News

This post contains spoilers for "Golden Years."

It makes sense that a prolific author like Stephen King has inspired countless adaptations of his work since Brian De Palma's "Carrie" graced everyone's screens in 1976. Since then, King has been personally involved in several adaptation projects, but his relationship with CBS' "Golden Years" is a unique one. For starters, "Golden Years" (Aka "Stephen King's Golden Years") is not based on a book, but is an original miniseries created and written by King in collaboration with Josef Anderson. It wouldn't be surprising if you haven't heard about the show at all; it aired between July and August of 1991 and didn't receive rave reviews or enough sustained viewership to warrant a reputation of any kind. The original plan was for it to lead up to a regular series, but CBS refused, which led to the seven-part miniseries ending on a cliffhanger.

It's not...

Presented by Neon’s The Monkey, Bloody Disgusting is celebrating this weekend’s release of Osgood Perkins’ highly anticipated horror with Stephen King Week. Yesterday, Jenn Addams looked at the most bizarre deaths in Stephen King’s work, and today, Luiz H.C. provides us with a ranking of King’s made-for-tv originals.

You can’t be crowned the King of Horror by telling the same story over and over again. That’s why it makes sense that Stephen King has always been open to experimenting with new mediums throughout his six-decade-long career. From being one of the first major authors to publish an online-only e-book to infamously deciding to direct one of his big-screen adaptations himself, there’s a reason we still line up to read his constantly evolving work.

Of course, one of the author’s most prolific side-projects has been the art of writing engaging teleplays – and...

“In 2007 I watched the “X Files” on YouTube. That changed my consumer experience!” said analyst firm Ampere Analysis’s Research Manager Olivia Deane, invited to discuss audience’s shift in the last 20 years, structural adaptations and new business models in kids’ content at MipJunior’s opening session Oct. 18.

From the boom of on-demand to peak and post-peak TV, kids content creators have been on a rollercoaster in the last two decades, as explained by Deane in her presentation ‘Mapping out a New Era of Kids TV & Entertainment’ at the Grand Theatre of the Jw Marriot Cannes.

First the good news. During the years 2004-2014 defined by Dean as “the first age of on-demand,” “children had the ability to access media at any time, and were more likely to have more than one TV connected device than households without,” noted the expert.

To adapt to this trend and surge in demand,...

Golden Years offers a fresh take on self-discovery in aging, but falls short on diving into deeper truths or realities. The film conveys universal themes of self-actualization and fulfillment in older characters, celebrating life at any age. While light and heartwarming, Golden Years misses the opportunity to unpack complex life questions with more depth and realism.

Aging isn't easy. It’s an experience that brings about moments of deep self-reflection and questioning life's fulfillment. Golden Years, a Swiss dramedy directed by Barbara Kulcsar, delves into these themes and asks great questions, but never truly gives the best answers. Starring Esther Gemsh and Stefan Kurt, the older couple embark on separate journeys of self-discovery, offering a unique twist on the coming-of-age movie. While heartwarming in its portrayal of underrepresented demographics and universal themes, the film remains light. But it unfortunately misses the opportunity to explore deeper realities and truths which could...

Golden Years, written by Petra Volpe and directed by Barbara Kulcsar, is an incredibly simple, comfortable piece of work. It concerns the plight of a long-married couple: Alice (Esther Gemsch) and Peter (Stefan Kurt). At Peter’s retirement party, their children gift them with a luxurious cruise vacation. Alice is looking forward to it. Peter is not. Then, all of a sudden, Alice’s best friend Magalie (Elvira Plüss) dies. Her husband Heinz (Ueli Jäggi), Peter’s best friend, is distraught. In a fit of sympathy (and perhaps selfishness) Peter invites Heinz to join them on the trip. Alice, of course, does not approve. It’s one of many budding fractures in a union that may break with more time spent together. Alice quickly realizes this cruise will not strengthen their marital bond. It will, in fact, do the opposite.

Despite the impending doubt, fear, and sadness that will surely come,...

A three-time Primetime Emmy nominee for her work on “Cheers” and later “Sex and the City,” acting legend Francis Sternhagen has passed away this week at the age of 93.

“It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear mother, actress Frances Sternhagen, died peacefully of natural causes in New Rochelle, NY, on November 27th, 2023 at the age of 93,” the family shared in a statement to People this afternoon.

“She is survived by her 6 children, 9 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. A celebration of her remarkable career and life is planned for mid January, near her 94th birthday,” the statement continued. “We continue to be inspired by her love and life.”

Here in the horror world, Francis Sternhagen is best remembered for a handful of roles in the Stephen King Cinematic Universe, including Misery (1990) and The Mist (2007).

Sternhagen also starred in the 1991 mini-series “Golden Years,” created by Stephen King.

Other...

Naomie Harris, Gwendoline Christie and Mark Williams (Harry Potter, Golden Years) have joined the ensemble cast of a new family adventure film ‘Robin and the Hood.’

Rising star Darcey Ewart will play the lead role of Robin, whilst Harris takes on the role of evil developer ‘Clipboard’, Christie plays environmental activist ‘Aura’ and Williams features as the local Town Mayor.

