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May 21, 2008Cannes Day Seven: Clint Eastwood, AngelinaJolie, and the DisappearedChangeling -- The day starts off disappointingly with a newdrama directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolieas a single working woman in the late Twenties whose sondisappears one day from Los Angeles. Months later, the copsturn up with a little boy but she immediately says, "That's notmy son." What do they care? The cops have had a wave of badpublicity and are thoroughly corrupt. With a crowd of reportersready to shoot photos of the happy reunion, they bully her intotaking the boy home. As the evidence piles up, she complainsmore and more. Stunningly, the cops just have her committedto a psych ward to shut her up. Naturally, she fights back. Wealso start to see the comings and goings of a serial killer,making the fate of her boy far more frightening. The title wastranslated into "The Exchange" in French, which isn't muchbetter. But "Changeling" is all wrong. A changeling is from folktales where fairies kidnap a family's child and replace it with achangeling that looks exactly the same but is...different. Myfavorite movie about a changeling is Agnieszka Holland's"Olivier, Olivier." This movie isn't about a changeling -- there'sno doubt form the get-go for Jolie or us that the boy isn't herson. It's really a story of injustice involving a crusadingpreacher (John Malcovich), wrongful imprisonmnet of womenwho make a fuss (the psych ward is filled with sane women likea hooker who complained when a cop/client kept beating her),police corruption and so on. It's more "Norma Rae" or "ErinBrockovich" than the title implies. The movie looks good andJolie is solid. Remarkably, the film is based on a true story andvery few of the facts have been changed in any way -- much ofthe public comments in the movie come from the public recordat the time. But this ain't "LA Confidential" by any stretch. Thecops aren't cartoons, but they aren't exactly fascinating orcomplex, either. Jason Butler Harner steals the show as theVisit our other sitesAdvocate.comOut.comOutTraveler.comPopnographyAdvocate GenQMr SardonicAdvocate InsiderOut.com StyleListHereTV.comGayWired.comAdvertisement
CategoriesBingham Cup 2008BooksCannes 2008Cannes Film FestivalCelebsCoachellaComic-Con 2007Current AffairsFashionFilmIs a man capable of being faithful to onewoman?
Highly Unlikely
Doubtful
Definitely
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serial killer Gordon Northcott. He's vile, weasly, pathetic andabsolutely fascinating. Jolie's big scene comes in a prison whenshe practically throttles him demanding an answer to what'shappened to her son. Malcovich is miscast as the preacher -- Ikept thinking the man (who is basically good and noblyinspired) was just looking for publicity or something, justbecause of what Malcovich brings to the table. The trade papersgive it very strong reviews, but for me it's yet another moviethat is fine, but not memorable."Changeling" Press Conference -- Next comes a"Changeling" press conference where the foolish questions arefewer than usual. When one reporter asks Eastwood if he'sgonna tackle Dirty Harry one last time, he says, "The rumorsare incorrect." Jolie jumped in, saying, "I am!" And Eastwoodmused, "Dirty Harriet!" Eastwood -- like Woody Allen -- is a bithard of hearing now. It's sweet to see Jolie casually translatingthe garbled, confusing questions (even I have trouble trackingsome of them and what they're asking) for Eastwood during theevent. She looks absolutely lovely, baby bump and all.Elevre Libre -- The press kit led me to believe I could expectsome sort of sexual identity, adult-teenager shenanigans andthat's certainly what I got. The story centers on Jonas, a 16 yearold very committed tennis player (though not, apparently goodenough to go pro). He's at a standstill in every aspect of his life:he's not match tough (which is to say, he gets tense duringtournaments and doesn't go for the juggler), he's failing atschool after already being left behind a year or two because ofthe tennis interfering with his studies, his parents are divorcedand his mother often away with new boyfriends, and he's losthis virginity with a girl but worries he's not satisyfing her ordoing it right. On the plus side, he does have a verygood-looking older brother, who doesn't get nearly enoughscreen time. The main adults in his life are a trio of people -- fora while I thought they might be in a menage a troi. Butultimately they resolve themselves as a man and a womandating in an open relationship and another slightly older manwhose apartment Jonas practically lives at. They all seem towatch over him and his tennis coaching while mom is away.During dinners, the adults ply Jonas with questions about hissex life. At first, their blunt comments seemed laughablyFrench -- are adults really this blase about love and explicitwith boys? But as the film progresses and the questions getblunter, they seem maniplative and almost cruel, though Inever got the sense the adults planned any of it. They reallybelieve what they're saying and don't really think about whatthey say and how it might affect a kid. Really, though they seemFilm FestivalsFood and DrinkIowa Caucus 2008LesbianMusicOutfest 2008PartiesPoliticsProvincetown Film Festival 2008Queen Mary 2 Historic CrossingReligionScienceSexSportsSydney Mardi Gras 2008Taylor Hanson for The AdvocateTelevisionThe DinahThe HRC Logo ForumThe L WordTheaterTravelRecent PostsMTV Video Music Awards... Cheap, Or What?Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles: 30 Years YoungEric McCormack Auctions Off Porsche for ProjectAngel FoodWhat is the Advocate Insider? On 90210!OUTFEST REVIEW: Another Gay SequelAwards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, and Mama"Sordid Lives" Screens to a Sold-Out CrowdOUTFEST REVIEW: The World UnseenOUTFEST REVIEW: The Lost CoastOUTFEST REVIEW: Eleven MinutesRecent Commentscelebrity picture on OUTFEST REVIEW: The LostCoastvimax on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamapenis enlargement pills on Michael Guest is all smilespenis enlargement on Michael Guest is all smilespenis enlargement on Amman SegregatesLou on Cruise programming we missed...michaelj72 on "XXY" -- Another Terrific Queer FilmAt Cannesvigrx on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamaAdvocate Insiderhttp://www.advocateinsider.com/2008/05/cannes-day-seve.html
2 of 47/22/09 4:16 PM
to be complimenting him, almost everything they sayundermines his confidence and screws with his mind. How longdid the sex last his first time, they pester him. Five or sixminutes. The woman immediately says her first lover lasted fiveor six minutes and she never even got wet. She had to have sexwith an older man, the woman says, before she knew how tomake love. Don't confuse love with sex, they say. They belittlethe girl he's dating and likes by immediately bringing up theboy's insecurities when meeting her for the first time, drivingher away. Does Jonas want to have sex with the woman, just tomake sure everything is workng right? Does he want to watchthe couple have sex? What if one of the men gave him ablowjob? And on and on. It's really fascinatingly perverse howthey manipulate him, saying things like he's a lot more maturethan other kids his age and so on. I'd like to see it again, soon.But this was a very interesting movie. I went to the pressconference, but unfortunately it was all in French with notranslation possible. I'll try to track the director down. NOTE:Several emails to the publicist got no response so I never spokewith him.La Mujer Sin Cabeza -- After interviewing British directorTerence Davies, I head off to the final movie of the night, "TheHeadless Woman." Directed by Lucrecia Martel, it's one of thefew movies at the fest directed by a woman. Unfortunately, it'stoo diffuse and abstract to do more than frustrate any buthardcore cineastes. In Argentina, an upper class woman runsover something while driving and fumbling for a cell phone. Isit a dog? A boy? She's too scared to find out and drives away.Having hit her head, she goes to a hospital to get an x-ray andwanders off before hearing the results. At first, this 87 minutemovie seems to be about a woman who has lost her "head," hermemory. Our protagonist wanders around in a fog, not seemingto know who anyone is or what she should do. When people callout to her, she never responds, perhaps because she doesn'tknow their names? Even when watching a video of her ownwedding, she doesn't seem to recognize the guests. Finally sheadmits her fear of having killed someone and slowly the upperclass world she moves in takes care of everything and slowlydisappears the evidence of the accident by getting rid of herx-ray photos, the registration at a hotel the night she had theaccident and couldn't drive home, the dents in the car and soon. Surely it's some sort of commentary on class and the likebut I had already lost all interest.Posted at 08:32 AM in Cannes 2008 | PermalinkTrackBackvimax on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamaomar on Amman SegregatesArchivesSeptember 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008March 2008February 2008January 2008December 2007November 2007September 2008SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930 Subscribe to this blog's feedAdvocate Insiderhttp://www.advocateinsider.com/2008/05/cannes-day-seve.html
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CategoriesBingham Cup 2008BooksCannes 2008Cannes Film FestivalCelebsCoachellaComic-Con 2007Current AffairsFashionFilmIs a man capable of being faithful to onewoman?
