There’s no discussing the late Romy Schneider (1938-1982) without acknowledging how beautiful she was. She was ravishing. But you’re also missing a great deal if you can’t see past that. She was a riveting actress who always seemed connected to something primal and fearless and yet wide open to whatever.

It was a huge shock when Schneider died at only 43. A year earlier her son David, 14, was accidentally killed while climbing a steel-spike fence. (Remember Gregory Peck‘s horrified memory of his brother dying in a similar way in Spellbound?) Romy understandably succumbed to drink after that. She reportedly passed from a heart attack.

While in Cannes I saw Lucie Caries‘ Romy, Femme Libre.

I chose not to review because I felt that the doc was bending over backwards to praise Scheider six ways from Sunday, any way it could. A feminist take that was committed to protecting her and having her back, but also, it seemed, to a form of worship. It was and is my feeling that Schneider deserved a somewhat franker look at who she was and wanted to be, warts and all — a film as honest about her life as she was honest with herself and her admirers while performing.

Over and over the film basically said that everything Schnieder said and did was somehow glorious or even radiant. I found myself pulling back. Rather than rain on the doc and out of my respect for Ms. Schneider, I decided to say nothing. But an hour ago I was asked for a reaction by a publicist, and my feelings just poured out.

Two Pinocchio films are opening later this year — one in September, another in December.

First out of the gate is a Disney+, family-friendly musical fantasy version from director Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks as Gepetto, and representing a blend of live action and CG.

Three months later Netflix Animation will release a second musical fantasy that sounds like an artier, more angular version — all stop-motion, set in fascist Italy and directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.

I’m not presuming that the latter version will be less rote and more adult-friendly, but it certainly sounds like it might be that.

Guillermo del Toro’s new #Pinocchio stop-motion musical will be set during the rise of Mussolini in fascist Italy. pic.twitter.com/nkcrbkI3ol

— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) December 29, 2021

Almost 9 pm and the late afternoon…make that early evening sun is still shining…golden amber…a few minutes away from magic hour.

I saw it on Google Maps and I just knew. Yes, the dumplings are from heaven…little orgasms.

In a 5.28 Cannes Film Festival sum-up piece by Anne Thompson, the headline announces that Vicky Krieps, star of Marie Kreutzer‘s underwhelming Corsage (which I reviewed on 5.20)…the headline announces that Krieps “won big.”

Thompson: “Austria could submit Kreutzer’s irreverent costume drama Corsage [for Oscar consideration]…many thought Corsage should have been programmed in the Competition…[it stars] versatile Berlin actress Vicky Krieps as Austria-Hungary’s rebellious Empress Elisabeth (‘Sissi’)…Krieps shared the Un Certain Regard Best Actress award. With the right handling from IFC Films, the revisionist 19th-century royal slice-of-life could compete for Best Actress and Best Costume Design, as well as International Feature Film.”

HE reality check: Krieps did not “win big” at Cannes. Her Corsage performance resonated to some extent, but there’s no way in hell that Krieps’ moody, sullen turn will be even considered as a Best Actress contender. Corsage may make headway in the other two categories.

Posted from Cannes on 5.20.22: I regret reporting that Marie Kreutzer‘s Corsage, which screened at 11 am this morning, didn’t sit well. I found it flat, boring, listless. The Austrian empress Elizabeth (Vicky Krieps) is bored with her royal life, and the director spares no effort in persuading the audience to feel the same way.

Krieps plays up the indifference, irreverence and existential ennui. Somewhere during Act Two a royal physician recommends heroin as a remedy for her spiritual troubles, and of course she develops a habit. I was immediately thinking what a pleasure it would be to snort horse along with her, or at least during the screening.

Corsage is unfortunately akin to Pablo Larrain‘s Spencer and Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette — stories of women of title and privilege who feel alienated and unhappy and at a general loss.

I’m sorry but this movie suffocates the soul.

In actuality Empress Elizabeth was assassinated in 1898, at age 51. For some reason Kreutzer has chosen to end the life of Krieps’ Elizabeth at a younger point in her life, and due to a different misfortune.

This is one of the most deflating and depressing films I’ve ever seen.

Siri’s inability to understand or verbalize the LMAO acronym (laughing my ass off) leads to “luhmayo” after the punch line. Jokes have to be delivered just so or they don’t work. Yes, I’m aware that this is eight months old.

Church bells are ringing in every city, but there’s something about northern Montmartre’s church bells, right now…