Festival de Cannes 2012 - Part 2

I continue following the most interesting premieres and other events of this year's Cannes Film Festival. This post will tell you what happened on 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th days in a beautiful French city, where the weather played some evil tricks, causing downpours and even roof collapses.

Read about Days 1, 2, 3 of the 65th Cannes Film Festival!

One of the surprises of those days was a film about a section of the Los Angeles County Jail reserved for homosexuals, AIDS patients and transsexuals. This drama is called "K-11", and is directed by Jules Mann-Stewart, Kristen Stewart's mother. It sounds like a hard story, which definitely shouldn't be mistaken with a 1990s comedy "K-911", starring James Belushi.

Brad Pitt arrived to present his latest thriller "Killing Them Softly". I was hoping to see him and Angelina Jolie on the red carpet, but it wasn't meant to be. He was there along director Andrew Dominik, who has almost the same hairstyle and beard as Pitt, and it makes them look like brothers. By the way, this film has been already named "this year's Drive", which makes me even more excited to see it!

Another film I'm anxious to see is "Lawless". It was presented by the whole crew, including Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke, who play three brothers with a dangerous bootlegging business. They say Hardy was in a great mood, joking and telling about funny behind-the-scenes moments. Director John Hillcoat told the journalists that this films was inspired partly by Sergio Leone's westerns.



23-years-old director Xavier Dolan traditionally presented his third film at the Cannes Film Festival. His "Laurence Anyways" is 3-hours long love story between a man and a woman, which becomes even more complicated after the first one decides to change his sex. His previous works, "J'ai tué ma mère" and "Les amours imaginaires", were highly appreciated at this Festival. This time there was a standing ovation for 5 minutes after its premiere.



Michael Haneke has already got 7 prizes from Cannes, ans his new drama "Amour" may bring him another one. It turns out to be very touching, many journalists were in tears after they watched it. This film is about love of two old people. The wife is dying and husband tries to comfort her, while their daughter insists to put her mother into the nursing home. It has to be also heartbreaking, so all critics loved it so far!



There will be another post about a few last days of the 65th Cannes Film Festival, and a few entries while I will watch the closing ceremony!

Ian McKellen in Pet Shop Boys' music video "Heart"

Many famous actors and actresses starred in some music videos - Halle Berry starred in Limp Bizkit's version of "Behind Blue Eyes"; Angelina Jolie was great in "Did My Time" by Korn; Macaulay Culkin, Chris Tucker, Danny Glover and many others appeared in Michael Jackson's clips; and you can see Robert Downey Jr. in "I Want Love" by Elton John.

But I was so surprised when I noticed that the Vampire from one music video of Pet Shop Boys looks like Ian McKellen. And it turns out to be him! I like his image of an old and noble vampire, who knows how to hypnotize a young pretty girl.

Angelina Jolie for "Newsweek" (December 2011)

This new photo set of Angelina Jolie is gorgeous! I always like black-and-white pictures, but if it's pictures of Angelina, I like them even more. I'm a bit sad that I can't buy this "Newsweek" issue, where she discusses her upcoming film, but it inspired me to make my own wallpaper for my desktop.

Angelina was photographed by Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello. Visit their website to view more beautiful pictures.

Her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey", is going to be shown in limited cinemas since December 23.

Click on pic to enlarge it.

Does anyone know who is the photographer? Tell me please!

"In the Land of Blood and Honey" (2011) - Very original poster

If film poster is a face of the film, "In the Land of Blood and Honey" has to be both dramatic and beautiful. I'm so tired of poor, ugly and ridiculous posters with too much Photoshop that I almost gave up to see something fresh, catchy (but not annoying) and directly saying what about this film is going to be. But today I found this one.

War means blood, honey means love. Very symbolic.

I like its name, its trailer and now I name this poster the best I've seen this year. "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is definitely No. 1 on my waiting list.

Written and directed by Angelina Jolie.
Starring Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Rade Serbedzija.

Release date - December 23, 2011 (USA)

Click to watch "In the Land of Blood and Honey" trailer.

Poster - Total Film

"In the Land of Blood and Honey" (2011) - Trailer and thoughts

Last week was full of interesting news, but my favorite is a trailer release of Angelina Jolie's directorial debut. It has a beautiful and dramatic title "In the Land of Blood and Honey", there are no Hollywood stars and it's the first time, when this talented woman wrote the whole script and then spent many months directing it in Eastern Europe. Interesting fact is that the film was shot in English and the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian language, also known as BHS.

This story is about the Bosnian War, the loss and the big love. To be honest, this topic is very painful for those people, whose history it is. That is why some people say this film is a disregard of those, who died there.

A Serbian man and a young Bosnian-Muslim woman met each other and fell in love while there is a destruction and death everywhere. So their love is forbidden and fated. Main parts are played by local actors - Zana Marjanovic and Goran Kostic. You can also see there famous Rade Serbedzija, a former Yugoslavian actor, who started his career long time ago. His last part was in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" as the wandmaker Gregorovitch.

There is information that Angelina has already been a director of a documentary "A Place in Time", but did anybody see it? I think it was made for television in 2007. "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is more complicated and I hope it will be a great debut for her.

Release date - December 23, 2011 (USA)

Trailer



Do you like this trailer? Is it dramatic? Leave a comment below.

