at Cannes

    By AFP

    CANNES: On-set scandal may have haunted French director Catherine Corsini’s new film, but the movie was well-received by critics in Cannes for its strong acting performances.

    ‘The Homecoming,’ which premiered late Wednesday, lost some funding over an intimate scene featuring a 15-year-old actress that was ultimately cut from the final take.

    It was the second movie, after Johnny Depp’s comeback as French King Louis XV in “Jeanne du Barry”, to cause upset at the world’s leading film industry shindig, held on the French Riviera.

    The coming-of-age story tells of a black mother who returns to Corsica with her two teenage daughters, years after fleeing the French island in a hurry. The trio explore a mysterious past, sexuality and drugs.

    While some critics called out the film for occasional longwindedness and failing to satisfy key questions, it was largely well-received, particularly for the acting.

    “Whatever else happened on-set, Corsini has delivered a wonderful film… that ever so elegantly flutters questions of race, class, guilt and opportunity through a seaside summer breeze,” wrote The Wrap.

    Catherine Corsini, 66, an outspoken gay activist, had a film in the running for the top award, the Palme D’Or, “The Divide,” in 2021, featuring Guinean-born actress Aissatou Diallo Sagna, who also appears in this year’s feature.

    Corsini won the Queer Palme for the film, while Sagna won France’s highest Cesar film award for her role.

    Drama erupted, however, over Corsini’s ‘The Homecoming’ which was initially left out of the official selection at the last minute, only to be added back in.

    The controversy centred on a scene involving actress Esther Gohourou, who was 15 at the time, and a love interest.

    Corsini told Variety magazine the moment “suggested something of a sexual nature” but remained centred on the actors’ faces.

    The controversial scene was eventually cut from the film, leaving in just a quick kiss between the actors.

    In an interview with Le Monde, Corsini — one of a record seven women directors in the main competition at Cannes, slammed the barrage of criticism as “a new form of patriarchy”.

    Responding to accusations of verbal and physical violence on set, Corsini admitted she was “intense” and “eruptive at times” when working under pressure.

    The film depicts moments of intimacy between the older sister, played by 22-year-old Suzy Bemba, and her lesbian love interest.

    “Not remotely out for provocation, the film handles its sexual moments, such as they are, with restraint and discretion – with little to scare the horses,” wrote Screen Daily.

    CANNES: On-set scandal may have haunted French director Catherine Corsini’s new film, but the movie was well-received by critics in Cannes for its strong acting performances.

    ‘The Homecoming,’ which premiered late Wednesday, lost some funding over an intimate scene featuring a 15-year-old actress that was ultimately cut from the final take.

    It was the second movie, after Johnny Depp’s comeback as French King Louis XV in “Jeanne du Barry”, to cause upset at the world’s leading film industry shindig, held on the French Riviera.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The coming-of-age story tells of a black mother who returns to Corsica with her two teenage daughters, years after fleeing the French island in a hurry. The trio explore a mysterious past, sexuality and drugs.

    While some critics called out the film for occasional longwindedness and failing to satisfy key questions, it was largely well-received, particularly for the acting.

    “Whatever else happened on-set, Corsini has delivered a wonderful film… that ever so elegantly flutters questions of race, class, guilt and opportunity through a seaside summer breeze,” wrote The Wrap.

    Catherine Corsini, 66, an outspoken gay activist, had a film in the running for the top award, the Palme D’Or, “The Divide,” in 2021, featuring Guinean-born actress Aissatou Diallo Sagna, who also appears in this year’s feature.

    Corsini won the Queer Palme for the film, while Sagna won France’s highest Cesar film award for her role.

    Drama erupted, however, over Corsini’s ‘The Homecoming’ which was initially left out of the official selection at the last minute, only to be added back in.

    The controversy centred on a scene involving actress Esther Gohourou, who was 15 at the time, and a love interest.

    Corsini told Variety magazine the moment “suggested something of a sexual nature” but remained centred on the actors’ faces.

    The controversial scene was eventually cut from the film, leaving in just a quick kiss between the actors.

    In an interview with Le Monde, Corsini — one of a record seven women directors in the main competition at Cannes, slammed the barrage of criticism as “a new form of patriarchy”.

    Responding to accusations of verbal and physical violence on set, Corsini admitted she was “intense” and “eruptive at times” when working under pressure.

    The film depicts moments of intimacy between the older sister, played by 22-year-old Suzy Bemba, and her lesbian love interest.

    “Not remotely out for provocation, the film handles its sexual moments, such as they are, with restraint and discretion – with little to scare the horses,” wrote Screen Daily.