The official synopsis reads; For the tenacious 11-year-old Robin (Ewart) and her loyal band of friends ‘The Hoods’, the patch of overgrown scrubland at the end of their cul-de-sac is a magical kingdom. Sticks and bin lids have become swords and shields, drones have become majestic eagles and the hippy lady in the forest (Christie) is a terrifying witch. The only thing limiting their colourful imagination is the prospect of losing their kingdom forever. When the slippery property developer Clipboard (Harris) turns up and dazzles the parents of the area...

David Harbour initially thought making a Gran Turismo movie was a terrible idea, but after reading the script, he was impressed. The movie put a lot of effort into bringing the racing scenes to life realistically, and Harbour says the action is as visceral and intense as Top Gun: Maverick. Gran Turismo is not just a live-action adaptation of the racing game, but instead tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a Gran Turismo player who became a professional race car driver.

Stranger Things star David Harbour initially thought making a Gran Turismo movie was “a terrible idea,” the actor reveals exclusively to MovieWeb. When he had about the video game being made into a movie, Harbour could not quite understand how exactly a story could be squeezed out of the simulator, but upon receiving the script, his mind was quickly changed.

"I played Gran Turismo like in college, it...

Australian Adaptation

The BBC has acquired the Australian version of hit gameshow “The Traitors” for broadcast and streaming this summer.

“The Traitors Australia,” which sees contestants compete for a prize of Aus $250,000 in a luxury hotel in the Southern Highlands, is set to drop on BBC Three and iPlayer on July 9. It is hosted by Rodger Corser.

“’The Traitors’ is an addictively fiendish format and I am so pleased that viewers can get their summer fix of treachery and suspicion as we head Down Under for the Australian version of the show on BBC Three and iPlayer,” said Nasfim Haque, head of content for BBC Three.

The Australian version follows the U.K. and U.S. adaptations of the Dutch series, which have both been a hit for the broadcaster. All3Media International reps global rights to “The Traitors.”

Documentary

Sky News is set to release the second in its three-part series “Women at War.

In cinematic form, how do you tell history without archive footage? Occupied City shows how it can be done, and to what effect.

Steve McQueen’s audacious documentary, which premiered at Cannes on Wednesday in the festival’s Special Screenings section, undertakes a portrait of Amsterdam during the Dutch city’s occupation by the Nazis from 1940-45. But it does so without making use of a single frame of film or stills from the era itself – no German tanks rumbling over the thoroughfares, no jackbooted troops on patrol, no black-and-white imagery of terrified civilians running for safety.

Director Steve McQueen

The remarkably bold approach, instead, uses only scenes of Amsterdam today while a narrator (Melanie Hyams) recounts in almost clinical fashion what took place virtually door to door and street to street during the Nazi occupation. For instance, at the opulent Concertgebouw we learn the invaders took a shine to...

If the final moments of the “Paper Girls” finale left you scrambling, well, welcome to the club. But we are here to work through it with you — and we got the cast’s input on things as well.

Now, before we get into what comes next, let’s lay out what all went down. In the season finale, now streaming on Prime Video, we see Erin (Riley Lai Nelet), Mac (Sofia Rosinsky), Tiff (Camryn Jones) and Kj (Fina Strazza) set to be returned to their original timeline, with their memories erased. But, thanks to some help from Prioress (Adina Porter), they manage to flee from the Grandfather (Jason Mantzoukas) in escape pods.

Prioress — who sacrificed herself in the process — released them because as it turns out, Tiff is instrumental in the creation of time travel, and thus, the time war. Prioress was around the same age as the paper girls...

One of the most buzzed-about and timely horror films of 2020, Rob Savage’s Host is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on February 2nd from Rlje Films, and to celebrate, we've been provided with two Blu-ray copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers!

---------

Prize Details: (2) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Host.

How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:

Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:

https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/

Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.comwith the subject “Host Blu-ray Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on February 3rd. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of...

For many people, this has been the year of Zoom calls, and director Rob Savage (along with co-writers Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd) brought innovative terror to the virtual meeting format with Host. One of the most buzzed-about films of the year since its summer streaming release on Shudder (you can listen to us discuss the film on a previous episode of Corpse Club), Host is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on February 2nd from Rlje Films, and we have a look at the cover art and full list of bonus features.

From the Press Release: Los Angeles – Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, has picked up select rights to Host from Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural. Host will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 2, 2021. The film is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100 percent score on the Tomatometer.

Roy Dana (R.D.) Call, an actor who appeared in such films as “Last Man Standing,” “Born on the Fourth of July” and several other films alongside Sean Penn, died on Feb. 27 of back surgery complications, his family announced. He was 70.

The Utah native was born Feb. 16, 1950 and came to Los Angeles in 1975 to pursue his career in acting, attending Lee Strasberg Acting School and Lonny Chapman’s L.A. Repertory Theater Group. His first major television performance was in the drama “Barnaby Jones,” episodes of which were directed by Leo Penn, Sean Penn’s father. He went on to appear on “The X-Files,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “V” and “Trapper John M.D,” and had a recurring role in Stephen King’s “Golden Years.”