Two strangest Angelina Jolie films

It's probably two strangest short films set in the 90s, but I like both of them. Their stories are similar. One guy married an eccentric woman and does everything she asks. Even if he doesn't like it or it can be dangerous for his health or his life.

These films weren't the first Angelina Jolie starred in and she was just 18 years old while filming it. But she looks so powerful, beautiful and proud, so that I'm not surprised that her character has such great influence on this poor guy.

Every time I watch them, I always have a feeling that I see something very personal and intimate.

Directed by Steven Shainberg ("Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus", 2006).

"Alice and Viril"



"Angela and Viril"

Angelina Jolie's Journey to Cambodia

"A journey can be a great adventure."

I heard that Angelina Jolie became a new face of the Louis Vuitton’s campaign, but I never thought they would make it not just about fashion. Angelina traveled to Cambodia, where she with a group of talented people made a photo shoot and an inspiring video, which presents this country. Actress tells us about her first travel to Cambodia ten years ago, when she was staring in a film, and that she was shocked to hear she can't stand on another side of the waterfall, because it still hasn't been demined. She says that her dream has always been to cross the Sahara. Also Angelina shared a story about how she made a decision to adopt her first child Maddox. This video is incredibly relaxing with all beautiful views of nature and with sounds of birds, but it still can make you think about life, its meaning and how strong people have to be to survive the war and poverty.

About Louis Vuitton’s “Core Values” campaign:

 

Official site of this campaign - http://journeys.louisvuitton.com/

Full video of Angelina Jolie's Journey to Cambodia

Angelina Jolie - Memorable Quotes

I love her early movies (until that period, when Angelina began to star in meaningless action movies.) I adore her wildness and her kind heart. She is a great woman, who manages to be a wonderful mom, highly-paid actress and a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. One day she shines on the red carpet and another day she comforts the refugees. I like how she tries to enjoy the life and make something useful for people. So here is my list of her memorable quotes.

• "Honestly, I like everything, boyish girls, girlish boys, the heavy and the skinny." 

• "I think all women go through periods where we hate this about ourselves, we don't like that. It's great to get to a place where you dismiss anything you're worried about. I find flaws attractive. I find scars attractive." 

• "I am odd-looking. I sometimes think I look like a funny Muppet." 

• "I've realized that being happy is a choice. You never want to rub anybody the wrong way or not be fun to be around, but you have to be happy. When I get logical and I don't trust my instincts - Thats when I get in trouble." 

• "If I make a fool of myself, who cares? I'm not frightened by anyone's perception of me." 

• "I don't believe in guilt, I believe in living on impulse as long as you never intentionally hurt another person, and don't judge people in your life. I think you should live completely free." 

• "If you ask people what they've always wanted to do, most people haven't done it. That breaks my heart." 

• "When other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers I kind of wanted to be a vampire." 

• "Therapy? I don`t need that. The roles that I choose are my therapy." 

• "You`re young, you`re drunk, you`re in bed, you have knives; shit happens." 

• "Without pain, there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from over mistakes. To make it right, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, without it, there is no way of life." 

• "The truth is I love being alive. And I love feeling free. So if I can't have those things then I feel like a caged animal and I'd rather not be in a cage. I'd rather be dead. And it's real simple. And I think it's not that uncommon." 

• "If I think more about death than some other people, it is probably because I love life more than they do." 

• "Love one person, take care of them until you die. You know, raise kids. Have a good life. Be a good friend. And try to be completely who you are. And figure out what you personally love. And like go after it with everything you`ve got no matter how much it takes." 

• "Save one-third, live on one-third, and give away one-third" (about money)

Great Oscar speeches

Here are some of winner's speeches, which impressed me. In a couple minutes actors, actresses, directors, screenwriters etc. say one of the most important words in their lives. They say how thankful they are, how much they love their family, friends, movie crew and all Universe. They are incredible happy and so honest. Their speeches are very inspired and full of emotions. So watch and enjoy.

The Emotional One:
Cuba Gooding Jr. winning an Oscar - Best Supporting Actor, "Jerry Maguire" - 69th Annual Academy Awards®.

The Honest One:
Angelina Jolie winning Best Supporting Actress, "Girl Interrupted", at the 72nd Annual Academy Awards® in 2000.

The Feminine One (I watched it live and I was so impressed when she became the first woman director, who got Oscar):
Oscar to Kathryn Bigelow for Directing "The Hurt Locker" at the 82nd Academy Awards®.
ps Look how James Cameron reacts - he is so happy for his ex-wife.

The Epic One (I love this movie):
James Cameron and John Landeau accepting the Best Picture Oscar for "Titanic" - 70th Annual Academy Awards®.

The Manly One: 
The Best Picture Oscar for "Rocky" to Producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff - the 49th Annual Academy Awards® in 1977.

The Fairy One:
"The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King" to Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Barrie Osbourne - 76th Annual Academy Awards® in 2004.

The Nicest and Funniest One:
Sean Penn presenting Sandra Bullock with the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "The Blind Side," featuring Michael Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Stanley Tucci and Peter Saarsgard. 82nd Annual Academy Awards®.

Winner's speeches are always great. I am sure in this year winners would be also great. Can’t wait till the end of the next month? I’m so exited.