Grace of Monaco
Directed by Olivier Dahan (La vie en rose) and starring Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly, I have to be honest, this looked like another film with the same energy (or lack thereof) found in The Iron Lady. Even the five minutes of footage we were shown was redundant with Kelly searching for her freedom amidst a dispute between her husband, Monaco’s Prince Rainier III (Tim Roth), and France’s Charles De Gaulle over tax laws in the early 1960s.
We got a glimpse of Derek Jacobi as Count Fernando D’Aillieres, heard the voice of Frank Langella as Father Francis Tucker and only hints of Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Alfred Hitchcock as Kelly is offered the lead role in Hitch’s Marnie, a role that eventually landed in the hands of Tippi Hedren.
The footage shown wasn’t an outright disaster, but it was so hellbent on showing how the film was about Kelly’s serach for independence and a sense of self, I just hope the film has more going on.
Grace of Monaco is set for a December 27 release.
Only God Forgives
I didn’t want to watch it, but I couldn’t help myself as I looked down as the clip for Nicolas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives started to play, but as soon as I heard Kristin Scott Thomas turn to Rhatha Phongam‘s character Mai and ask, “How many cocks can you entertain with that cum dumpster of yours?” I couldn’t help but watch the rest.
The clip I’m talking about is actually already online and can be viewed below and it was the only clip/footage that evoked a response during the entire presentation. The group of press attending all laughed and many even clapped once the clip ended.
Only God Forgives plays the Cannes Film Festival on May 22 and there’s a reason it’s my most anticipated of the fest. I absolutely cannot wait to see this thing in the Palais.
The Grandmaster
All that was shown from Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster was the previously released teaser trailer.
One Chance
Directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada), One Chance is based on the story of Paul Potts (played by James Corden), the British tenor who won “Britain’s Got Talent”.
For the most part it looks like your average, uplifting human interest feature that will likely play better to an older crowd domestically, but given the setting perhaps could do well in the UK. A domestic release date has not yet been set.
Fruitvale Station
I already saw and Fruitvale Station so you can click here for my opinion on this one.
All that was shown was the trailer that many of you have already seen, though if you haven’t seen it yet I’d suggest you skip it altogether. Yeah, the story is already out there, but I don’t think you need to see it boiled down to 2:30 minutes and have the so much of the film ruined in the process. Just my two cents.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
The final bit of footage shown was for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom with Idris Elba in the starring role. Based on Nelson Mandela’s autobiography “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”, the film centers on the South African leader and President from 1994-95 and his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison.
Producer Anant Singh was on hand to promote the film and referred to it as the “rock star” version of the Mandela story, which just about fits the rap-infused trailer we saw. It’s hard to tell just what kind of film we’re going to be getting, but Elba looked good in the role and it certainly looks like a much different telling of the story than we’ve ever seen.
The film is currently set for a November 29 release.