Call acted alongside Penn in seven films that began with “At Close Range” in 1986, followed by “Colors,” “State of Grace,” “The Weight of Water,...

R.D. Call, an actor who appeared in seven Sean Penn films, a trio by director Walter Hill and such TV series as Walker, Texas Ranger and Ez Streets, died Feb. 27 of complications from back surgery in Layton, Utah. He was 70.

His death was announced by his family.

A student in the 1970s of Lee Strasberg’s acting school, Roy Dana Call made his TV debut in 1979 on CBS’ Barnaby Jones. Appearances on Little House on the Prairie, V, and Trapper John M.D. followed.

His long career as a character actor in films began in 1982 with Hill’s 48 Hrs. Call would work again with the director on 1985’s Brewster’s Millions and 1996’s Last Man Standing.

An even more prolific collaboration began with fellow actor Penn on 1986’s At Close Range, followed by Colors (1988), State of Grace (1990), The Weight of Water (2000), I Am Sam (2001) and Babel (2006). Call also appeared in 2007’s Into the Wild,...

Veteran actress Lynn Cohen, best known for her role as Magda the housekeeper in the HBO series Sex and the City and both of its movie adaptations, has reportedly passed away. The exact cause of her passing and the circumstances of her death remain unclear, although it had been reported Cohen died on Friday morning and the news was officially confirmed by Cohen's representative. She was 86 years old.

Lynn Cohen was born in 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri, and didn't start her acting career until she was almost 50. Studying acting at Michael Howard Studios in New York City, Cohen first appeared in the 1983 movie Without a Trace. She'd follow this up with a role in the limited sci-fi series Golden Years, which was created by Stephen King. This would lead to many other TV and movie roles soon to follow, including parts in the shows The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and NYPD Blue...

Don Kaye Sep 21, 2019

The master of horror is ready for his closeup. Here's a history of Stephen King movie and TV cameos.

Like many people with fertile imaginations, Stephen King loves movies. He loves them so much, in fact, that he’s appeared in quite a few himself, starting in 1981 with a cameo as a rather slovenly redneck in George A. Romero’s jousting bikers drama, Knightriders (he’s billed as “Hoagie Man”).

Over the years, King has broadened his range to include appearances in not just movies, but in TV shows like The Simpsons and Sons of Anarchy.

He even memorably starred in an American Express commercial in 1985:

Video of American Express ad with Stephen King (1983)

For the most part, however, King’s onscreen appearances have been in films and TV series based on his own work, usually in quick, don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-him walk-ons but occasionally in a decent-sized supporting role.

Cherries aren’t the first fruit that come to mind when watching “No. 7 Cherry Lane.” In an entirely welcome way, veteran Hong Kong auteur Yonfan’s first film in a decade (as well as his first foray into feature animation) can better be described as a bowl of bright, aromatic and very, very ripe bananas. As entrancingly singular as it is steeped in pastiche, this frequently dream-distracted vision of young love against the turmoil of the 1967 Hong Kong riots practically defies critics not to resort to that hoarily overused term “valentine to cinema”: If a film containing no fewer than three lengthy cartoon reenactments of Simone Signoret classics doesn’t merit it, what does? Many will be left bewildered by the sheer, deranged obsessiveness of Yonfan’s nostalgia head-trip — indeed, there were whistles and walkouts at its first Venice press screening — but accustomed Yon-fans and patient adventurers will fall madly for its madness.

David Bowie’s legendary headlining set at Glastonbury 2000 will be released in full for the first time November 30th via Parlophone Records, BBC Studios and Glastonbury Festivals.

The box set will feature an audio version of the full 21-song setlist and a film of the entire show. Previously, only 30 minutes of Bowie’s performance had ever been aired on broadcast television. Bowie’s Glastonbury set notably includes a rendition of “‘Heroes'” that was featured prominently in the acclaimed exhibit, “David Bowie Is…”

The Glastonbury box set will also include...

Parlophone Records announced Wednesday that “David Bowie: Loving the Alien 1983-1988,” the fourth in its series of boxed sets compiling the late artist’s work from 1969, will be released on Oct. 12. The era was Bowie’s most commercially successful period and includes the hit albums “Let’s Dance” and “Tonight.”

The 11 CD/15 LP set follows the formidable collections “Five Years (1969-1973),” “Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976),” and “A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982).”

It also includes a near-complete re-recording of Bowie’s 1987 album “Never Let Me Down,” which he’d often said he wanted to re-do, overseen by producer / engineer Mario McNulty with new instrumentation by longtime Bowie collaborators Reeves Gabrels (guitar), David Torn (guitar), Sterling Campbell (drums), and Tim Lefebvre (bass), as well as string quartet with arrangements by Nico Muhly and a guest cameo by Laurie Anderson on “Shining Star (Makin’ My Love).”

It...

David Bowie‘s mid-Eighties career will be explored in the new box set Loving the Alien (1983-1988), a massive collection that gathers the late icon’s albums, live LPs and more from the era.

