3 days ago
Masterpiece or Megaflop?
The party circuit was in full swing on Friday night, between the glitzy gala celebration for the highly acclaimed Bird and a few non-premiere events for studios including Mubi. The topic on everyone's lips could only be one movie, though: Megalopolis. Reviews so far are sharply mixed, and as I wandered from conversation to conversation, I genuinely heard the words “masterpiece” and “catastrophe” within minutes of each other. That about sums it up: The critical consensus thus far is harshly split, though it seems safe to say that even fans will concede this Francis Ford Coppola drama is not especially audience-friendly—a more relevant point than ever now as it seeks a buyer for U.S. distribution. Who will bite? Which side of the divide they fall on is only the beginning of that very complex and challenging question.
Mega Mind
For years—decades, even—cinephiles have been waiting to catch a glimpse of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, a passion project the Godfather Oscar winner funded with $120 million of his own money. So, how’s the movie? We’ll let Richard Lawson take it from here.
cannes 2024
Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis Is a Passion Project Gone Horribly Wrong
By Richard Lawson
3 days ago
When Charles and Diana Attended Cannes
CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 15: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a pale blue silk chiffon strapless dress with a matching chiffon stole designed by Catherine Walker, attend a Gala night in honour of actor Sir Alec Guinness at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 1987 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
Back in 1987, fans of both the Royal Family and cinema were in for a treat when the then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana attended the 40th Cannes Film Festival.
For the occasion, the late Princess of Wales worked with Catherine Walker, one of Diana's favorite designers, to create something that would reference Grace Kelly's brand of movie star glamour and fit right in on the French Riviera. With those ideas in mind, Walker designed a strapless icy blue tulle gown with a matching scarf that Diana draped across her neck that gave way to a billowing silhouette as the princess made her way across the red carpet.
According to Newsweek, the resulting look paid tribute to the costume Kelly wore in Alfred Hitchco*ck's To Catch a Thief (1955), which was designed by Edith Head. Ten years later in 1997, the gown was put up for auction at Christie's, along with 78 of Diana's other dresses, following her 1996 divorce from Charles.
As Cathy Horyn wrote in Vanity Fair in July 1997: Diana was "jettisoning a life that never was. With her attention now focused on a limited number of causes and charities—in January, a khaki-clad Diana traipsed through bleak Angola consoling victims of anti-personnel mines—she scarcely has need for the sort of elaborate costumes she once used to enliven state banquets. Diana seems eager to move on; she keeps her comments about the 79 dresses destined for Christie's very brief, avoiding nostalgic references that might reveal deeper feelings. In a rare interview, she emphasized the pleasure the gowns had given her, ‘particularly when representing my country abroad.’
‘Yes, of course it is a wrench to let go of these beautiful dresses," she added. “However, I am extremely happy that others can now share the joy that I had wearing them.’”
Prince Charles And Princess Diana Arriving At The Cannes Film Festival For A Gala Night In Honour Of Actor Sir Alec Guinness. The Princess Is Wearing A Pale Blue Silk Chiffon Strapless Dress With A Matching Chiffon Stole Designed By Fashion Designer Catherine Walker. They Are Greeted By The Lady Mayor Of Cannes. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)Tim Graham/Getty Images
CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 15: Princess Diana In France For The Cannes Film Festival. She Is On Her Way To A Ceremony Honouring Sir Alec Guiness. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)Tim Graham/Getty Images
3 days ago
Fine Feathered Friends
Director Andrea Arnold returns to familiar territory in the affecting drama Bird, which just premiered at Cannes. Richard Lawson was taken by the movie, which stars Barry Keoghan as a young father, Nykiya Adams as his 12-year-old daughter, and Franz Rogowski as her avian imaginary friend: “The film is delicate where it really counts, its sensitivity no doubt partly the result of Arnold’s revisiting of her own childhood experience,” he writes.