  • Jane Fonda says French director wanted to ‘see what my orgasms were like’ for a role

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Jane Fonda said on a recent episode of ‘Watch What Happens Live’ that French director Rene Clement asked to sleep with her during the making of their 1964 thriller ‘Joy House’.

    Fonda starred in the film opposite Alain Delon and Lola Albright, reports Variety.

    ‘Watch What Happens Live’ host Andy Cohen asked Fonda to name “one man in Hollywood that tried to pick you up once that you turned down.” The Oscar-winning actor replied: “The French director Rene Clement.”

    Fonda elaborated: “Well, he wanted to go to bed with me because he said the character had to have an orgasm in the movie and he needed to see what my orgasms were like. He said it in French and I pretended I didn’t understand.”

    “I have stories for you, kid, (but) we don’t have time,” Fonda added.

    Clement was 51 years old at the time of production, while Fonda was 27.

    Clement was one of France’s most prolific filmmakers in the 1950s and 1960s, winning five prizes at the Cannes Film Festival during his career. He died in 1996 at 82 years old. The MGM-backed ‘Joy House’ featured Fonda as a woman who falls for a card shark on the run from American gangsters.

    Fonda’s revelation comes amid continued criticisms against the French film industry for perpetuating abuse. ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ actor Adele Haenel published an open letter this month in which she announced she was leaving the business.

    She slammed the Cannes Film Festival for being “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs,” citing filmmakers such as Roman Polanski and Gerard Depardieu.

    Cannes boss Theirry Fremaux rejected Haenel’s claim, telling press at the 2023 festival: “She didn’t think that when she came to Cannes unless she suffered from a crazy dissonance.”

    He added: “But if you thought that it’s a festival for rapists, you wouldn’t be here listening to me, you would not be complaining that you can’t get tickets to get into screenings.”

    Fonda is currently on the promotional tour for “Book Club: The Next Chapter.”

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Jane Fonda said on a recent episode of ‘Watch What Happens Live’ that French director Rene Clement asked to sleep with her during the making of their 1964 thriller ‘Joy House’.

    Fonda starred in the film opposite Alain Delon and Lola Albright, reports Variety.

    ‘Watch What Happens Live’ host Andy Cohen asked Fonda to name “one man in Hollywood that tried to pick you up once that you turned down.” The Oscar-winning actor replied: “The French director Rene Clement.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Fonda elaborated: “Well, he wanted to go to bed with me because he said the character had to have an orgasm in the movie and he needed to see what my orgasms were like. He said it in French and I pretended I didn’t understand.”

    “I have stories for you, kid, (but) we don’t have time,” Fonda added.

    Clement was 51 years old at the time of production, while Fonda was 27.

    Clement was one of France’s most prolific filmmakers in the 1950s and 1960s, winning five prizes at the Cannes Film Festival during his career. He died in 1996 at 82 years old. The MGM-backed ‘Joy House’ featured Fonda as a woman who falls for a card shark on the run from American gangsters.

    Fonda’s revelation comes amid continued criticisms against the French film industry for perpetuating abuse. ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ actor Adele Haenel published an open letter this month in which she announced she was leaving the business.

    She slammed the Cannes Film Festival for being “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs,” citing filmmakers such as Roman Polanski and Gerard Depardieu.

    Cannes boss Theirry Fremaux rejected Haenel’s claim, telling press at the 2023 festival: “She didn’t think that when she came to Cannes unless she suffered from a crazy dissonance.”

    He added: “But if you thought that it’s a festival for rapists, you wouldn’t be here listening to me, you would not be complaining that you can’t get tickets to get into screenings.”

    Fonda is currently on the promotional tour for “Book Club: The Next Chapter.”

  • ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ to release a day early in Indian theatres

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment India on Thursday announced that the upcoming movie “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” will make its debut in Indian theatres on June 1, a day earlier than its planned release in the US.

    A sequel to 2018 blockbuster “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, the animated feature will be released in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi and Bengali, the studio said in a press release.

    Shony Panjikaran, General Manager and Head of Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) India, said the interest and excitement among Indian fans for the movie has been overwhelming.

    “To fulfil this unprecedented demand in our market, we’ve decided to release the film a day prior, and again to reiterate in 10 languages,” he added.

    For the film’s Hindi and Punjabi dubbed versions, Indian cricketer Shubman Gill has lent his voice to Indian Spider-Man, called Pavitr Prabhakar.

    “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is set over a year after the events of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”.

    Miles Morales, voiced by Shameik Moore, is unexpectedly approached by his love interest Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) to complete a mission to save every universe of Spider-People from the Spot, who could cause a catastrophic disaster.

    He encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse’s very existence.

    But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most.

    The movie’s English voice cast also includes Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac.

