Festivities at the 2022 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL are taking flight, literally! TOP GUN: MAVERICK has brought Tom Cruise to the Festival and fighter jets leaving a trail in the colours of the French flag in the skies, got everyone pumped!

Cruise even got honoured with a surprise Palme d’Or for his contributions to Cinema, in addition to a ten-minute reel celebrating his carrer being shown. The Hollywood Megastar spoke at the Tribute held in his honour at Debussy Theatre, and our Amanda Gilmore was there.

Some key statements from Cruise at the In-Conversation.

On why Cruise wanted to get into acting.
Cruise: “I would save my money and go to the Movies. And, suddenly I am 18 years old … and suddenly I’m making Taps. I’m on a Movie Set for the first time. I’m 18 years old. It was my second audition and I got the role. I never went to a film school.”.

On Film Sets Being His Film School
Cruise: “I went to every department and studied every department. That has been my education throughout.”.

On Viewing a Film In Cinema
Cruise: “Cinema is my love. My passion. I sit in the audience with everyone…I come in early…I watch the commercials and trailers.”.

On Working with Cast And Crew Members
Cruise: “The best thing you can do is study every aspect of the art form. All of these elements and thing that we are striving for…I wanna hear your story what do you think this Movie is…I have to tell them this isn’t my Movie this is our Movie.”.

On Watching a Tribute Reel which Cannes Put Together of His Filmography
Cruise: “I have a thing where I remember every take. I remember everything. It’s wild seeing this reel by the way. It’s like your life in 10 minutes! It’s very trippy.”.

On Following Your Dreams
Cruise: “I was interested in adventure in life. It’s possible even if others said it’s impossible. I held onto my dream and thought maybe it is possible.”.

“It is better to create. Even if you fail. I always try to walk away with what I learned. It’s always better to go for it. Then to not do it. Ask the question and don’t be afraid.”.

Some highlights from the event:

Also, some sightings from the Premiere of Michel Hazanavicius‘ Zombie Comedy-Horror FINAL CUT.

Keep checking daily for updates throughout the Festival. Amanda‘s Review of FINAL CUT is here.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Amanda Gilmore)

The 2022 Cannes Film Festival, now in its 75th edition, has officially begun and we’re so thrilled to be a part of the festivities this year! Our Amanda Gilmore is on-foot out on the French Riviera as the Festival runs today through May 28, 2022.

Canada certainly is making its presence felt and even has its own Festival Village! Canada Tent set-up, the Pavillion having been absent for two years. Our Country is represented by CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (David Cronenberg) – which also will be getting a Canadian Premiere in June at TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX – and FALCON LAKE (Charlotte Le Bon).

Academy Award winner Forrest Whitaker in addition to producing Documentary For the Sake of Peace, is receiving an honourary Palme d’Or as well. He says this is the first time he has ever felt internationally-recognized as an Artist!

The Festival’s Jury Conference featured some deep talent with names like Deepika Padukone, Rebecca Hall, Noomi Rapace, Jasmine Trinca, Asghar Farhadi, Ladj Ly, Jeff Nichols and Joachim Trier.

Some key quotes from the Panel conducted in both French and English. A recurring theme with the Jury is their humility and love of Cinema, helping spotlight talent versus “judging” and “critiquing”, which is refreshing.

Noomi Rapace: “It’s a dream come true. Thank you. Thank you for having me.”.

Rebecca Hall: “Not here was no hesitation it was obviously a tremendous honour.”. On bring a Juror, the Actress/Director says, “I don’t like the word judge…There is a huge responsibility, but also a creative responsibility.”.

Deepika Padukone: “We made a promise to each other that we won’t burden ourselves with the responsibility.”. The Bollywood icon tells the room, “Cinema is such a powerful tool and medium it has the ability to impact people’s lives.”.

Joachim Trier: “Together we will have some really interesting and difficult conversations.”. The Director of acclaimed THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD also reveals, “I’m looking forward to watching 21 movies.”.

Jeff Nichols: “I once waited tables at the American Pavilion and someone tipped me a ticket and I was blown-away by how beautifully this Festival honours Filmmakers.”. Nichols, excited like Trier about seeing some movies says, “I guarantee you I will watch every single one of these films with the same energy and awe as when I was 21. “.

