"Wonderstruck" and "Mudbound"

Lynn Lee continuing our Middleburg Film Festival adventure

Dee Rees and Mudbound cast earlier this year. © Daniel Bergeron

It’s always a little weird to attend a talk with a director before seeing the film they’re being interviewed about.  That’s what happened with Mudbound, which concluded a day that began with a very engaging conversation between director Dee Rees and Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday and festival founder Sheila Johnson’s presentation of the 2017 “Visionary” award to Rees.  Rees was charming, articulate, and impressively self-possessed, and had many interesting comments on the directorial choices she made in Mudbound, which I wasn’t sure whether I should keep in mind or set aside while watching the film that night.  Rees made clear that she resists being pigeonholed as a director of color, female director, or female director of color, an aversion reflected in her somewhat bland mantra “let excellence be the standard.”  At the same time, she agreed that the current system is structurally biased against prioritizing excellence and needs to be opened up...

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The Link and I

Link time. Here we go...

Screen
/Film Deadpool 2 and X-Men Dark Phoenix have both wrapped, both due in 2018
/Film Turns out Beyoncé was offered Plumette before Gugu in the recent Beauty & The Beast movie. Insane that they offered Beyoncé a teensy part when Belle was right there. WTF, Bill Condon?
Coming Soon Gong Li will lead Martin Campbell's next thriller Ana -- the tone is said to be similar to La Femme Nikita.  We'd be super excited because Gong Li is always welcome in leading roles but Campbell's new one The Foreigner with Jackie Chan isn't exactly winning raves
Film Society Helen Mirren named as the honoree at next spring's Chaplin Award Gala in NYC. Robert De Niro was the honoree earlier this year

 

Into Todd Haynes talks about Wonderstruck and about meeting with Barbra Streisand to talk Gypsy !!!
Variety it's official The Current War has moved to 2018 as the Weinstein Company sorts itself out
Tracking Board Sandra Bullock's Netflix thriller Bird Box casts Patti Cake$' breakout Danielle Macdonald 
Variety Alfonso Cuarón talks about the Lumière festival, The Shape of Water, his new Mexican film Roma his first since Y Tu Mama Tambien
Coming Soon the young cast of those four Avatar sequels hit Disney World (only one of them is playing a human character). 

Page Turners
The Guardian Tom Hanks has written a book of short stories
NPR there's a new book out on the ultimate screen classic Casablanca

Stage 
Playbill Sir Ian McKellen will provide the voice of the demon in a new stage adaptation of The Exorcist
Playbill Kelli O'Hara likely to reprise her Tony winning performance in the West End production of The King and I next summer in London
EW Whoopi Goldberg & Maggie Gyllenhaal to star in a Damn Yankees concert, how fun!

More Sexual Harassment Stories
NYT Sarah Polley on the switch she felt moving from actress to director in terms of respect
Variety Eva Green has joined the chorus of women who have awful Weinstein stories to tell
BBC Woody Allen reacts to the Weinstein allegations
TFE Björk's harassment story (in case you missed it)
Boy Culture model/actor Ronnie Kroell speaks about how harassment happens to men in Hollywood, too. There are gay Weinsteins out there

and something a little lighter to end with...
Medium a hack for men (using The Rock as a mental example) who dont want to be accused of sexual harassment

The Big Link

What happened these past two weeks that I need to know about? We haven't done a link roundup yet this month (due to the critics institute retreat I was attending) so I have no idea what happened in my absence. But let us not get further behind. Herewith some news stories as well as a few random good reads.

News

• IndieWire Sofia Coppola responds to the backlash regarding her adaptation decisions on The Beguiled
• Theater Mania Josh Lucas and Uma Thurman to star in a new Broadway political play opening this fall The Parisian Woman
• Audra McDonald is going on a North American tour so get your tickets! The six time Tony winner's voice is utterly sublime.

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"Wonderstruck" is NYFF's Centerpiece Selection

Chris here. Todd Haynes's Carol follow-up, the genre mash-up Wonderstruck has been one of our most anticipated here at The Film Experience for some time, naturally. While the film got a mixed reception at Cannes and came up empty handed for prizes, that's not enough to dampen our excitement. Haynes reunited with Julianne Moore? Of course we're there! But the film just landed a prime spot on the fall festival circuit - Wonderstruck will be the Centerpiece for the New York Film Festival.

Festival hounds will remember that this spot went to 20th Century Women's world premiere last year - so let's hope the film is as beloved in these parts as that film. But will it capture Oscar's attentions more than that small film? Haynes hasn't had much luck on the big prizes, so we bet Wonderstuck could at least register below the line as his previous films have. Despite the muted Cannes reactions, one of the most universally praised elements of the film was the performance of young deaf actress Millicent Simmonds - could she be the next youngster to steal Oscar's hearts? 

Wonderstruck play's NYFF afew weeks before opening October 20. Tell us what has you most excited about the film!

Cannes Days 2-4: "Wonderstruck" and More

by Nathaniel R

One of our all time favorite movie couples reunited: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes

After the fiasco of that opening press conference and the typical "underwhelmed" response to the opening night film, happier news. The first full day of screenings brought us news of Todd Haynes Wonderstruck which reunites one of the world's greatest auteurs with his earliest muse Julianne Moore, and other reportedly fine films. Read on for more!

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