Indie News

The Notebook is covering Cannes with an on-going correspondence between critic Leonardo Goi and editor Daniel Kasman.JeanneDear Danny,The day I first met Bruno Dumont, a blistering hot August afternoon in a hotel perched atop the hills of Locarno, was also the day before production for his latest film, Jeanne (Joan of Arc), was due to kick off. A sequel to his 2017 Jeannette, a musical period-piece on the childhood of Joan of Arc which had world premiered in Cannes and had continued its festival tour with a bow in the Swiss Alps, Jeanne had big shoes to fill. Scored by French electro-musician Igorrr and choreographed by Philippe Decouflé, Jeannette dwelled into the formative years of the 15th century French martyr through the most unlikely—and original—rubric imaginable: heavy metal music. For a heroine incessantly dissected and celebrated by decades of cinema history (from Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for “Chernobyl” Episode 3, “Open Wide, O Earth.”]

“Chernobyl” is a show about the unpredictability of nature and the severity of ignoring the raw power of an unseen enemy. But with the overwhelming toll that this historical event takes on those caught in its grasp, the HBO series still finds room for some unexpected, conflicting emotions.

“There’s an absurdity that you have to kind of recognize. And the Soviets were better at it than anybody,” writer and creator Craig Mazin told IndieWire. “At some point, you just have this weird sixth sense as a writer that maybe it’s time for a break, that if I put one more log of sadness on this fire, everyone’s just going to get up and go home.”

“Chernobyl” director Johan Renck said that he bristled at the thought of people laughing at different points of levity in the series, but recognized that given

After two seasons as a face of the Showtime series “The Chi,” Jason Mitchell will not be returning to the series for Season 3. In addition, Deadline is reporting that serious misconduct allegations have prompted representatives at UTA to drop him as a client, and he has left the upcoming Netflix film, “Desperados,” as well. Mitchell’s departure from the film is reported as the first in what has quickly become a string of dismissals.

No additional details about the alleged misconduct have yet been confirmed, but the incident reportedly happened away from the film’s set.

Following his early exit from the film, Mitchell, who also appeared in the Dee Rees film “Mudbound” and the Nwa biopic “Straight Outta Compton,” was informed by producers on “The Chi” that he would not be asked to come back for the series’ third season. “The Chi,” created by Lena Waithe, was renewed for

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from Season 2 of “Fleabag,” including the finale.]

“This a love story,” Fleabag says into the camera in Season 2’s opening scene of Amazon’s eponymous series created by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Who or what the love story is about, however, is up for debate.

For most viewers, the central relationship between Fleabag and Priest (Andrew Scott) is the clear love story. Their chemistry is instant and electric, and she even leads him into temptation, prompting him to break his vow of celibacy. But in the end, despite the their feelings of rightness together, he sticks with God. Fleabag and Priest exchange “I love yous” at a bus stop, and then part ways.

“The most important thing about that scene is that we know they love each other. Now you understand something that you might’ve suspected about these two people watching them throughout the series,” said Andrew Scott. “I think what’s

Woody Allen has obtained U.S. distribution rights to “A Rainy Day in New York” from Amazon Studios, Variety reports. The studio produced the movie as part of its multi-project deal with the “Annie Hall” and “Midnight in Paris” Oscar winner and had plans to release it in theaters in late 2018 or 2019. The title was shelved indefinitely after Allen’s adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, brought her allegations of child molestation against the director back into the national spotlight in January 2018 as the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements were entering the mainstream.

“A Rainy Day in New York” stars Elle Fanning and Timothee Chalamet as a young couple who take a trip to New York City that threatens to tear their relationship apart. Fanning’s character runs off to interview a famous movie director, while Chalamet finds himself alone and stumbling onto the set of a student film. The supporting cast includes Jude Law,

“Frankie,” by the American writer-director Ira Sachs, is a tiny little trinket of a film. It’s like an elegant bracelet that’s modest enough to go unnoticed, but nevertheless reveals a quietly exquisite beauty to those who are willing to lean in and look closer (even if they have to squint). In other words, it’s an Ira Sachs movie, only more so. But in this one, that bracelet is being worn by Isabelle Huppert, and it fits on her wrist like a second skin.

Sachs has always been a storyteller who doesn’t create his characters so much as he observes them from a safe but intimate distance — watching them the way you might catch yourself staring at a stranger on a crowded subway train — and his recent movies have earned him a reputation for making gentle human dramas that seem more like snapshots than full-sized portraits; even

Get ready to add one more title to the ever-growing list of talking dog movies. 20th Century Fox has released the official trailer and teaser poster for Fox 2000’s upcoming “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” which is being billed as “a heartfelt tale narrated by a witty and philosophical dog.” The dog happens to be voiced by none other than Kevin Costner, and his human family includes the buzzy duo of Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried. The tagline? “Meet the dog who showed the world how to be a human.” If that doesn’t pique your interest, maybe you’re not…human?

