Matt writes: The 2017 Cannes Film Festival is nearly here! It will run from May 17th through the 28th, and RogerEbert.com will be providing in-depth coverage every step of the way, including our annual video reports from publisher Chaz Ebert. This year’s selections include the latest work from such acclaimed filmmakers as Noah Baumbach, Sofia Coppola, Michael Haneke, Michel Hazanavicius, Todd Haynes, Bong Joon Ho, Yorgos Lanthimos and Lynne Ramsay. Click here to read Barbara Scharres’ preview of the festival, and watch Chaz’s first video dispatch posted below. Cannes 2017 Preview – RogerEbert.com from The Mint on Vimeo.Trailers Claire’s Camera (2017). Written and directed by Sang-soo Hong. Starring Isabelle Huppert, Shahira Fahmy, Jang Mi Hee. Synopsis: About a part time high school teacher and writer. US release date is TBA. The Day After (2017). Written and directed by Sang-soo Hong. Starring Min-hee Kim, Hae-hyo Kwon. Synopsis: The director’s second film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. US release date is TBA. Barbara (2017). Written and directed by Mathieu Amalric. Starring Mathieu Amalric, Jeanne Balibar, Lisa Ray-Jacobs. Synopsis: A director wants to make a biopic about the female singer Barbara. US release date is TBA. Home Again (2017). Written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Lake Bell, Michael Sheen. Synopsis: Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her. Opens in US theaters on September 8th, 2017. Band Aid (2017). Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones. Starring Jamie Chung, Brooklyn Decker, Colin Hanks. Synopsis: A couple who can’t stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band. Opens in US theaters on June 9th, 2017. Let Me Make You a Martyr (2017). Written and directed by Corey Asraf and John Swab. Starring Marilyn Manson, Mark Boone Junior, Sam Quartin. Synopsis: A cerebral revenge film about two adopted siblings who fall in love, and hatch a plan to kill their abusive father. US release date is TBA. Nocturama (2017). Written and directed by Bertrand Bonello. Starring Finnegan Oldfield, Vincent Rottiers, Hamza Meziani. Synopsis: Some young folks, tired of the society they’re living in, plan a bomb attack over Paris before to take shelter for a night in a shopping center. Opens in US theaters on August 11th, 2017. 6 Days (2017). Directed by Toa Fraser. Written by Glenn Standring. Starring Mark Strong, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Bell. Synopsis: In April 1980, armed gunmen stormed the Iranian Embassy in Princes Gate, London and took all inside hostage. US release date is TBA. Jeannette: the Childhood of Joan of Arc (2017). Written and directed by Bruno Dumont (based on the play by Charles Peguy). Synopsis: A musical about the childhood of Joan of Arc. US release date is TBA. AWOL (2017). Directed by Deb Shoval. Written by Deb Shoval, Karolina Waclawiak. Starring Lola Kirke, Breeda Wool, Dale Soules. Synopsis: A young woman Joey is in search of direction in her small town. A visit to an army recruiting office appears to provide a path, but when she meets and falls in love with Rayna that path diverges in ways that neither woman anticipates. US release date is TBA. Woodshock (2017). Written and directed by Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Pilou Asbæk, Joe Cole. Synopsis: A woman falls deeper into paranoia after taking a deadly drug. Opens in US theaters on September 15th, 2017. Becoming Cary Grant (2017). Directed by Mark Kidel. Written by Mark Kidel and Nick Ware. Synopsis: For the first time one of Hollywood’s greatest stars tells his own story, in his own words. From a childhood of poverty to global fame, Cary Grant, the ultimate self-made star, explores his own screen image and what it took to create it. US release date is TBA. Inconceivable (2017). Directed by Jonathan Baker. Written by Chloe King. Starring Nicolas Cage, Faye Dunaway, Gina Gershon. Synopsis: A mother looks to escape her abusive past by moving to a new town where she befriends another mother, who grows suspicious of her. Opens in US theaters on June 30th, 2017. Score: A Film Music Documentary (2017). Written and directed by Matt Schrader. Synopsis: This documentary brings Hollywood’s premier composers together to give viewers a privileged look inside the musical challenges and creative secrecy of the world’s most widely known music genre: the film score. Opens in US theaters on June 16th, 2017. The Dark Tower (2017). Directed by Nikolaj Arcel. Written by Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner, Anders Thomas Jensen and Nikolaj Arcel (based on the novels by Stephen King). Starring Katheryn Winnick, Matthew McConaughey, Idris Elba. Synopsis: The Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, roams an Old West-like landscape where “the world has moved on” in pursuit of the man in black. Also searching for the fabled Dark Tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world. Opens in US theaters on August 4th, 2017. Kill Switch (2017). Directed by Tim Smit. Written by Charlie Kindinger and Omid Nooshin. Starring Dan Stevens, Bérénice Marlohe, Charity Wakefield. Synopsis: A pilot battles to save his family and the planet after an experiment for unlimited energy goes wrong. Opens in US theaters on June 16th, 2017. Blade Runner 2049 (2017). Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green (based on the characters by Philip K. Dick). Starring Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas. Synopsis: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. Opens in US theaters on October 6th, 2017. 5-25-77 (2007). Written and directed by Patrick Read Johnson. Starring John Francis Daley, Austin Pendleton, Colleen Camp. Synopsis: Alienated, hopeful-filmmaker Pat Johnson’s epic story growing up in rural Illinois, falling in love, and becoming the first fan of the movie that changed everything. Opens in US theaters on May 25th, 2017. Hot Docs 2017 Matt writes: There were so many incredible highlights at this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto, and I was honored to cover them for RogerEbert.com. Elvira Lind’s exhilarating “Bobbi Jene,” Charles Officer’s beautifully poetic “Unarmed Verses” and Angelos Rallis’ devastating “Shingal, Where Are You?” were among the finest films featured in my daily dispatches. I also conducted in-depth interviews with iconic comedian Gilbert Gottfried as well as acclaimed directors Theo Anthony, Alexandre O. Philippe and Nanfu Wang. Click here to skim the table of contents for my full Hot Docs coverage.Chicago Critics Film Festival 2017 Matt writes: RogerEbert.com editor Brian Tallerico is the co-producer of the Chicago Critics Film Festival, which is currently running at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre through Thursday, May 18th. Click here to read his overview of the festival, which includes enticing films starring Aubrey Plaza, Pat Healy, Michael Cera, Cathy Moriarty, Burt Reynolds, Sam Elliott and longtime festival favorite Nick Offerman. My favorite thus far has been John Carroll Lynch’s wonderful directorial debut, “Lucky,” starring the incomparable Harry Dean Stanton.Free Movies Alice in Wonderland (1933). Directed by Norman Z. McLeod. Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and William Cameron Menzies (based on the novel by Lewis Carroll). Starring Charlotte Henry, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant. Synopsis: In Victorian England a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland populated by even more fantastic characters. Watch “Alice in Wonderland” Jack and the Beanstalk (1974). Directed by Gisaburô Sugii. Written by Shuji Hirami and Peter J. Solmo. Starring Jack Grimes, Corinne Orr, Ray Owens. Synopsis: A young boy named, Jack, climbs a giant beanstalk and stumbles upon a city in the clouds ruled by an evil queen. Watch “Jack and the Beanstalk” The Brave Little Toaster (1987). Directed by Jerry Rees. Written by Jerry Rees and Joe Ranft (based on the novella by Thomas M. Disch). Starring Jon Lovitz, Timothy Stack, Timothy E. Day. Synopsis: A group of dated appliances embarks on a journey to the city to find its master after being abandoned in its cabin in the woods. Watch “The Brave Little Toaster”