The 11-cd or 15-lp Loving the Alien, due out October 12th, features three Bowie studio albums – 1983’s Let’s Dance, 1984’s Tonight and 1987’s Never Let Me Down – alongside a pair of first-time-on-vinyl live albums – Serious Moonlight (Live ’83) and Glass Spider (Live Montreal ’87) – and the newly assembled compilation Dance, which collects 12 contemporaneous remixes from the era.

Author: Zehra Phelan

The feel-good trailer for upcoming British production, Finding Your Feet starring Imelda Staunton, proves there is still life to be lived in your Golden Years.

Teaming up a cast of Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie, Timothy Spall, Joanna Lumley, John Sessions, Josie Lawrence and David Hayman, director Richard Loncraine has brought together the cream of veteran wholesome comedy project that oozes grand old British values in Finding Your Feet.

The trailer focuses on the middle-class Sandra (Staunton) as she forces herself on her sister Bif (Imrie), who lives on a council estate, in an attempt to start her life over after she discovers her husband’s betrayal in having an affair with her best friend. Almost strangers as sisters, the pair are given the opportunity to get to know each other again via geriatric dance classes, dating and travel. It’s a tale of self-discovery and learning to...

We have another busy week of home entertainment releases on the horizon, as there are over two dozen titles making their way to Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday. For those of you cult film enthusiasts, you have a lot of options when it comes to adding items to your collections, as Alienator is being resurrected by Scream Factory, Arrow Video is unleashing a special edition set for Madhouse, and Mondo Macabre has given Paul Naschy’s Inquisition an HD overhaul as well.

As if that wasn’t enough, we also have new releases for The Hound of Baskervilles, Medusa, and Nicholas Ray’s classic noir They Live By Night to look forward to as well. For you TV lovers out there, the box sets for the final season of both The Vampire Diaries and Grimm are being released Tuesday, and for those who are on the hunt for some new action cinema,...

André Téchiné’s “Golden Years” is a bit of a wash. The true story of a World War I deserter who spent the roaring twenties living as a woman, Téchiné’s film is a surprising misfire, especially because it arrives only one year after the director’s masterful “Being 17.” Both films share thematic – if not exactly narrative – parallels, telling of volatile couplings reordered by sexual exploration. But Téchiné seems to have forgotten the hard-won lessons of his previous film, dialing down any hint of life’s thrilling uncertainty for a stodgily theatrical approach that tells the story in the most superficial way possible.

It is the story of Paul and Louise Grappe, a young couple living their golden years before the Great War breaks and Paul (“Stranger By The Lake” star Pierre Deladonchamps) is sent to the front. The war prove entirely too hellish for him and so he blows off his own finger,...

My Baby Shot Me Down: Techine’s Tedious Period Piece a Drained Chronicle

While perennial French auteur Andre Techine delivered one of his most vibrant narratives to date with last year’s Being 17, the director, now in his fifth decade of filmmaking, makes a rather rigid affair out of a colorful historical episode with his latest, Golden Years.

Continue reading...

Within its first half hour, “Ismael’s Ghosts” weaves together espionage, melodrama, supernatural hauntings, and a filmmaker’s creative crisis. It’s the most ambitious movie to date from French director Arnaud Desplechin, whose ensemble dramas “A Christmas Tale” and “My Golden Years” also dealt with characters coping with their troubled pasts. This time, it’s a wild hodgepodge of genres that often risk collapsing on top of each other. At its best, the movie is a freewheeling gambit, hurtling in multiple directions at once, and it’s thrilling to watch Desplechin try juggle them all.

“Ismael’s Ghosts” within the confines of a movie imagined by its main character: a dense, labyrinthine spy story involving the experiences of young recruit Ivan (Louie Garrel) who’s services straight out of school. Minutes into that setup, Desplechin pulls out to reveal the world of disheveled writer-director Ismael (Mathieu Amalric), a rugged,...

Cannes 2017 is already a notable edition thanks to the festival’s inclusion of auteur helmed television entries, and (to the chagrin of some traditional minds) the appearance of Netflix properties in the main competition. But beyond these unavoidable progressions, the same kinds of regular maneuvering continues. While some auteurs locked out of the comp in 2015 have been invited back to the fold (Desplechin, Kawase) of Fremaux’s loving arms, the usual trend of displacement has crafted an unusually exciting crop of titles in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar, as well as miscellaneous groupings of designated Special Screenings and Out of Competition slots specifically designed for auteurs who will remain part of the official program but away from the glaring inspection of competition pressures.

Edouard Waintrop scored a formidable coup with his opening film this year, Claire Denis‘ Let the Sunshine In (previously known as “Dark Sunglasses”). Denis, one of France’s finest auteurs, has been consistently overlooked by Fremaux and usually appears in competition at Venice. Alongside Denis, Waintrop snagged some Sundance titles (Bushwick, Patti Cake$) and a number of new projects from noted auteurs, like Abel Ferrara, Philippe Garrel, Sharunas Bartas, and Amos Gitai. The lineup also features a number of anticipated titles from new directors, including the sophomore film from Jonas Carpignano (A Ciambra), and some eclectic art-house genre titles (like the delicious sounding Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts from Indonesia’s Mouly Surya). Here’s our top three most anticipated from the Quinzaine:

Top 3 Quinzaine:

3. Jeannette – Dir. Bruno Dumont

Bruno Dumont, who was in the main comp last year with cannibal slapstick comedy Slack Bay, returns with an electro-pop musical on Joan of Arc set during the young girl’s developmental years, as based in part on a work by Charles Peguy.

