By: Henry J. Fromage -
Today’s just a fancy news day all around. Leading off we have a new project for both Colin Firth and Cate Blanchett, Skinny and Cat. For some reason, all I can think of after that title is Ren and Stimpy, which is an aside that just wasted five seconds of your day. You’re welcome. Anyways, the movie will focus on the relationship between author Erskine Caldwell and photographer Margaret Bourke White in the 1920s, when they were briefly married and collaborated on three great works of photojournalism. The other hook- it will be directed by Barbara Streisand. Before you go scoffing off into the sunset, keep in mind that the three films she has directed, Yentl, Prince of Tides, and The Mirror has Two Faces have all received Oscar nominations. The prospects for the same from this one are already looking pretty good.
Unless Blanchett pulls Oscar rank on Firth and makes him cry a lot
I wanted to hold off on this until I got some idea of the plot, but as the cast grows it looks like the next from Asghar Farhadi, the breakthrough director of last year’s acclaimed A Separation, will keep those details under wraps as long as possible. What we do know is that he’s branching out ofIran, and he’s cast two of the buzziest French actors out there- Marion Cotillard and Tahar Rahim. The only information we have is that the film will be “an emotional social thriller,” which could mean pretty much anything. Regardless, expect to start hearing the arthouse buzz build for this one over the next year or so.
Hopefully Farhadi can handle all of the art film groupies throwing themselves at him
Speaking of French-language arthouse fare, director Arnaud Desplechin’s been mostly AWOL since his much-loved A Christmas Tale. It looks like he finally found the right project with Jimmy Picard, and a star that’ll ensure it happens in Benicio Del Toro. The film will tell the true story of a Blackfoot Native American who returns from WWII and discovers that the whole experience wasn’t terribly good for his psyche. He receives treatment from psychoanalyst Georges Devereux (Mathieu Amalric) who discovers that giving treatment to a Native American requires a different tack than the subjects he’s been used to.
Like, it might have something to do with centuries of repression or something
