PAPER TIGER- James Gray returns to the oil slicked streets of industrial Brooklyn for his new film PAPER TIGER, which follows Irwin Pearl (Miles Teller), a squarely middle class engineer with college costs for his kids looming on the horizon, and his brother Gary (Adam Driver), a former NYPD cop who wants to use his charisma and connections to find commercial opportunities at the margins of the city. When Gary recruits Irwin to help out with a new consulting business that will help companies clean and develop the Gowanus Canal, things quickly go south and Brooklyn’s Russian criminal gangs decide to take matters into their own hands. Nobody shoots Brooklyn like Gray, who returns to the dark, hidden spaces of the city that defined his early films like THE YARDS, LITTLE ODESSEA, and WE OWN THE NIGHT— there is a terrifying reality lurking in the shadows, and one false step can pull you into an unforgiving vortex of violence. But it is more than just a crime film; PAPER TIGER is a story of the insidiously American relationship between corruption and the perception of success, and the film works as both noir and melodrama. In Gray’s hands, the specificity of time, place, and culture, are deployed in the service of a story about home and family, which ends up with its own unexpected complications. In PAPER TIGER, all of the little details feel just right— these are everyday people in a big city they think they know but don’t truly understand, and Gray is the perfect filmmaker to bring that tension into sudden, heartbreaking focus. #cannesfilmfestival #cannes2026
SHEEP IN THE BOX- Hirokazu Koreeda leaps into science fiction to expand upon his longstanding narrative interest in the social welfare of children. Here, however, he inverts his usual focus by instead centering the story on a grieving couple who, in the aftermath of the tragic, unresolved loss of their son, acquire a robot child who is designed to look, act, and remember exactly like him. To say what happens after that would spoil the movie, and so I won’t, but I will say that the movie draws heavily from a wide range of interesting influences including Speilberg’s A.I., PETER PAN, and the style (not the narrative details but the storytelling style) of something like a live action Hayao Miyazaki film. One clue for those interested in doing some homework is the title, which comes from a famous moment Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s THE LITTLE PRINCE and which here is inverted as a metaphor to show us how adult self-interest prevents children from becoming all they want to be. A very interesting turn for Koreeda, stepping away from the social relaism of his previous work to find a new path to the same, empathetic conclusions he continually shares with us. For that alone, I will always love his films— he has the biggest heart in cinema. #cannesfilmfestival #cannes2026
ALL OF A SUDDEN- Well, I did not see this coming. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s new film is an indescribable experience— the story of a friendship between a French nursing home administrator and a Japanese theater director who is living through a terminal cancer diagnosis, ALL OF A SUDDEN leans into the commonality of experimentation in the women’s work to create a deeply moving, funny, one of a kind film. Hamaguchi’s deep compassion for and connection to that work brings the film itself in direct alignment with the women’s critiques (yes, plural) of capitalist alienation and the status of those living outside of the consideration of the system, specifically drawing a distinct connection between dementia and neurodivergence that is breathtaking in its inclusivity. It is also the story of a beautiful friendship, the power of uniting medical care with art making, and the value of our work to the meaning of our lives. I need to see this again as soon as possible, but there is no doubt it is a triumph. Off to buy a whiteboard and tear this mother down... #cannesfilmfestival #cannes2026
FATHERLAND- Masterpiece. I will be going long on this film, as a lot of background on Thomas Mann and his role as an anti-Nazi German exile are very important to understanding the depth of this movie, but no film at Cannes so far has grasped our contemporary political dilemma like FATHERLAND. What do we do when we see our values destroyed, when the art in which we so deeply believe feels inadequate against the realities of destruction at the hands of fascists? FATHERLAND reaches deep into the charade of post-atrocity reconciliation and shows us the impossibility of justice in a world that wants nothing more than forgetting. Some things cannot and should not be forgiven— the unforgivable happens, and art is left with the burden of creating understanding. Perhaps it is asking too much from our artists? Pawlikowski has made the most timely film at Cannes, and it is one for the ages. #CannesFilmFestival #Cannes2026
GABIN- A stunning accomplishment of the highest order, GABIN is an intimate, deeply personal epic about family, growing up, and the choices we learn to make for ourselves. Shot for more than a decade on a small family farm in Northern France, the film follows a boy named Gabin as he works at his parents’ businesses (a butcher shop & a dairy farm), attends school, and grows into a sensitive, thoughtful young man who must discover his own place in the world. Shot in gorgeous close ups that contrast with sweeping landscapes (and in Academy ratio, no less), director Maxence Voiseux pulls you into this small world and shows you the fullness of life. Could not love this more. ❤️ #Cannes2026 #Cannes #CannesFilmFestival
NAGI NOTES- Koji Fukada’s lovely ode to becoming one’s true self in the context of a small town, NAGI NOTES is about the spaces we create for ourselves to slow down and find meaning in human connection. I adored this film, which embraces difference and celebrates life, love, friendship and art making outside of the urban mileu; this is patient and warm filmmaking, anchored by a fantastic performance from Shizuka Ishibashi, who is a revelation here. Great start to he 2026 Cannes Competition! #Cannes2026 #Cannes #CannesFilmFestival
I am headed to France tomorrow night for the 2026 @festivaldecannes ... A few short notes on what to expect from me while I am there at the link in my bio (backrowmanifesto DOT substack DOT com). #cannes2026
So an absolute highlight of this @sugarcopperblue run is their inclusion of FORTUNE TELLER, one of my favorite Sugar songs, & one which has only been performed (*checks setlist.fm*) twice prior to this weekend. Total banger, thrilling performance! 🤯
Brilliant return after 30+ years for @sugarcopperblue tonight… deep cuts, rarities, and hits! FORTUNE TELLER! JC AUTO! CAN’T HELP YOU ANYMORE! TILTED! A *ton* of B-sides. Insane set list & the energy onstage was so overwhelming, I think Malcom fainted mid-song on CLOWNMASTER (which, whuut?) Unforgettable show.
Seeing @sugarcopperblue tonight with @keckess & tomorrow for the first time in 30+ years. Can’t wait to hear @bobmouldmusic bring the thunder. A few keepsakes of mine from past shows, just to prove how old I am…🤣