    It is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K.Thompson. Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and David Callaham are the writers.

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment India on Thursday announced that the upcoming movie “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” will make its debut in Indian theatres on June 1, a day earlier than its planned release in the US.

    A sequel to 2018 blockbuster “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, the animated feature will be released in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi and Bengali, the studio said in a press release.

    Shony Panjikaran, General Manager and Head of Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) India, said the interest and excitement among Indian fans for the movie has been overwhelming.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “To fulfil this unprecedented demand in our market, we’ve decided to release the film a day prior, and again to reiterate in 10 languages,” he added.

    For the film’s Hindi and Punjabi dubbed versions, Indian cricketer Shubman Gill has lent his voice to Indian Spider-Man, called Pavitr Prabhakar.

    “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is set over a year after the events of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”.

    Miles Morales, voiced by Shameik Moore, is unexpectedly approached by his love interest Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) to complete a mission to save every universe of Spider-People from the Spot, who could cause a catastrophic disaster.

    He encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse’s very existence.

    But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most.

    The movie’s English voice cast also includes Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac.

    It is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K.Thompson. Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and David Callaham are the writers.

  • ‘Loki’ S2 sets release date

    By Express News Service

    The second season of the acclaimed Marvel series Loki is all set to premiere on Disney+ on October 6, Marvel Studios announced. The series, which will have six episodes, will be released weekly, following the traditional streaming model of Disney+.

    The makers have not yet started revealing any details about the show’s upcoming season. The first season of Loki follows an alternate timeline variant of the god of mischief as he gets into trouble with the Timeline Variance Authority, an interdimensional governing body that takes care of infinite timelines and controls the variations that are not supposed to happen.

    The last moments of the first season of Loki introduced Kang the Conqueror, who got a full-fledged role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which recently kicked off Phase Five. After the destruction of He Who Remains, various timelines of the multi-verse have gone into chaos, setting an amusing premise for season 2. The second season cast includes Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, & Sophia Di Martino. 

    The second season of the acclaimed Marvel series Loki is all set to premiere on Disney+ on October 6, Marvel Studios announced. The series, which will have six episodes, will be released weekly, following the traditional streaming model of Disney+.

    The makers have not yet started revealing any details about the show’s upcoming season. The first season of Loki follows an alternate timeline variant of the god of mischief as he gets into trouble with the Timeline Variance Authority, an interdimensional governing body that takes care of infinite timelines and controls the variations that are not supposed to happen.

    The last moments of the first season of Loki introduced Kang the Conqueror, who got a full-fledged role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which recently kicked off Phase Five. After the destruction of He Who Remains, various timelines of the multi-verse have gone into chaos, setting an amusing premise for season 2. The second season cast includes Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, & Sophia Di Martino. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

  • Live-action ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ movie to roll next month

    By Express News Service

    The live-action adaptation of DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon is all set to commence filming on June 30. The film will be written and directed by Dean DeBlois, who has directed all the films in the film series including How to Train Your Dragon (2010), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019).

    All three films have been nominated for Best Animated Feature by the Academy. The film series revolves around the adventures of an eccentric teenage Viking, Hiccup, who stumbles across an injured dragon one day, in the mythical Viking village of Berk. 

    Hiccup names the dragon Toothless, and the pair form an unbreakable and iconic bond that continues through the course of the series. The interesting perspective in the How to Train Your Dragon series is that the characters were shown visibly ageing and eventually becoming adults, adding a certain level of emotional weight to the story. This is unlike other animated film series. The series is based on books written by Cressida Cowell.

    The film franchise starred Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Kristen Wig as the main voice cast. The live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon will be produced by Marc Plout, Adam Seigel and Dean himself. The live-action adaptation is set for release on March 14, 2025.

    The live-action adaptation of DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon is all set to commence filming on June 30. The film will be written and directed by Dean DeBlois, who has directed all the films in the film series including How to Train Your Dragon (2010), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019).

    All three films have been nominated for Best Animated Feature by the Academy. The film series revolves around the adventures of an eccentric teenage Viking, Hiccup, who stumbles across an injured dragon one day, in the mythical Viking village of Berk. 

    Hiccup names the dragon Toothless, and the pair form an unbreakable and iconic bond that continues through the course of the series. The interesting perspective in the How to Train Your Dragon series is that the characters were shown visibly ageing and eventually becoming adults, adding a certain level of emotional weight to the story. This is unlike other animated film series. The series is based on books written by Cressida Cowell.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The film franchise starred Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Kristen Wig as the main voice cast. The live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon will be produced by Marc Plout, Adam Seigel and Dean himself. The live-action adaptation is set for release on March 14, 2025.