In Contention

Tag: Michelle Yeoh

  • Cohen Media Group nabs Besson’s ‘The Lady’

    Everyone’s just been waiting to see who would pick up Luc besson’s “The Lady” out of Toronto, just for an excuse to go ahead and shuffle Michelle Yeoh over to the pile of likely Best Actress contenders. Yeoh stars in the film as Burmese opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi and David Thewlis has a meaty part as her husband. Well, Mike Fleming reports at Deadline that a deal has been struck:

    The Oscar race just got a little more interesting. EuropaCorp has made a U.S. distribution deal with Cohen Media Group for the Luc Besson-directed The Lady…to release the film for an Oscar-qualifying platform release late this year.

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  • ‘The Lady’ poster

    Luc Besson’s “The Lady” doesn’t have domestic distribution in place yet, but the wheels are already turning as a teaser trailer dropped at Yahoo! Movies today. Meanwhile, a Shepard Fairey-designed poster based on the artist’s own piece celebrating Burmese revolutionary Aung San Suu Kyi has also hit. This film could certainly be an awards play for actress Michelle Yeoh and actor David Thewlis. It’ll be part of our festival preview in next week’s Off the Carpet column. For now, check out the full image after the jump.

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  • VENICE: ‘Reign of Assassins,’ ‘Happy Few’

    “How many films did you see today?” It’s an innocent-sounding question that you nonetheless feel oddly cautious answering at a festival. Did I see too few? Do they think me a lightweight? Should I squeeze in a midnight screening of that Iranian peasant musical I really have no interest in seeing, just to beef up my score?

    Okay, it’s not as petty and competitive as all that. (And it goes without saying that I’d be totally up for an Iranian peasant musical.) But whereas watching three films at home on a regular day feels like something of an indulgence, at a festival it seems positively neglectful, unappreciative of the spread that has been laid out for you.

    “What am I missing?” you keep asking yourself (and others willing to listen). Then again, a friend of mine who sticks religiously to a six-film-a-day diet at every festival likely asks himself the same thing. It’s best to stop counting.

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