Great Movies
RogerEbert.com publisher Chaz Ebert's eighth and final video dispatch from the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, made with Scott Dummler of Mint Media Works, includes Justin Chang's reviews of Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis", Hlynur Pálmason's "Godland" and Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne's "Tori and Lokita", as well as a conversation with filmmaker Pamela Guest, who started SAG-AFTRA's Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee. This year's coverage is dedicated to two special people who left us too soon and who both loved movies, Ann Lautenslager and Taylor Long. The footage embedded below is followed by a transcript of the video...
The 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival is now history. I was unable to stay for the entire festival this year, but I would like to thank Scott Dummler, Bob Long and our correspondents Ben Kenigsberg, Jason Gorber, Lisa Nesselson and Isaac Feldberg for making sure that the show went on. I did manage to take in a few films before I left, most notably the Hollywood/Tom Cruise blockbuster, “Top Gun Maverick.”
This is one of those few movies that is making both the critics in Cannes and general audiences swoon. Cannes is known for its spectacle, but the screening of “Top Gun” was over the top. Sure, there was the usual star power on the red carpet, along with yours truly. But just as I was approaching the famous red steps, a squadron of air fighters zoomed over head. Everyone was left breathless, including the cast!
Justin Chang of The L.A. Times was kind enough to sit down with us and give his thoughts on a few notable films in the festival…
Of course, as you know by now, “Triangle of Sadness” won the coveted top prize: the Palme d’Or. This is the second Palme d’Or win for Swedish director Ruben Östlund, following his win in 2017 for “The Square.” “Triangle of Sadness” was picked up by Neon for distribution in North America, the same company that picked up the last two winners of the Palme d’Or, Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” and Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite”. No release date has been made public yet, but Östlund mentioned at the press conference that he may add additional scenes to the film for the theatrical release…
The Marche at this year’s Cannes was almost back to normal, after last year’s sparsely attended marketplace due to covid. Here’s a list of a few other notable sales that happened during the festival…
Over the last few years, I’ve have had the great pleasure to interview Pamela Guest, and her daughter Liz, about some of the projects they’ve been working on. If you recall, they both aspire to bring more substantive roles for women to Hollywood and the independent film scene. Pamela has also been a powerful voice at the forefront of the #MeToo movement. This year, she gave us a quick update on their current projects….
For a recap of all of the reports from Cannes go to rogerebert.com/festivals.
That’s all for now, but before we go, I wanted to dedicate our coverage to two special people who left us too soon and who both loved movies. First, Ann Lautenslager, a long time flight attendant for Northwest and Delta Airlines who passed away during Cannes. We recently went to see Come From Away about the flights that were diverted to Canada when American airspace was closed during 9/11. She said the people in the town of Gander and the flight attendants showed the best of humanity. And second, Taylor Long, the production assistant who was the son of our very own director of photography, Bob Long. Some of Taylor’s favorite films were “Road to Perdition,” “Brazil,” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” He had good taste in movies, and would have loved Cannes.
We hope to see you next year for the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Until then, au voir, and a bientot!
Chaz is the CEO of several Ebert enterprises, including the President of The Ebert Company Ltd, and of Ebert Digital LLC, Publisher of RogerEbert.com, President of Ebert Productions and Chairman of the Board of The Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, and Co-Founder and Producer of Ebertfest, the film festival now in its 22nd year.
