Back in her “Pretty Women” days, I interviewed the young Julia Roberts and at one point she mentioned her dog, which she called Faulkner. Well, that’s one way to add some intellectual heft to your resume. Is it so different with James Franco, choosing “As I Lay Dying” as his first directorial feature?  He says he loved the book when he first read it back in high school. Well, I loved a girl named Becky but I didn’t make a film about her. Honestly, I root for James Franco, but he exhausts with his incessant need to produce every little thought into something for our consumption.  His recent art exhibition in Berlin included some fairly lame paintings he did in college of his high school yearbook photos; you know, things like sitting on the bleachers at a swim meet. Yes, of course that’s better than the guy who sits on his ass and never produces anything.  Although after Franco you begin to appreciate that lazy guy. The director makes two choices right off the top: a... ...

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At 8:30am Friday morning, I got it. What Cannes is truly all about. You get something in theory, and then there’s the moment you get it through experience. Asghar Farhadi’s “The Past” had just begun, and I thought back to what a friend said was the real reason to attend Cannes: because you see the best films in the world. Literally, according to one of the money men in James Toback’s new documentary about Cannes, “Seduced and Abandoned” – more on that later – half of the year’s supply of big films debuts at the festival. Farhadi won the Oscar for best foreign film with his last, “A Separation,” and as the new film began, the audience just relaxed into their seats as the film, with its first shot, took over. It’s a wonderful feeling when you realize you are in very, very, very good hands. “The Past” stars some major players in international cinema: “The Artist”’s Berenice Bejo as Marie, a working mother of two girls in suburban Paris; “A Separation”’s Ali Mosaffa as her estranged... ...

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Appreciative fans welcomed the return this week of "Peter Drunklage," a reference to a character created to universal acclaim by "Game of Thrones" star Peter Dinklage during a recent "Saturday Night Live" appearance. Only three episodes to go, HBO has reminded us in their recent "Games" commercials, and in the first of these countdown chapters we got the first of the three weddings that form the centerpiece of George R.R. Martin’s source novel, "A Storm of Swords," the forcible unification of doe-eyed Sansa Stark with Tyrion Lannister, the crafty schemer Dinklage plays so entertainingly. (The patterns in Martin’s storytelling aren’t so over-neat that there will eventually be one wedding for each of the three leeches, swollen with the blood of a king, or anyway of the bastard offspring of a king, that Melisandre dropped sizzling this week onto a sacrificial BBQ grill. But almost.) This wedding was in some ways excruciating to watch, and we certainly didn't fault Tyrion for... ...

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The fine young summer romance -- that time in the short months between spring and fall when love gets idealized and love gets messy -- is an idea so entrenched in pop culture and particularly in film that we tend to forget to ask if such an impossible thing actually exists? It never existed for me, but then again I didn't go to summer camp or work at a theme park -- and I certainly didn't flee the parental tyranny of home for the lawless yonder of the woods as three teenage friends do in "The Kings of Summer."  Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts from a screenplay by Chris Galletta, "Kings" is a sweet yet fleeting trifle of a film. It puts this specific brand of love on the highest of cinematic pedestals, featuring plenty of montage, scorching lens flares and young people mulling over absolutely nothing amid the gauzy wisp of wheat fields. With protagonists so devoid of the irony that makes angsty teens such a pleasure to watch, it is the film's earnestness that damns it in the end.... ...

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Above is the first trailer for JIMMY P: PSYCHOTHERAPY OF A PLAINS INDIAN, which is the new film from A CHRISTMAS TALE director, Arnaud Desplechin. It stars Benicio Del Toro and Mathieu Amalric (THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, QUANTUM OF SOLACE)  and will be screening soon at the Cannes Film Festival and competing for the Palme d’Or.

It’s an international trailer that was released to draw interest before it debuts at Cannes. I found it very interesting and Del Toro has kind of laid low the last few years so it’s nice to see him going back to what looks like a meaty role. Plus, I really loved A CHRISTMAS TALE, when I saw it a few years ago, so I will always be paying attention to Desplechin and his future projects.

JIMMY P. should open in the US this fall for an Oscar qualifying run. We should be hearing some reviews from Cannes coming soon.

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If you have a Twitter account and you don’t follow Sylvester Stallone, you are really missing out. He is honest and open and he breaks all of his news there. (He even had us try to guess the director that he had chosen for EXPENDABLES 3) Here is some more news, according to Sly, he met with Steven Seagal about a role in THE EXPENDABLES 3. Allegedly, Seagal is ready to accept a role, “if the part fits”. I’m not sure what kind of part Seagal is looking for but he really is the last holdout of the 80’s action stars that haven't been apart of this franchise (Jackie Chan doesn't count).

I had a lot of fun with both EXPENDABLES movies but I was raised on these kind of films when I was really young. When I was 7, I thought for sure I was going to be one of those action stars someday. In fact, UNDER SIEGE was one of the movies I watched over and over again when I was a kid and I loved Steven Seagal. Most of his films didn't hold up as I got older (although UNDER SIEGE is still a fun movie) but the nostalgia alone makes me want this to happen.

I understand that these films aren’t the most intelligent but they have a special meaning to me so I will always be excited for these films. What about you guys? Are you excited for this? Do you like Steven Seagal? Should he play a hero or a villain?

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Beaks here...

We already know Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and probably Harrison Ford are in talks to reprise their iconic roles in J.J. Abrams's STAR WARS EPISODE VII, but we've yet to hear any word as to who might be joining them in that galaxy far, far away. Well, the scoopsters at Latino Review are at it again, and this time they've turned up the first solid casting lead on this much-anticipated movie.

That there's Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who can currently be seen in THE TUDORS. As Latino-Review notes, he's worked with Abrams before (in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III), and, not for nothing, he smooched Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Ewan McGregor, in Todd Haynes's VELVET GOLDMINE. Put these two together, and this rumor just has to be true!

Harry's attempting to confirm this through his sources, but I've a feeling this is the kind of scoop that won't be verified until one of the trades gets fed it. It does sound plausible, though, so feel free to speculate about how Abrams and screenwriter Michael Arndt might utilize this talented Irish actor.

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THE DANCE OF REALITY is eighty-four-year-old Alejandro Jodorosky's first feature in twenty-three years, and it looks like the maestro has lost none of the surreal genius he brought to EL TOPO, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN and SANTA SANGRE. The film recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and it's generally been hailed as a return to form, as well as his lightest, most straightforward work to date. It's an "imaginary autobiography" of Jodorowsky's childhood in Chile, which sounds absolutely fascinating. Take a look at the trailer, and tell me this doesn't look spectacular...

 

There's no U.S. distribution set for THE DANCE OF REALITY, but if it's submitted as Chile's entry for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, we'll definitely get to see it at some point this year. Here's hoping.

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Jordan Vogt-Roberts's THE KINGS OF SUMMER (formerly titled TOY'S HOUSE) has been generating a ton of positive buzz since it debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Written by Chris Galletta, the film centers on three teenagers' efforts to build a house in the woods over their summer break. It's the first feature for both Vogt-Roberts and Galletta, but they've got quite the safety net in their supporting cast, which includes Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie, Mary Lynn-Rajskub and Kumail Nanjiani. You're not going to believe this, but it looks like Offerman is going to steal every scene he's in.

THE KINGS OF SUMMER opens in limited release on May 31, 2013. Really looking forward to this one.

 

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