In the glare of French sunshine and press flashbulbs, Cannes continues its midwifery, birthing many of the films we’ll be watching over the coming year.
Of course, not all films pass through major festivals on the way to our screens. Bryan Singer, after winning the Grand Jury prize at Sundance with his interesting 1993 debut drama Public Access, has stayed well clear of festivals since – despite the breakout success of his 1995 classic The Usual Suspects and then, of course, his four X-Men films.
True to form, this week he returns with the Fox/Marvel superhero franchise he helped create in 2000: X-Men: Apocalypse. It’s the sixth film (ninth if you count spin-offs and crossovers) in the X-Men movie-verse and the fourth superhero film in as many months.
Will Singer draw the crowds and cut the mutant mustard – again? Or will he fall foul of the (mythical)superhero fatigue? See our review.
German director Tom Tykwer is having less success outside of the festival circuit. Following the giant flop Cloud Atlas, a collaboration with the Wachowski siblings, he’s returning with A Hologram for the King starring Tom Hanks as a businessman who, having failed to succeed at home in the US, travels to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to sell his ideas to their monarchy. The reviews have been middling.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl has fared much better and opens here in Cinemateket (dfi.dk/filmhuset). Set in 1976, it follows an aspiring teenage cartoonist who loses her virginity to her mother’s boyfriend. The film is showing every night until the end of the month. Check the program for times (link below).
Also at Cinemateket, on Sunday at 14:15, there’s the Danish on a Sunday series (Danish films with English subs) where they’re showing Klovn Forever. Set five years after the first outing, comedy duo Casper and Frank are close to losing their friendship. Casper has moved to Hollywood to pursue his dreams, while Frank is engulfed in family life. Tickets cost 45-70 kroner and for an extra 40 kroner you get a coffee and a pastry.
