Sean Penn At Cannes:”The Industry Has Been Upending Writers & Directors For Some Time”; ‘Black Flies’ Actor Blasts A.I. As “Human Obscenity”

William Earl Within 30 seconds of meeting JD, better known as titanicfan97 on TikTok, he’ll introduce you to Jack Dawson, i.e. a large dummy with head of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character of the same name from the 1997 blockbuster “Titanic.” “We got Jack Dawson,” he says over Zoom, pointing to an enormous shrine of the movie behind him. “And ‘Titanic,’ and Captain Smith. You know what’s going on.” JD, a video editor who lives in Florida, is best known for his energetic love of the movie “Titanic” on VHS, and his collection is approaching 1,600 copies of the two-tape set. Although he’s picked up about 300 himself, mostly from thrift stories and yard sales, the rest come from enthusiastic fans mailing him copies over the last year, as he’s documented his growing collection on TikTok to over 108,000 followers.

The Savannah Bananas have turned America’s past time on its head since their inaugural season in 2016 by introducing trick pitchers, catchers on bean bags, dancing umpires, players driving tractors/introducing themselves when they come up to bat along with special appearances from baseball legends like Barry Zito and Bill Lee.That’s not to mention goofy banana ball rules like fans catching foul balls counting as outs.There’s only problem — tickets aren’t exactly cheap to catch this endlessly entertaining exhibition team.Whether you want to see them at their home Grayson Stadium or on the road, this team demands top dollar for all upcoming games against teams with great names like the Drop Bears, Party Animals and the Milkmen.In fact, at the time of publication, the cheapest ticket we could find to see the potassium-based squad this 2023 season was $175 before fees on Vivid Seats.Meanwhile, $5 Yankees tickets are available.Still, it’s hard to put a price on the most fun you’ll have at the ballpark this year (or next).Want to see the Savannah Bananas live?Keep on reading.We’ve got everything you need to know and more about baseball’s wildest, goofiest and exciting club that everyone wants to see (even if they’re below .500!).All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.A complete calendar including all upcoming Bananas home games dates and start times at Savannah, GA’s Grayson Stadium as well as lowest ticket prices available can be found below.(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time.

Mubi has snapped up rights to the acclaimed feature Fallen Leaves, written and directed by Aki Kaurismäki, in a competitive situation, following its world premiere in Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Callum McLennan There’s nothing quite like having an Oscar-winning actor in your corner, or perhaps a star of one of the biggest TV Series of all time. In the case of Kick Gurry, creator, producer and actor in the forthcoming Stan Original Series “Caught,” the backing of Sean Penn and Matthew Fox has undoubtedly been a boon. After Gurry shared an early teaser of the show crafted with friends in Australia, Penn’s reaction was music to his ears. As Gurry shared with Variety, “He said everyone’s afraid of stories right now and we have to be pushing forward with courage in storytelling.” Indeed, the courage to tell bold, new stories has resulted in an audacious six-episode satirical comedy series slated to premiere later in 2023. The series boasts a formidable cast that Gurry describes as a “murderer’s row of talent.” Among them, Sean Penn, who also serves as an executive producer, Matthew Fox, Ben O’Toole, Lincoln Younes, Alexander England, Mel Jarnson, Fayssal Bazzi, Dorian Nkono, Rebecca Breeds, Bella Heathcote, Bryan Brown, and Erik Thomson. Gurry himself also stars, and further casting announcements are expected.

“It felt like this bloody world needed some love stories now,” Fallen Leaves director Aki Kaurismäki said of his Palme d’Or contender this afternoon.

EXCLUSIVE: CAA has signed Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, the filmmaker collaborators behind the acclaimed dramedy BlackBerry, which made its domestic premiere at SXSW after world premiering in competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

Christopher Vourlias U.S. writer and political advocate Dane Waters and “Superpower” co-director Aaron Kaufman announced the launch of a new global nonprofit group, Humanity for Freedom, Monday in Cannes. The organization is dedicated to the fight against authoritarian governments through educational and advocacy work. The group’s global kick-off event, 72 Hours for Freedom, will feature screenings around the world of “Superpower,” the documentary about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, co-directed by Kaufman and Sean Penn. The event will take place in over a dozen countries on six continents, starting in London on June 6 and wrapping in Washington, D.C., June 8, including stops in Rome; Tbilisi, Georgia; Sofia, Bulgaria; Abuja, Nigeria; Tokyo; Sydney; and Buenos Aires.

Sean Penn strongly backed the current Hollywood screenwriters strike while speaking at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, saying the dispute over artificial intelligence is “a human obscenity.”

Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan hit up the photo call for their new movie, Black Flies, during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on Friday (May 19) in Cannes, France.

Sean Penn has voiced his support for the Writer’s Guild of America strike.

In Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s “Black Flies,” silence is as scarce a commodity as hope. Young first responder Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan) learns very early on that the job comes with two partners: the one sitting next to you and the relentless cacophony of sounds that cut through the vastness of night as shears.

Sean Penn is standing in solidarity with the writers guild, whose members are currently on strike to fight for better wages and work conditions in the streaming era. “My full support is with the writers guild,” Penn said during Friday’s press conference for his latest movie “Black Flies,” which debuted in competition at Cannes Film Festival. “There are a lot of new concepts that are being tossed around, including the use of AI. And it just strikes me as human obscenity that there’s been a pushback on that.” Penn also slammed the PGA as a “bankers guild,” saying “the first thing we should do in these conversations is change the Producers Guild and title them how they behave, which is the bankers guild. It’s difficult for so many writers and people in the industry who cannot work.”

Black Flies,” the Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan film about emergency medical first responders, smacked the Cannes Film Festival in the face with a brutal world premiere on Thursday. Splattered brains, dead dogs, an addict giving birth with a needle dangling from her arm — these and a litany of other horrors confronted Penn and Sheridan, who play veteran and rookie paramedics, respectively, at the New York Fire Department. Interestingly enough, the black-tie screening at the Grand Palais enjoyed the dose of reality, giving the film a five-minute standing ovation. “We carry the misery,” a weary Penn tells Sheridan in the film of their chosen profession. That’s an understatement, as chaos unfolds neighborhood by neighborhood in a portrait of an unforgiving city.

Beware of black flies, they are the first to smell death. That is what rookie FDNY paramedic Ollie Cross is told by a colleague as he ventures into an abandoned apartment where a swarm is buzzing around a decaying dead body in a bathtub. It is clearly a metaphor for the job of first responders like Ollie and his partner Gene Rutkowsky who are also the first to “smell death,” repeatedly, on a job that takes its toll not just on those in need of medical help, but also on those who provide it.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire spent more than a year in the back of ambulances, shuttling from one gruesome trauma to the next, as he shadowed EMTs in New York City to prepare for his new movie “Black Flies.” “This immersive approach is crucial,” Sauvaire tells Variety over Zoom, a week before he travels to the South of France to premiere “Black Flies” in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “If you don’t really know the reality of this job, it’s difficult to recreate it.” Adapted from Shannon Burke’s 2008 novel, the story follows Tye Sheridan as young paramedic Ollie Cross, who dreams of going to medical school. But he struggles to study as he is thrust into the intense and mentally taxing work of responding to emergency calls in Brooklyn. Sean Penn plays a hardened veteran, who teaches Ollie the ropes as they drive through New York City.

Sorry, fellas, Charlize Theron is officially taken!

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s seventh go-round in Cannes competition, Monster, received a six-minute standing ovation Wednesday in the Grand Theatre Lumiere. He won the Palme d’Or back in 2018 for Shoplifters. Can he do it again?

It looks like Charlize Theron has a new man in her life!

Off the market! Charlize Theron has a new man in her life, model Alex Dimitrijevic, Us Weekly can exclusively confirm.

Cannes Film Festival isn’t just a hub of red carpet premieres, champagne-drenched parties, and stars, stars, stars. It’s also a vibrant locus of dealmaking, with studio executives, agents and filmmakers descending on the Riviera to secure financing for their upcoming projects or to find a distributor for their latest movies. The 2023 edition is playing host to several compelling packages and potential awards contenders that could spark heated bidding wars. Here are 11 films that could leave buyers reaching for the espresso instead of the rosé as they engage in all-night battles to land the next big thing. Cast: Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, Katherine Waterston, Michael Pitt, Mike TysonDirector: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire Agency: CAA, WMEWhy Buyers Care: Penn and Sheridan have crackling chemistry as disgruntled mentor and doe-eyed mentee in the edge-of-your-seat thriller, which takes audiences into the often harrowing, always intense reality for paramedics in New York City. A gentle warning, though, that “Black Flies” isn’t for the squeamish. Expect plenty of blood, disturbing and graphic injuries, extreme violence…and a lot of yelling.

EXCLUSIVE: Tye Sheridan is launching his new production company, Dogwood Pictures with its debut film, Black Flies, is set to play in competition at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, the pic reunites Sheridan with Sean Penn after over a decade since Malick’s The Tree of Life. Sheridan first became involved with the film in 2018 and continued on throughout the film’s execution and release.