The official synopsis reads: “Based on the best-selling novel by Garth Stein, ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ is a heartfelt tale narrated by a witty and philosophical dog named Enzo (Costner). Through his bond with his owner, Denny Swift (Milo Ventimiglia), an aspiring Formula One race car driver,

“Black Mirror” creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones have a busy summer coming up thanks to the Emmy campaign for the franchise’s interactive movie “Bandersnatch” and the June debut of the Netflix anthology series’ fifth season. Brooker and Jones recently joined Deadline for a conversation about “Bandersnatch” but couldn’t help but tease that a musical episode of the sci-fi series could be in the cards at a later date.

When the Deadline reporter Joe Utichi could not remember whether or not “Black Mirror” had already done a musical episode, Brooker responded, “No, but I’m delighted to know that you nearly think we might have done one. There’s room for everything. Sometimes that’s how we come up with ideas — we sort of go, ‘What would be the ‘Black Mirror’ version of a musical episode?’ And that prompts a conversation that sometimes ends up with something very different.

To hear Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider interact, you’d think they were related. After watching the former “Saturday Night Live” co-head writers’ Comedy Central series “The Other Two,” you’d be convinced the pair were brother and sister. But the truth is that Kelly and Schneider are just that sympatico, all thanks to their friendship forged in the fires of the “SNL” writers room back in 2011.

Their series, featuring two twenty-something siblings Cary and Brooke (brilliantly realized by Drew Carver and Heléne Yorke) floundering in their attempts to secure successful adulthood — only to be surpassed by their 13-year-old younger brother Chase’s (Case Walker) sudden YouTube fame — tells such a hilarious, if specific, story that it seems inevitable to assume that the story is ripped from the headlines of Kelly and Schneider’s lives.

And you wouldn’t be all wrong. “Usually it’s a story we’ve told 30,000 times because we like it,

McG is a filmmaker that gained a lot of notoriety in the first part of the 21st century, with his “Charlie’s Angels” films and his “Terminator: Salvation” reboot-quel. Though the latter might not be seen as a shining moment in his career. However, in recent years, the director has found himself finding new success in the realm of streaming, with two Netflix films (“The Babysitter” and the upcoming “Rim of the World”).

Continue reading McG Has James Cameron’s Blessing & Is Developing A ‘True Lies’ Series For Disney+ at The Playlist.

The style of filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne has shifted over the years, moving further away from the shattering realism that earned them Palme d’Ors for “Rosetta” and “The Child.” Fourteen years after the latter win, and in the running for their third Palme at the Cannes Film Festival, the Dardenne brothers turn their camera toward the world of Islamic fundamentalism with “Young Ahmed,” a compact, gripping return to the directors’ nonprofessional roots.

Continue reading ‘Young Ahmed’: Jean-Pierre And Luc Dardenne Deliver A Gripping Look At Religious Fundamentalism [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

It was already a foregone conclusion that last night’s “Game of Thrones” series finale would be the most-watched episode of the year. Each episode leading up to the finale had earned HBO record viewership, and last night was no exception. However, instead of breaking its own viewership records, ‘Thrones’ set an all-time HBO record, dethroning “The Sopranos.”

Read More: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Series Finale: The Game Comes To An Unsatisfying End In ‘The Iron Throne’ [Recap]

Today, HBO announced that 19.4 million people tuned into the series finale of “Game of Thrones” last night, including those who watched on the network, as well as the HBO Go and HBO Now streaming platforms.

Continue reading ‘Game Of Thrones’ Series Finale Scored All-Time Best Viewership For HBO, Beating 17-Year-Old ‘Sopranos’ Record at The Playlist.

Since her memorable breakout role in “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” rocked Sundance in 2015, British actress Olivia Cooke has filled her resume with a bevy of highbrow and intriguing projects. In 2017, she returned to Sundance in Cry Finley’s “Thoroughbreds,” where she was electric as a troubled Connecticut rich girl with an axe to grind. She also landed a plum role in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” and thrilled critics with her portrayal of ambitious and scheming Becky Sharp in the latest TV mini-series of William Makepeace Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair.”

Now, she takes on another mature and intense role in Wayne Roberts’ feature directorial debut, “Katie Says Goodbye.” The film follows a small town waitress who is mistreated by nearly everyone in her life — from her abusive mother (a terrifying Mireille Enos) to a seemingly never-ending string of men who pay her for sexual acts — but

If you’re someone who pays attention to Us politics, then you’re likely to already be aware of the controversial “heartbeat” bill that is making its way through Georgia legislation. The anti-choice bill would deem it a criminal offense to receive an abortion as early as six weeks after conception. Many experts say that this would account for almost every abortion scenario. As you might imagine, any new law or restriction surrounding women’s reproductive rights tends to ignite a fiery debate.