2. The Florida Project – Sean Baker

Sean Baker returns to 35mm after 2015’s phenomenal Tangerine (famously shot on an iPhone). The American auteur’s latest stars Willem Dafoe alongside a group of newcomers in a film focusing on a six-year-old girl and her group of friends one Floridian summer as they embark on adventures while the adults contend with hard times.

1. Let the Sunshine In – Claire Denis

Inexplicably, Denis unites Juliette Binoche and Gerard Depardieu in this adaptation of Roland Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse. And this is a comedy. Sacré bleu!

Bonus:

For this year’s select out-of-competition titles, Fremaux amassed some glittery new titles from renowned auteurs.

Top 3 Ooc:

3. Ismael’s Ghosts – Dir. Arnaud Desplechin

Desplechin is back, this time opening up the festival with Ismael’s Ghosts, starring his regular muse Mathieu Amalric as a man caught between his current wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and the ghost of his former lover (Marion Cotillard, who previously had a small role in 1996’s My Sex Life…).

2. Based on a True Story – Dir. Roman Polanski

Polanski returns with this intriguing sounding film written by Olivier Assayas and starring Eva Green and Emmanuelle Seigner, which details a writer who gets all wrapped up with an obsessive fan.

1. How to Talk to Girls at Parties – Dir. John Cameron Mitchell

The long awaited sci-fi film from John Cameron Mitchell stars Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman (in one of four new projects at the festival) as aliens infiltrating London, based on a story by Neil Gaiman.

Special Events and Special Screenings:

Some of the auteurs standing out in the Special Events and Special Screenings are Abbas Kiarostami, Jane Campion, and a Virtual Reality project from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Flesh and Sand), making these mini-sidebars some of the most formidable programming of the fest in years.

3. Golden Years – Andre Techine

Techine was last in Cannes with an out-of-competition screening with 2014’s In the Name of My Daughter. This year he gets a Special Screening with Golden Years, scripted alongside Cedric Anger and starring Pierre Deladonchamps (Stranger by the Lake) as a Wwi deserter who goes into hiding by posing as a woman…but after the war ends, he can’t bring himself to revert to his former identity.

2. Claire’s Camera – Dir. Hong Sangsoo

Cannes 2017 will deliver a double dose of Hong Sangsoo, who returns to the competition with The Day After, who then gets to debut Claire’s Camera as a Special Screening, which reunites him with Isabelle Huppert (who headlined his 2012 In Another Country). Sangsoo filmed this project at Cannes while the festival transpired in 2016.

1. Twin Peaks – David Lynch

And then, there’s the return of the master. David Lynch will be premiering the first two episodes of Twin Peaks, the hotly anticipated reunion of the iconic television show twenty-five years after the end of Season 2. Along with Campion’s unveiling of her second season of Top of the Lake, this will be a rare opportunity to see (at least partially) these new works in the cinema.

The post The Conversation: Top 3 Most Anticipated Directors’ Fortnight Picks: Denis, Baker & Dumont appeared first on Ioncinema.com.

Exclusive: Emmanuelle Bercot also cast; Celluloid Dreams, Avenue B pact for feature.

Paris-based Celluloid Dreams has boarded French director Sebastien Marnier’s high-school-set thriller School’s Out, featuring Laurent Lafitte and Emmanuelle Bercot in the cast (pictured).

Caroline Bonmarchand of Avenue B is producing. She previously collaborated with Marnier on his well-received debut thriller Faultless (Irréprochable), starring Marina Foïs as a down-on-her-luck estate agent who is hell-bent on getting her old job back at an agency in her provincial home-town, whatever it takes.

For School’s Out, Elle co-star Laurent Lafitte is set to play protagonist Pierre Hoffman, a substitute form tutor, brought in after his predecessor commits suicide by throwing himself out of the classroom window in front of his teenage students.

Actress and film-maker Emmanuelle Bercot will play another teacher in the school. Other cast members will include French rapper Gringe, Pascal Greggory, Greg Montel, Thomas Scimeca and Véronique Ruggia.

Lafitte’s character...

For such a highly anticipated event, the Cannes Film Festival tends to contain a fairly predictable lineup: The Official Selection focuses on established auteurs whose work lands a coveted slot at the flashy gathering on autopilot. That was certainly the case last year, when the 2016 edition opened with a Woody Allen movie and featured new work from the likes of Pedro Almodovar, Nicolas Winding Refn, the Dardennes brothers and Olivier Assayas.

But we live in unpredictable times, and judging by today’s announcement of the Official Selection for Cannes 2017, even the world’s most powerful festival isn’t impervious to change. This year’s Cannes is filled with surprises: television and virtual reality, some intriguing non-fiction selections, and a whole lot of unknown quantities that push the festival in fresh directions.