A view of the Grand Auditorium Louis Lumière Red Carpet:

The famed Theatre Debussy Red Carpet:

TOP GUN: MAVERICK also will get is eagerly-awaited Premiere tomorrow night. See this amazing installation set-up to celebration the Blockbuster!

Bookmark this link and check daily as we will be bringing you your latest Reviews from Cannes!

So excited to deliver you our coverage on the world stage!

(Photo credit: Amanda GIlmore for Mr. Will Wong)

The 2022 Cannes Film Festival kicks-off Tuesday, May 18, 2022 and runs till Saturday, May 28, 2022. This will be our first official year at the Festival as our Amanda Gilmore will be on the French Riviera covering the Festival!

Returning to its traditional May slot, the Festival serves as a major precursor to what we might see Awards Season later this year. But timed perfectly, some huge Blockbusters like TOP GUN: MAVERICK and Baz Luhrmann‘s ELVIS will be getting their chance to premiere before the world. Many eyes will be on Openight Night film Michel Hazanavicius’ FINAL CUT, David Cronenberg’s Athens-filmed CRIMES OF THE FUTURE and Closing Night selection SHOWING UP from Director Kelly Reichardt.

Amanda previews for us her six-most eagerly-anticipated titles of the Festival.

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

Canada’s David Cronenberg is finally back at Cannes and is bringing Kristen Stewart, Lea Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen with him. Crimes of the Future takes place in the not-so-distant future where the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. In a recent interview, Cronenberg said he’s expecting walkouts at the Festival screenings. This only makes us want to see it more! It will compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or.

DECISION TO LEAVE

After spending some time making television, Director Park Chan-wook has returned to Film with Decision to Leave. It’s a mystery thriller that follows a detective who falls for a widow after she becomes the prime suspect in his latest murder investigation. We are fans of Chan-wook’s prior films such as Oldboy and Stoker. We can’t wait to see what he’s got up his sleeve for Decision to Leave. It will compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or.

ELVIS

We have been waiting for this biopic of Elvis Presley for some time now after production was halted at the beginning of the pandemic. Finally, it will be having its world premiere at the Festival and we couldn’t be happier. Baz Luhrmann is bringing his dazzling direction to the Rock Legend’s life and he’s assembled quite the cast. We can’t wait to see Austin Butler become the man himself and Tom Hanks’ portrayal of his manager Colonel Tom Parker.

THE SILENT TWINS

This Film tells the true, eerie story of twin sisters who were entirely silent, communicating only with each other as children. As teenagers, they became obsessed with writing fiction, then with teenage boys, and finally, with crime. It’s Written and Directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska and stars Letitia Wright as both sisters. It will screen in-competition for the Un Certain Regard Award.

THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING

Writer-Director George Miller is returning to Cannes for this Fantasy Romance starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. It follows a lonely scholar on a trip to Istanbul who discovers a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. What she wants is love, but can and should he grant it to her? We can’t wait to see what epic journey Miller brings us on this time.

WAR PONY

Actress Riley Keogh is making her Director Debut with War Pony. She Co-Directs with Gina Gammell and the Film is based on real events. It follows the interlocking stories of three Lakota men living on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The three tales explore the concept of belonging: a child belonging to a family, a man belonging to “America,” and an elder belonging to his Tribe. It will screen in-competition for the Un Certain Regard Award.

Stay tuned for our coverage and bookmark this link for updated Reviews and coverage!

Umm… can we go to Cannes? The lineup for the prestigious Film Festival has been revealed and this year 49 titles from 28 countries will be making their way to the Croisette May 11-12, 2016.  The Festival is seen as a precursor to some of the Films that will be seen Awards Season as contenders and also in our City, TIFF this September?

Among the highlights are Woody Allen‘s latest, Café Society, which re-teams once again Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg. The Film is about a young man in the ’30s who goes to Paris looking to work in Film, but he falls in love and is swept away by the café society. It opens the Festival.

Unlike other years, no Closing Night Film was announced. Like TIFF, they will re-screen the winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or.

American Honey from Andrea Arnold (Transparent), is a British Film about a group of young people who travel the U.S. selling magazine subscriptions and the antics they get into. Shia Labeouf and Riley Keough star.