Continue reading Georgia Governor Scoffs At “C-List Celebrities” Threatening To Boycott The State Due To Controversial Abortion Law at The Playlist.

Season 2 of “Star Trek: Discovery” ambitiously played with the franchise’s multiverse through a series of dramatic interactions between the crews of the Discovery and Enterprise as they solved the mystery of The Red Angel threat from the future. And the centerpiece was the re-appearance of Anson Mount as original Enterprise captain Christopher Pike and Ethan Peck as a troubled young Spock dealing with his Vulcan/human identity crisis.

The highlight, though, was the surprising callback to the original series pilot, “The Cage,” in the form of a recap to the opening of the episode “If Memory Serves,” a semi-sequel in which they returned to Talos IV to heal fugitive Spock from his memory block. However, utilizing footage from the original series (Tos) provided additional editorial and visual effects challenges.

After editor Scott Gamzon cut the episode, he was approached by executive producer-director Olatunde Osunsanmi about utilizing Tos footage for

[Editor’s note: The following post contains spoilers for “Game of Thrones” Season 8.]

The final season of “Game of Thrones” proved to be the most polarizing run of episodes the show has ever seen. Each week a different plot twist or story development provoked outrage from “Thrones” fans, whether it was Arya losing her virginity to Gendry, Missandei being executed by Cersei, or Daenerys burning King’s Landing to the ground. The backlash resulted in an online petition requesting a Season 8 remake. The petition, which blasted “Thrones” creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff as “incompetent writers,” went viral with over 1.2 million signatures and counting. In a post-finale interview with The New York Times, Sophie Turner put the petition on blast.

“All of these petitions and things like that — I think it’s disrespectful to the crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years, and for 11 months shooting the last season,” Turner said. “Like 50-something night shoots.

Like many international filmmakers, South Korea’s Bong Joon-ho has flirted with the American film industry a number of times. While he has yet to sign on for some sort of big-budget tentpole superhero film, the filmmaker has earned a sizeable following outside of his home country, thanks to his strong filmography. And according to Bong, he’s definitely had the chance to tackle something much bigger outside of South Korea, if he was willing to.

Continue reading Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho Says He Turned Down ‘World War Z’ & Talks “Conflict” With Harvey Weinstein Over ‘Snowpiercer’ at The Playlist.

It’s always a bit unnerving when a filmmaker takes almost three years in post-production to finish a film. Usually, this sort of long post-production process indicates some sort of problem with the film, and perhaps is foreshadowing an unsatisfying finished product. But with Terrence Malick and his recent Cannes premiere, “A Hidden Life,” that doesn’t seem to be the case, at all. In fact, the buzz surrounding the film reached such a fever pitch after its premiere, Fox Searchlight spent a ton of money just to secure the distribution rights.

Continue reading Fox Searchlight Buys Distribution Rights For Terrence Malick’s ‘A Hidden Life’ In A Massive Deal at The Playlist.

**Spoiler Alert: Last night’s “Game of Thrones” finale will be discussed in detail below.**

As was written in last night’s episode recap, the moment when it’s revealed that the Lords and Ladies of Westeros were going to elect Bran as the new King of the Six (formerly Seven) Kingdoms, you could almost sense the collective eye-roll from fans all around the world. Not that Bran is a terrible character (even though some would argue he is), but the fact that through all the seasons, all the death, all the destruction, the series ends with Bran on the throne is a bit…underwhelming and confusing.

Continue reading ‘Game Of Thrones’ Finale: Bran Actor Thought Character’s Ending Was A “Joke” When He Read It, Echoing Many Fans’ Sentiments Exactly at The Playlist.

[Editors’ note: The following post contains spoilers for the “Game of Thrones” series finale, “The Iron Throne.”]

The Iron Throne was officially destroyed by dragon fire in the series finale of “Game of Thrones,” but that didn’t mean a new leader of the Six Kingdoms wouldn’t be named. Following the death of Daenerys Targaryen and the imprisonment of her murderer, Jon Snow, the surviving leaders of Westeros joined Tyrion in King’s Landing to figure out who should rule Westeros. In a surprise move, the honor went to none other than Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright). Tyrion proposed the idea, saying Bran had a story the people of Westeros would believe in. Bran made Tyrion his hand and agreed to let Sansa rule over an independent North (hence the Seven Kingdoms are now the Six Kingdoms).

“When I got to the [Dragonpit scene] in the last episode and they’re like, ‘What about Bran?’ I had to get up and pace around the room,