That’s not to say that there aren’t a few familiar names that stand out. Todd Haynes is...

Screen investigates which films from around the world could launch on the Croisette, including on opening night.

With just over a month to go before the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiled in Paris, Croisette predictions and wish lists are hitting the web thick and fast.

Screen’s network of correspondents and contributors around the world have been putting out feelers to get a sense of what might or might not make it to the Palais du Cinéma or one of the parallel sections.

Just like the Oscars, this year’s festival is likely to unfold amid a politically-charged atmosphere. Beyond Trump and the rise of populism across the globe, France will be digesting the result of its own presidential election on May 7. Against this background, the festival will be feting its 70th edition.

Below, Screen reveals which titles might - and might not - be in the running for a place at the...

Exclusive: Celluloid sets down at Efm with biggest slate in years, adding two new Italian productions.

Paris-based sales agent Celluloid Dreams, at the European Film Market (Efm) this week with one of its biggest slates in recent years, has boarded sales on two high-profile Italian titles, Silvio Soldini’s [pictured] Emma and Marco Tullio Giordana’s Nome Di Donna.

Soldini’s Emma stars Adriano Giannini as a womanising creative director at a trendy ad agency who falls under the spell of a beautiful, married and blind osteopath. It is now in post-production. Videa has acquired Italian rights.

Tullio Giordana’s Nome Di Donne stars Cristiana Capotondi as a single mother who works at an old people’s home, where she discovers that the manager is sexually abusing the staff and she sets out to bring him to justice.

Celluloid Dreams president and head of acquisitions Hengameh Panahi acquired the films through her long-time contact, Lionello Cerri at Lumière...

Exclusive: Film stars Pierre Deladonchamps and Céline Sallette

Celluloid Dreams has boarded international sales for André Téchiné’s new feature Golden Years (Nos Annees Folles).

The film stars Pierre Deladonchamps (Stranger By The Lake) in the true story of Frenchman Paul Grappe, a First World War deserter who spent a decade disguised as a woman. When he is finally granted amnesty, he tries to live as a man again. His supportive wife Louise is played by Céline Sallette (Rust And Bone, Les Revenants).

The $8m film is set for completion this spring. “I am stunned by the modernity and the lyricism of the film. This is pure cinema, daring and moving. Absolute love is timeless and gender identity more then ever at the heart of our societies. I’m proud to bring this masterful movie out to the world,” said Hengameh Panahi, founder and CEO of Celluloid Dreams.

Téchiné, whose credits include Rendez-Vous, My Favorite...

This post originally appeared on EW.com.

The Little House on the Prairie novels, which were inspired by author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s pioneer childhood in the 1870s and 1880s, have sold more than 60 million copies, been translated into more than 30 languages, and delighted children and families in print and on the small screen for decades. Wilder wrote the first one, Little House in the Big Woods, in 1932; the eighth and last “official” Little House book, These Happy Golden Years, was published in 1943 (a ninth book, The First Four Years, is widely considered a final installment in the series and...

Director William Oldroyd’s “Lady Macbeth” offers up a stark portrayal of the stifling, restrictive life for even privileged women of Britain’s Golden Years and how, in attempting to break free, a young woman brings destruction down upon herself and her household. Based on the 1865 novel “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” by Nikolai Leskov but transplanted to Victorian England, the film sees Florence Pugh in the lead role of Katherine, recently married by arrangement into a wealthy, highly controlling family. To escape the soul crushing boredom, Katherine pursues a risky affair, leading to increasingly bloody actions and, eventually,...

It’s been almost a year to the day since we lost David Bowie, but the rock icon and beloved creative force is still foremost in the minds of those who knew and loved him best. As Billboard reports, on Sunday evening, some of those people — including fans, friends and even former bandmates — gathered together to celebrate what would have been Bowie’s seventieth birthday for a three-hour charity concert at London’s Brixton Academy. It was an appropriately rocking and raucous event.

The show was hosted by actor (and close Bowie pal) Gary Oldman, who took the stage not only to emcee the event, but to rock out to a few of Bowie’s classics, including “Sorrow” and “The Man Who Sold the World.”

Read More: David Bowie’s ‘No Plan’ Music Video Is a Posthumous Tribute to the Departed Space Oddity — Watch

Oldman was joined by other luminaries and performers,...

The sprawling Film Independent Spirit Award nominations, which are selected by a series of small juries, has an impact on film writers who will vote for awards ranging from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice to regional critics’ groups and Guild and Oscar voters. It’s all a question of what moves up in those screener piles.

So digging into Tuesday’s multiple Spirit category nominees, who got a boost? (Note that, for various reasons including the $20-million cap, “La La Land,” “Lion,” “A Monster Calls” and “Nocturnal Animals” were ineligible.)

As expected, A24’s Miami triptych “Moonlight” (six nominations), Amazon/Roadside Attractions’ tragic drama “Manchester by the Sea” (five) and Fox Searchlight’s portrait of JFK’s widow “Jackie” (four), all considered strong Oscar entries, landed coveted Best Feature slots. Another A24 entry, “American Honey” (six) and Monument Releasing’s “Chronic” (two) also received feature nominations, but are less...