Highly Unlikely
Doubtful
Definitely
Advocate Insiderhttp://www.advocateinsider.com/2008/05/cannes-day-seve.html
1 of 47/22/09 4:16 PM
serial killer Gordon Northcott. He's vile, weasly, pathetic andabsolutely fascinating. Jolie's big scene comes in a prison whenshe practically throttles him demanding an answer to what'shappened to her son. Malcovich is miscast as the preacher -- Ikept thinking the man (who is basically good and noblyinspired) was just looking for publicity or something, justbecause of what Malcovich brings to the table. The trade papersgive it very strong reviews, but for me it's yet another moviethat is fine, but not memorable."Changeling" Press Conference -- Next comes a"Changeling" press conference where the foolish questions arefewer than usual. When one reporter asks Eastwood if he'sgonna tackle Dirty Harry one last time, he says, "The rumorsare incorrect." Jolie jumped in, saying, "I am!" And Eastwoodmused, "Dirty Harriet!" Eastwood -- like Woody Allen -- is a bithard of hearing now. It's sweet to see Jolie casually translatingthe garbled, confusing questions (even I have trouble trackingsome of them and what they're asking) for Eastwood during theevent. She looks absolutely lovely, baby bump and all.Elevre Libre -- The press kit led me to believe I could expectsome sort of sexual identity, adult-teenager shenanigans andthat's certainly what I got. The story centers on Jonas, a 16 yearold very committed tennis player (though not, apparently goodenough to go pro). He's at a standstill in every aspect of his life:he's not match tough (which is to say, he gets tense duringtournaments and doesn't go for the juggler), he's failing atschool after already being left behind a year or two because ofthe tennis interfering with his studies, his parents are divorcedand his mother often away with new boyfriends, and he's losthis virginity with a girl but worries he's not satisyfing her ordoing it right. On the plus side, he does have a verygood-looking older brother, who doesn't get nearly enoughscreen time. The main adults in his life are a trio of people -- fora while I thought they might be in a menage a troi. Butultimately they resolve themselves as a man and a womandating in an open relationship and another slightly older manwhose apartment Jonas practically lives at. They all seem towatch over him and his tennis coaching while mom is away.During dinners, the adults ply Jonas with questions about hissex life. At first, their blunt comments seemed laughablyFrench -- are adults really this blase about love and explicitwith boys? But as the film progresses and the questions getblunter, they seem maniplative and almost cruel, though Inever got the sense the adults planned any of it. They reallybelieve what they're saying and don't really think about whatthey say and how it might affect a kid. Really, though they seemFilm FestivalsFood and DrinkIowa Caucus 2008LesbianMusicOutfest 2008PartiesPoliticsProvincetown Film Festival 2008Queen Mary 2 Historic CrossingReligionScienceSexSportsSydney Mardi Gras 2008Taylor Hanson for The AdvocateTelevisionThe DinahThe HRC Logo ForumThe L WordTheaterTravelRecent PostsMTV Video Music Awards... Cheap, Or What?Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles: 30 Years YoungEric McCormack Auctions Off Porsche for ProjectAngel FoodWhat is the Advocate Insider? On 90210!OUTFEST REVIEW: Another Gay SequelAwards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, and Mama"Sordid Lives" Screens to a Sold-Out CrowdOUTFEST REVIEW: The World UnseenOUTFEST REVIEW: The Lost CoastOUTFEST REVIEW: Eleven MinutesRecent Commentscelebrity picture on OUTFEST REVIEW: The LostCoastvimax on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamapenis enlargement pills on Michael Guest is all smilespenis enlargement on Michael Guest is all smilespenis enlargement on Amman SegregatesLou on Cruise programming we missed...michaelj72 on "XXY" -- Another Terrific Queer FilmAt Cannesvigrx on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamaAdvocate Insiderhttp://www.advocateinsider.com/2008/05/cannes-day-seve.html
2 of 47/22/09 4:16 PM
to be complimenting him, almost everything they sayundermines his confidence and screws with his mind. How longdid the sex last his first time, they pester him. Five or sixminutes. The woman immediately says her first lover lasted fiveor six minutes and she never even got wet. She had to have sexwith an older man, the woman says, before she knew how tomake love. Don't confuse love with sex, they say. They belittlethe girl he's dating and likes by immediately bringing up theboy's insecurities when meeting her for the first time, drivingher away. Does Jonas want to have sex with the woman, just tomake sure everything is workng right? Does he want to watchthe couple have sex? What if one of the men gave him ablowjob? And on and on. It's really fascinatingly perverse howthey manipulate him, saying things like he's a lot more maturethan other kids his age and so on. I'd like to see it again, soon.But this was a very interesting movie. I went to the pressconference, but unfortunately it was all in French with notranslation possible. I'll try to track the director down. NOTE:Several emails to the publicist got no response so I never spokewith him.La Mujer Sin Cabeza -- After interviewing British directorTerence Davies, I head off to the final movie of the night, "TheHeadless Woman." Directed by Lucrecia Martel, it's one of thefew movies at the fest directed by a woman. Unfortunately, it'stoo diffuse and abstract to do more than frustrate any buthardcore cineastes. In Argentina, an upper class woman runsover something while driving and fumbling for a cell phone. Isit a dog? A boy? She's too scared to find out and drives away.Having hit her head, she goes to a hospital to get an x-ray andwanders off before hearing the results. At first, this 87 minutemovie seems to be about a woman who has lost her "head," hermemory. Our protagonist wanders around in a fog, not seemingto know who anyone is or what she should do. When people callout to her, she never responds, perhaps because she doesn'tknow their names? Even when watching a video of her ownwedding, she doesn't seem to recognize the guests. Finally sheadmits her fear of having killed someone and slowly the upperclass world she moves in takes care of everything and slowlydisappears the evidence of the accident by getting rid of herx-ray photos, the registration at a hotel the night she had theaccident and couldn't drive home, the dents in the car and soon. Surely it's some sort of commentary on class and the likebut I had already lost all interest.Posted at 08:32 AM in Cannes 2008 | PermalinkTrackBackvimax on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamaomar on Amman SegregatesArchivesSeptember 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008March 2008February 2008January 2008December 2007November 2007September 2008SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930 Subscribe to this blog's feedAdvocate Insiderhttp://www.advocateinsider.com/2008/05/cannes-day-seve.html
3 of 47/22/09 4:16 PM
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