European Film Awards - Voting Now Open

by Nathaniel R

The Favourite may have lost most of its Oscar nominations but it can still win some EFAs!

The 32nd annual European Film Awards are happening this December 7th in Berlin. Voting for the People's Choice prize is now open. And -- "gay rights!"-- The Favourite still probably has another award ceremony to get through. Due to the EFA's non-calendar year eligibility as well as the complications of release patterns in multiple countries and the EFA's non-fussiness about dates you'll find that the people's choice options are a very strange mix this year from THREE calendar years worth of movies (2017-2019). 

After the jump, that odd group as well as two longlists (to give you festival prioritizing help) before the nominations are announced in early November...

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Cannes: Pedro's "Pain and Glory" is a hit at Cannes

by Nathaniel R

Antonio, Penelope, and Pedro together once again.

Hang this photo in the Louvre, s'il vous plaît. Loyal readers know that Pedro Almodóvar is my favourite living director so I bring you glorious news from Cannes -- Pedro's latest, Pain and Glory, starring his only real male muse Antonio Banderas and featuring his current female muse Penélope Cruz, is winning reviews that are much closer to glorious than painful. It could well be in contention for prizes with the jury...

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Cannes Competition Lineup

by Nathaniel R

This year's poster features Agnes Varda climbing on an assistant for a shot.The lineup for the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled. 19 films will compete for the Palme d'Or and 16 films will compete in the secondary lineup Un Certain Regard (we'll get to those in a bit) though those numbers might expand should they add a couple more entries to either program. They usually do that after the official unveiling. Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) and Lebanon's Nadine Labaki (Capernaum) will preside over the Competition and Un Certain Regard juries, respectively. 

COMPETITION

These films are the ones gunning for the Palme d'Or. There are four female directors in the competition lineup and two black directors both of which are way more than usual at Cannes... 

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Almodóvar has started shooting his next film!

by Nathaniel R

Pedro Almodóvar has begun shooting his next film which is called Pain & Glory, so we can expect it in 2019. This will be Penelope Cruz's sixth collaboration with one of the world's greatest directors (she previously headlined Volver and Broken Embraces and had supporting roles in Live Flesh, All About My Mother, and I'm So Excited). Antonio Banderas will also co-star, marking his 7th Pedro film. Other Almodóvar regulars appearing will be Kiti Mánver (6th time) and Julieta Serrano (5th time). Though Pedro pictures are usually all about the actresses occassionally he throws gorgeous men into the mix. And this looks like one of those times. In addition to Banderas in what we assume will be the lead role (?), we've got: Raúl Arévalo from I'm So Excited, Leonardo Sbaraglia (Wild Tales) and Asier Etxeandia (Ma Ma).

The movie will also be the feature debut for a young popular singer named Rosalía. She posted the following picture on her instagram...

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