The sprawling Film Independent Spirit Award nominations, which are selected by a series of small juries, has an impact on film writers who will vote for awards ranging from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice to regional critics’ groups and Guild and Oscar voters. It’s all a question of what moves up in those screener piles.

So digging into Tuesday’s multiple Spirit category nominees, who got a boost? (Note that, for various reasons including the $20-million cap, “La La Land,” “Lion,” “A Monster Calls” and “Nocturnal Animals” were ineligible.)

As expected, A24’s Miami triptych “Moonlight” (six nominations), Amazon/Roadside Attractions’ tragic drama “Manchester by the Sea” (five) and Fox Searchlight’s portrait of JFK’s widow “Jackie” (four), all considered strong Oscar entries, landed coveted Best Feature slots. Another A24 entry, “American Honey” (six) and Monument Releasing’s “Chronic” (two) also received feature nominations, but are less...

Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys, you’d better not be toying with my emotions!

I can’t be the only one who let out a long and enthusiastic “squeeeeee!” as the newcomers to The Voice‘s coaching panel casually proposed a joint record label and national tour to promote their very promising Season 11 artists.

Related2017 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Getting Cancelled? What’s on the Bubble?

Ok, maybe their conversation was merely a way to kill time in between Carson Daly’s vein-popping pronouncements. But I can’t help but optimistically wonder: Could we finally have...

Kirsten Howard Oct 18, 2016

As we approach the 10th anniversary of The Lost Room, we reminisce about the series with co-creator Christopher Leone...

Many people pine for the one that got away. For a swathe of science fiction fans, their great lost love is Joss Whedon’s space western show Firefly, but for a few of us there was also another sci-fi show cruelly cut off in its prime after just a few great episodes in the 00s – and that show is The Lost Room.

See related Arrow season 5 exclusive: Kevin Smith talks Onomatopoeia Arrow season 4 episode 23 review: Schism Legends Of Tomorrow: exploring season 1’s cliffhanger ending Supergirl: Melissa Benoist talks season 1 cliffhanger, impending crossovers

I didn’t have access to SyFy (which was still going by Sci-Fi Channel back then) when The Lost Room aired, so I missed it. Turns out I wasn’t the only one -...

Brazilian actress Sonia Braga isn’t letting a little thing like age curb her carnal enthusiasm. On the surface, her latest movie, “Aquarius,” is about an aging woman who refuses to succumb to a formidable group of developers trying to force her out of her apartment. But, looking deeper, it’s the story of a woman who has remained powerful — and sexual — well into her years. “It’s too funny, because women of any age don’t lose their sexuality,” Braga told TheWrap’s Steve Pond. Also Read: 'Aquarius' Cannes Review: Sonia Braga Stubbornly Stays Sexy in Her...

Comedy set in 1984 centres on ambitious intern who must convince Reagan he is playing the Us president in a movie, after the politician is affected by Alzheimer’s

Will Ferrell will star as Ronald Reagan in a comedy about the Us president’s lapse into dementia during his second term in 1985, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Related: Ferrell to be Reagan and Golden Years reviewed – the Dailies film podcast

Continue reading...

Comedy set in 1984 centres on ambitious intern who must convince Reagan he is playing the Us president in a movie, after the politician is affected by Alzheimer’s

Will Ferrell will star as Ronald Reagan in a comedy about the Us president’s lapse into dementia during his second term in 1985, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Related: Ferrell to be Reagan and Golden Years reviewed – the Dailies film podcast

Continue reading...

The Guardian film team’s round-up of Thursday’s movie news

Your daily update of the latest news and reviews from the Guardian film team. Now showing: can Will Ferrell win our vote when playing Ronald Reagan in a new political satire? Plus a review of British bank-robbing comedy Golden Years.

Follow us on Twitter (GuardianFilm, Henry, Ben, Catherine, Andrew and producer Rowan) and check out our Facebook page. Comment on the show below.

Continue reading...

This spring brings Richard Linklater's "Everybody Wants Some!!,"the coming-of-age “spiritual sequel” to “Dazed And Confused.” But it isn’t the season’s only tale of young love and dawning maturity. The latest film from Arnaud Desplechin, “My Golden Years,” stars newcomers Quentin Dolmaire and Lou Roy-Lecollinet as a pair of teen lovers navigating a long-distance relationship in late-'80s France, soundtracked by pop songs of the era. “My Golden Years” is in fact a prequel (of sorts) to Desplechin’s 1996 movie “My Sex Life...Or How I Got Into an Argument.” The two films are distinct enough to stand on their own, however. The ’96 effort starred Mathieu Amalric as romantically challenged Paul Dedalus. While Amalric appears briefly in the new film, Dolmaire ably takes on the role of young Dedalus as he navigates difficult familial and romantic territory, and even experiences some low-key espionage. Read More: Cannes Review:...

Big winners also included Oscar nominee Mustang and local box office hit Margurite.