Elle is the latest from Paul Verhoeven (Showgirls, Basic Instinct) and it centers around a video game company executive who gets attacked in her own home. She devotes her energies into finding her assailant and what results is much like an unpredictable video game.

Canada is well-represented by festival darling Xavier Dolan‘s latest, It’s Only the End of the World. It centers on a man who returns home to tell his family he’s dying. It stars Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard and Léa Seydoux.

Visionary Pedro Almodóvar returns to the festival circuit with his latest Julieta, which follows the life of a woman on the verge of madness and her life 30 years prior when things were grand.

Loving from Jeff Nichols follows an interracial couple who go to prison for being in love in 1958. Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton star.

Jim Jarsmusch returns with his latest, Paterson, about a bus driver who dabbles in poetry. Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Adam Driver stars.

Sean Penn directs The Last Face, starring Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem, both aid workers who fall in love in a war-torn Liberia.

Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) returns with The Handmaiden, about an heiress who falls for a thief.

Nicolas Winding Refn is developing a reputation for stylish, unconventional and polarizing Films and he returns with The Neon Demon, starring Elle Fanning as a supermodel whom is preyed upon by her rivals.

Personal Shopper stars Kristen Stewart as a young woman working as a shopper for a celebrity. Olivier Assayas directs.

Screening out of competition, meaning they are not competing for the Palme d’Or, are Jodie Foster‘s New York-filmed Money Monster starring Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Jack O’Connell. Steven Spielberg‘s eagerly-awaited Roald Dahl adaptation, The BFG also premieres. The Nice Guys by Shane Black, stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe – a pair of almost-cops who bend the rules surrounding a missing girl’s investigation.

(Photo credit: Warner Bros.)

In celebration of her glorious Best Actress win in Cannes yesterday, here is the Trailer for David Cronenberg‘s gripping MAPS TO THE STARS, starring Julianne Moore. Filmed between Toronto and Los Angeles, this Thriller follows a Hollywood Family chasing fame and Celebrity. Moore‘s performance as a desperate, aging Actress has has singled-out early as the performance to look-out for this forthcoming Awards Season. Expect this to debut in a grand way this September at TIFF ’14!

Watch the Red-Band Trailer below:

Mr. Will and The Cast of Maps to the Stars:

eOne Films release MAPS TO THE STARS.

(Photo/video credit: eOne Films)

The Stars began to descend upon Toronto for the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival today and although some of the Actors to arrive don’t see their Movies for a few days, they just couldn’t resist enjoying our City a bit more than work permits!

Daniel Brühl is definitely a name to look out for TIFF ’13 with two Marquee Titles at the Festival this year including Opening Night Gala The Fifth Estate, premiering tonight at two venues.  Unfortunately there have been no sightings yet of his brilliant Co-Star Benedict Cumberbatch still. This weekend he also will be here to present Ron Howard‘s RUSH, in which he stars as Formula 1 Driver Niki Lauda. The Actor was low-key, signing a couple Autographs, telling Fans he’ll greet them over the course of the week during TIFF Festivities.

Rising Star Paul Dano is a major force at TIFF ’13 also, here to present Thriller Prisoners in which he stars alongside Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal as a Suspect involved in the disappearance of two young Girls.  He also will be promoting Oscar Contender 12 Years a Slave from Director Steve McQueen, boasting an equally stellar Cast of Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Sarah Paulson and Chiwetel Ejiofor.  Dano was seen with the aid of cane and sans Girlfriend Actress Zoe Kazan, who also will be here this weekend for Romantic-Comedy, The F Word in which she stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe.

Although he’s not here for TIFF ’13 per say, Hugh Dancy and his Wife Claire Danes certainly are no strangers to the Festival, having visited many a time in the past for it.  Dancy is back in Toronto (Baby Cyrus in tow) to prep for the forthcoming second season of Hannibal.  I spotted Co-Star Mads Mikkelsen earlier today working out in my Building even!

One of the Films premiering at TIFF ’13 with the most buzz certainly is Blue is the Warmest Colour, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this past May.  The Lesbian-theme French Drama stars an impeccably-talented Duo of Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos.  Although both resisted Fans a bit, eventually they gave way taking Photos and signing Autographs.  The Duo premiere their Film at TIFF tonight.

