‘The Old Oak’ Review: Strength, Solidarity And Resistance In A Vital, Moving Social Parable — Cannes Film Festival

Sometimes it feels as though A.I. is already here, given the number of films resembling Garden State that pop up on the festival circuit every year. Robert Schwartzman’s The Good Half is only the latest, and his attempt to out-emo Zach Braff’s legacy film falls disappointingly short, given that his last Tribeca appearance was with the surreal and underrated comedy The Argument (2020), which channeled Charlie Kaufman in the story of a couple whose obsession with a petty fight spirals into absurdity. The Good Half, however, mostly serves as a decent vehicle for Nick Jonas, who seems to making a play to be the new Adam Driver, which is not as far-fetched as it might sound.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Scottish actor Ewan McGregor and Swedish actor Alicia Vikander will be honored at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where they will receive the President’s Award, and present their latest films. The festival will open with “Firebrand,” in which Vikander has the leading role of Katherine Parr. McGregor will present “You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder,” in which he stars alongside his daughter Clara McGregor. McGregor’s role in Danny Boyle’s dark comedy “Shallow Grave” (1994) earned him an Empire Award for best British actor, and their next joint film, “Trainspotting” (1996), was an international sensation. McGregor and Boyle teamed up again for the 1997 romantic comedy “A Life Less Ordinary,” in which McGregor appeared alongside Cameron Diaz.

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has appointed Clare Stewart to the post of Managing Director, taking over from outgoing Managing Director Marjan van der Haar.

Though it doesn’t exactly have the same warm, melancholic charm, Alice Troughton’s elegant literary thriller The Lesson could give star Richard E. Grant the kind of late-career bump that last year’s Living afforded Bill Nighy. An Oscar nom might be a little fanciful at this stage, but a Bafta shot is a no-brainer, with Grant on top form as a mercurial, narcissistic British author. Co-star Julie Delpy might also find new offers coming in, showing a stiletto-sharp new side to herself as his enigmatic wife.

PJ Harvey has shared new single ‘I Inside The Old I Dying’, as well as announcing details of a 2023 UK and European tour. See dates and ticket details below.The double Mercury Prize winner marked her return back in April with the single ‘A Child’s Question, August’ and news of her 10th album ‘I Inside The Old Year Dying’, the long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project‘.Now, Harvey shares another taster of the record with what she described as “delicate and beautiful song eluded us until the very last day in the studio”.“Over the previous five weeks we had tried so many times to capture it and failed, and/but then John [Parish, producer and collaborator] reinvented the feel of the guitar pattern,” she explained.

EXCLUSIVE: Leo Leigh’s directorial debut Sweet Sue and Vincent Perez’s fencing film The Edge Of The Blade are among six international films set to get their world premiere at the upcoming Filmfest München (June 23 – July 1), which this year celebrates its 40th edition. Scroll down for full list and details.

Brad Pitt’s career is going nowhere but up. While he may be currently dealing with drama regarding a winery lawsuit against his ex-wife Angelina Jolie, his movie career continues to be susccessful. His newest film is all about Formula One racing; not only will Pitt be fronting this upcoming sports film, but we've got another famous face that you may recognize from Outlander joining in on the fun.

Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has unveiled the major competition selections for its 25th edition (June 9-18), which will be the first to be held in a fully physical format with international guests since before the pandemic. 

The Old Oak will be his last.Speaking at a press conference for his new movie at the Cannes Film Festival, Loach was asked by Deadline whether reports about his retirement are true.“One day at a time,” he responded. “If you get up in the morning, and you’re not in the obituary column; one day at a time.”It comes after he told The Hollywood Reporter last month that “it would be hard to do a feature film again” because “your facilities do decline.”He said: “Films take a couple of years and I’ll be nearly 90,” he said of a potential next movie.

Ken Loach still has more to say against The Man in society with his cinema, that was clear coming away from the Cannes press conference for his latest movie The Old Oak.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Tommy Joe Ballantyne (Dave Turner), the central character in Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak,” is a middle-aged landlord and proprietor of a pub that sits near the bottom of a sloped street of working-class row houses. We’re in an unnamed village in the northeast of England, and the pub, called the Old Oak, has seen better days. So has Tommy, who’s known as TJ. Dave Turner, the very good actor who plays him, resembles a bone-weary cross between John C. Reilly and Michael Moore. There’s a sweet-souled directness to his sad prole stare, and he treats his customers, some of whom he has known since they were in grade school together, with quiet affection and respect. But the pub is falling apart, and the property values in the neighborhood have plunged. TJ is barely scraping by serving pints of bitters.

By Hanna RantalaCANNES (Reuters) - Ken Loach said on Friday he does not know if "The Old Oak," the 86-year-old British director's attempt to win the Cannes Film Festival's top prize for a third time, would be his last. "Oh, I don't know, I live day by day," said Loach, who turns 87 in June. "If you read the obituary columns and you're not in them, it's a good day.

A Chimera is something one tries to achieve but alas, never manages to find. It is the heart and soul of a quest in life, in different ways, for the cast of characters in writer/director Alice Rohrwacher’s beautiful new film La Chimera premiering today as one of the last entries in competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. It also happens to be one of the best.

Only nine directors have ever won the Palme d’Or twice. Francis Ford Coppola did it in the ’70s with The Conversation and Apocalypse Now. Ruben Östlund joined the club last year after following The Square with Triangle of Sadness. But this year, there is a very real possibility that, at 86, Ken Loach may go above and beyond that by winning a third Palme for his new film, The Old Oak. Loach first won in 2006 with the historical Irish drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley, then doubled up in 2016 with I, Daniel Blake, a caustic study of Britain’s healthcare crisis. After that came Sorry, We Missed You, a no-less withering look at the punitive gig economy. Like the latter two films, The Old Oak is set in the North East of England and completes an unofficial trilogy, this time with a slightly more optimistic bent. Like all of Loach’s output since 1996, it was written by Paul Laverty, and the pair sat down with Damon Wise to discuss the film’s themes of humanity and social responsibility.

A picture of Austin Hill with his arm around his dad, Mark, on holiday in Greece in 2021 captures the love between them. It was taken just two weeks after Mark had been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

The dignity of labor is explored with gentle humor and a very melancholy sense of joie de vivre in Wim Wenders’ second 2023 Cannes entry after his 3D documentary Anselm. Shot entirely in Japan, with very little English spoken, Perfect Days is an unusual film from a westerner since it does nothing to “other” a country that is often romanticized as a series of specific cultural signifiers (as in the well-meaning Lost in Translation, for example). It’s a compliment to say that Jim Jarmusch could have made it.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Leonardo Di Caprio, Tobey Maguire, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah were among the guests at Aston Martin’s 110th anniversary party Wednesday at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, on the French Riviera. The luxury car company also unveiled the first in a new generation of sportscars, the DB12. Other actors in attendance included Kate Beckinsale, James Marsden and James Bond actor Jeffrey Wright. They were joined by singer-songwriter Adam Lambert. The world of fashion was represented by leading models Winnie Harlow, Lais Ribeiro, Alessandra Ambrosio and Poppy Delevingne.

The ladies of Aespa just made their Cannes Film Festival debut!

Joe Alwyn has attended a dinner hosted by Celine artistic director Hedi Slimane during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The British actor was photographed at the event at Hotel du Cap-Eden Roc on Monday night (22 May). It marks the 32-year-old’s first appearance at a public event since he and Taylor Swift reportedly split up in April after six years together.

Dapper Dude! Joe Alwyn was a fashionable sight in Cannes, France, on Monday, May 22.