Philippe Faucon’s contemporary immigrant drama Fatima won best film at France’s César ceremony in Paris on Friday, beating hot favourites Marguerite, My Golden Years, and Oscar nominee Mustang as well as Palme d’Or winner Dheepan.

The picture — based on the semi-autobiographical works of Fatima Elayoubi about an illiterate North African woman adapting to life in France — also won Césars for best upcoming actress for Zita Hanot and best adaptation for Faucon.

As was the case last year, when Abderrahmane Sissako’s timely exploration of Islamic extremism of Timbuktu swept the board, the votes of 4,276-strong César academy appear to have been influenced in part by events in France, which like many countries across Europe is preoccupied with immigration and the reality of its ethnic minorities.

Other winners on Friday night included foreign language Oscar nominee Mustang and local box office hit [link...

As expected, at Friday night's Cesar awards in Paris, Philippe Faucon’s “Fatima,” about a single mother emigre from Morrocco raising a family and working as a maid, took home three prizes: Best Film, Breakout Actress and Adapted Screenplay. Like Jacques Audiard's Cannes winning "Dheepan" (which was nominated for several awards but went home empty-handed), the movie resonates with the immigrant issues straining Europe right now. Kino Lorber will release the film stateside. Best Female Newcomer went to the film's Zita Hanrot. Catherine Frot took home Best Actress for Xavier Giannoli’s “Marguerite.” While French Oscar entry “Mustang” lost Best Picture, the Deniz Gamze Ergüven film won won four other awards: First Film, Original Screenplay, Music and Editing. Arnaud Desplechin won Best Director for Cannes director's Fortnight entry “My Golden Years.” Cannes-winner Vincent Lindon also won Best Actor for Stephane Brize’s “The Measure of a...

My Golden Days is Arnaud Desplechin’s follow-up to Jimmy P. (2013) and a prequel to his debut My Sex Life… Or How I Got into an Argument (1996). Followers of The Criterion Collection recognize 2009’s A Christmas Tale as his lone entry in the collection so far is. My Golden Days is a coming of age film as we perceive Paul during his adolescent years surviving his emotionally fraught mother and meeting the love of his life, Esther. We identify with his family dysfunction and passionate romantic relationship as most of us have experienced some measure of each. The film considers the nature of memory how events forgotten can return and the permanence of formative memories.

Paul shows an early strong desire for Esther as she remains knowing and aloof. The audience feels the power of beauty. Paul’s sister, Delphine, believes she is not appealing whereas Esther is all too...

Oscar-nominated film also a front-runner in Cesars.

Franco-Turkish director Deniz Gamze Erguven’s debut feature Mustang scored a hat-trick at the Lumière awards — France’s equivalent to the Golden Globes — on Monday evening (Feb 8).

The Oscar-nominated picture clinched prizes for best film and best first film while its young cast – Güneş Nezihe Şensoy, Doğa Zeynep Doğuşlu, Elit Işcan, Tuğba Sunguroğlu and Ilayda Akdoğan - shared the best female discovery prize.

The coming-of-age tale about five sisters growing up under the thumb of a strict and conservative grandmother and uncle, is in the foreign language Oscar race and also heavily nominated in France’s upcoming Césars awards [Feb 26].

Some 600 guests from the world of cinema attended the 21st edition of the awards ceremony at the Espace Pierre Cardin at which actress Isabelle Huppert was also honoured.

Arnaud Desplechin won the best director award for My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs De Ma Jeunesse).

Like...

The more “international” body of tastemaker critics have anointed Todd Haynes’ Carol, Hou Hsaio-Hsien’s The Assassin, George Miller’s Mad Max, Sean Baker’s Tangerine and Bruno Dumont’s Li’l Quinquin as the better film items for 2015 and top vote getters with the most noms for 2016 Ics Awards. Winners of the 13th Ics Awards will be announced on February 21, 2016. Here are the noms and all the categories.

Picture

• 45 Years

• Arabian Nights

• The Assassin

• Carol

• Clouds of Sils Maria

• The Duke of Burgundy

• Inside Out

• Li’l Quinquin

• Mad Max: Fury Road

• A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

• Tangerine

Director

• Sean Baker – Tangerine

• Bruno Dumont – Li’l Quinquin

• Todd Haynes – Carol

• Hou Hsaio-Hsien – The Assassin

• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

Film Not In The English Language

• Amour Fou

• Arabian Nights

• The Assassin

• Hard to Be a God

• Jauja

• La Sapienza

• Li’l Quinquin

• Phoenix

• A...

Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Oscar-nominated Mustang also among nominated titles.Scroll down for list of nominations

Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs De Ma Jeunesse) and Xavier Giannoli’s Marguerite topped the nominations list for France’s annual César Awards, announced this morning (Jan 27).

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations for the 41st edition of the awards at its annual news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs Elysées.

Desplechin’s romantic drama My Golden Days clocked 11 nominations as did Giannoli’s Marguerite, starring Catherine Frot as a society singer with a terrible voice.

Other features picking up multiple nominations included Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan and Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Mustang, which both secured nine nods.

There was widespread consternation last year in some quarters of the French film industry when five times Palme d’Or nominee Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Years was not given a Competition...