Ahh, my favourite Snap thus far!  I love Jake Gyllenhaal and it always is a pleasure seeing him.  The Actor, who stars in two Films at the Festival, Prisoners and Toronto-filmed Enemy, arrived in Toronto from New York City a couple days early and will be hard at work through the weekend in support of both Thrillers.  The former is gaining lots of Oscar buzz already after a strong showing at the Telluride Film Festival.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Definitely one of the Films we’re most stoked about this year, Sofia Coppola‘s (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides) The Bling Ring soon will see its release, after making a splash in Cannes! See what Critics are raving about already here.  I saw it earlier this week and agree, it’s one of this Summer’s best.

And there couldn’t be a better fit than right here with all my Celebrity-obsessed Readers! Mr. Will Wong & eOne Films are thrilled to give you all a chance to attend Advance Screenings of The Bling Ring across Canada!   Screenings take place at the following venues on Wednesday, June 19, 2013:

The Docu-Drama based on true events, centers around a group of Teens who mastermind the burglary of several Celebrities. Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Leslie Mann, Taissa Farmiga, Katie Chang and Emma Watson star.

See the amazing Trailer below:

Okay, to enter simply click “like” on this Post at Mr. Will Wong on Facebook. Double your chances by sharing this Post on Facebook or Re-Tweeting the below:

http://www.mrwillwong.com/blingring @MRWILLW wants us to #win Advance Screening Passes to #TheBlingRing, by #SofiaCoppola across Canada. RT to enter!

Good luck. Your deadline is Friday, June 14, 2013.

If that weren’t enough, one lucky Reader gets a Deluxe THE BLING RING Prize Pack including Poster, Soundtrack and Book!  Get it, Wongsters!

eOne Films releases The Bling Ring in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax, Victoria on June 21, 2013.

(Photo/video credit: A24/eOne Films)

Kristin Scott Thomas, you naughty Girl you!  The Weinstein Co. unveiled Clips from a few of their upcoming Marquee releases at Cannes on Friday and shocking just about everybody is Nicolas Winding Refn‘s Follow-up to 2010’s excellent Drive.

The Thriller, Only God Forgives, competes in-competition at the Festival this year and shot entirely in Bangkok, the Film centers around Julian (Ryan Gosling), a Drug Smuggler whose life  is complicated further by her Mother’s (Thomas) mission to find who killed his older Brother, Billy (Tom Burke).

“You know what he does for a living right? Heroine, Cocaine… that’s where the money comes. That’s how he can afford to pay you to f*** him”, she says to the Girl her Son brings home to her, Mai (Rhatha Phongam), in quite possibly her most shocking role to date.  Believe me, it takes a lot to shock me and this is pretty darn shocking and might I add, completely NSFW.  I can just imagine the room of international Journalists gasping at the Subtitles!

Watch the Clip below:

This delights me so! After premiering earlier today at the Cannes Film Festival, Sofia Coppola‘s latest effort The Bling Ring, based on true events surrounding a group of Teens who masterminded the burglary of several Celebrity homes, debuts with plenty of praise! I admit, things were looking a bit iffy there with 2010’s plodding Somewhere.

Here’s what some of the Critics are saying about The Bling Ring:

“An unexpected pleasure” – The Guardian

“Sofia Coppola’s most provocative Film yet” – Entertainment Weekly

“The Parents are awful, the Teenagers are repulsive and the Celebrities are removed from reality, but no one gets away clean in Sofia Coppola‘s brilliant Movie” – The Wrap

“The acting is so authentic that it takes a while to differentiate the girls… As such, it will attain a certain stature itself as a Cultural Artifact but without stirring significant interest artistically or commercially.” – The Hollywood Reporter

“Though it lacks the name cast and self-consciously outre style of another recent girls-gone-wild opus, Spring Breakers, this lively and fascinating pic should score well with its target hipster demo…” – Variety

As an aside, we saw Coppola last week at the Met Gala in New York City with Marc Jacobs. More on that here!

Have you seen The Bling Ring‘s Trailer yet?  Watch it here.

eOne Films releases The Bling Ring on June 21, 2013.

(Photo/video credit: A24)