20 | May | 2014 | Through the Shattered Lens

Speaking of Cannes, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher has also been shown at the festival and it got a far more positive reaction than Lost River. Below is the teaser that was released to coincide with its Cannes premiere.

I think everyone is pretty much assuming that both Foxcatcher and Steve Carell are going to be nominated for Oscars. The big question, right now, seems to be rather Mark Ruffalo or Channing Tatum will join the list of nominees. I’m also going to be keeping an eye on Vanessa Redgrave, who has a small role as Carell’s mother. After all, a Redgrave nomination would be a chance for the Academy to honor a respected actress who might not be appearing in many more films.

(As well, it would be a perfect excuse to get Franco Nero to come to the ceremony!)

As for the trailer below — if nothing else, this movie looks intense. It’s interesting to see Carell in such a dark role but I fully believe that he’s capable of pulling it off.

Here is the teaser clip for Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River, which was released ahead of the film’s premiere at Cannes.

So far, the majority of the reviews out of Cannes have been mixed. The film has been called self-indulgent, incoherent, and pretentious and, perhaps worst of all, it has been compared by more than one reviewer to Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales.

Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian, a reviewer whose opinion I usually respect, writes: “Ryan Gosling’s Lost River is a conceited clunker – and yet there are great images and mad energy.” That gave me some hope — I can forgive self-indulgence if it’s at least interesting to watch. But then Jeff Wells had to pop up and start comparing it to Beasts of the Southern Wild. As usual, Sasha Stone over at Awards Daily has some very strong feelings about the film, despite the fact that — as she readily admits — she hasn’t actually seen it. (But Sasha’s so much smarter than the rest of us common people, so who are we to question her, right?)

Well, as you can probably guess, I don’t care what the critics think or say. I’m still going to see it and judge it for myself. Not only is the film directed by Ryan Gosling but it also stars three of my favorite actresses — Eva Mendes, Saoirse Ronan, and Barbara Steele. Dr. Who fans will be happy to see Matt Smith while those of you who enjoy Agents of SHIELD can get a chance to apparently see a new side of Iain De Caestecker.

As for the teaser below — well, who knows what the Hell’s going on? But aren’t you just a little bit intrigued to find out?