Che Is Brilliant

Links (8)

First Che Reaction
Published 5/21/2008 by Sasha Stone at Awards Daily 2008
Jeff Wells, who comes up for air to write: I know I predicted this based on a reading of Peter Buchman’s script, buy [sic] the first half of Steven Soderbergh’s 268-minute Che Guevara epic is, for me, incandescent — a piece of full-on realism about the making of the Cuban revolution that I found utterly believable and politically vibrant and searing. It’s what I’d hoped for and more. Benicio del Toro’s Guevara portrayal is, as expected, a flat-immersion that can’t be a “performance” as much as a ...

Steven Soderbergh’s Che Clips
Published 5/22/2008 at Row Three
... , starring Benicio Del Toro as Argentine revolutionary Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara de la Serna. That first review came care of Hollywood insider Jeffrey Wells and the title of his post says it all: “Che IS Brilliant”. I was already interested in Soderbergh’s film but reading Wells’ little review made me that much more excited and now I’ve discovered a couple of short clips from the film that give an idea on what to expect. The first is the Cannes trailer which is tiny and can be found at ...

Steven Soderbergh’s Che Receives Major Response at Cannes, Palm d’Or Talk
Published 5/22/2008 by orfilms@gmail.com (slashfilm.com) at /Film
... Put that in your pipe, eh? Sounds sweet. In his own way, Jeffrey Wells has stepped out as one of the first supporters/gushers of both films, calling The Argentine “brilliant” and Guerilla “killer.” ...

Pure Guevara
Published 5/22/2008 by spencer at goldenfiddle -
... “The first half of Steven Soderbergh’s 268-minute Che Guevara epic is incandescent — a piece of full-on realism about the making of the Cuban revolution that I found utterly believable and politically vibrant and searing. It’s what I’d hoped for and more.” ~ Jeffrey Wells ...

Today in Cannes Hell: The Great 'Che' Debate Begins [Cannes Film Festival]
Published 5/22/2008 by STV at Defamer
... His colleague Anne Thompson agreed, likening Che to previous rough-cut Cannes clusterfucks including Southland Tales, The Brown Bunny and 2046 and scolding: "DON'T TAKE AN UNFINISHED MOVIE TO CANNES!!!!" But... but... the producers even splurged for a brown-bag dinner during intermission! With Kit-Kats! Anyway, Che has its defenders as well; Kim Voynar thinks it's a Palme D'Or (and maybe even Oscar) front-runner, Jeffrey Wells is over the moon and Glenn Kenny has high praise at indieWIRE: ...

Che: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Published 5/23/2008 by Kirsten Anderson at At The Movies - Film News and Reviews
... ’s Kim Vonyar loved it, James Rocchi at the same site also was impressed but felt there was a lot to argue about; Hollywood-elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells was awed by it ( (thanks to ...

Cannes Audiences Not Thrilled With Soderbergh's Che
Published 5/25/2008 at Cinema Blend News
Cannes Audiences Not Thrilled With Soderbergh's Che When filmmakers get invited to bring their high-profile films to Cannes, they accept. Even if it means scrambling to finish the movie. Even if it means bringing the half-finished movie to the festival and getting booed out of the festival. It happened to Richard Kelly with Southland Tales , it happened to Wong Kar-Wai with 2046 , and now it may have happened again with Steven Soderbergh and his two-part epic about Che Guevara, Che . Well, it might not be quite as bad as what happened to Southland Tales -- which took a year and a half to get released after everyone at Cannes hated it-- but the ...

Why You Should Take an Interest in Steven Soderbergh's Che
Published 5/26/2008 by Alex Billington at FirstShowing.net
... on Che losing the Palme d'Or. Not only does he call it "the most exciting and far-reaching film of the Cannes Film Festival," but Wells called the actual news "lamentable [and] dispiriting" given that Che should have undeniably took the top prize. I trust in Wells enough that he knows good films, for the most part, and speaks his mind strongly when it comes to discussions like this. In a quick response after the first half, Wells called the film "brilliant" and "utterly believable," saying it's a "perfect ...