The 72nd Cannes Film Festival broke with tradition and made history letting zombies run the opening night ceremony with Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die.” This led many to discuss horror and what scares them the most. Even Bill Murray jumped in to say that Cannes was the most frightening.
The Jim Jarmusch zombie movie “The Dead Don’t Die” includes masses of flesh-eating zombies and an Earth thrown off its axis by “polar fracking.”
But the teeming Cannes Film Festival, where “The Dead Don’t Die” premiered Tuesday as the opening-night film, has hordes and horrors of its own. When asked what horror films he finds frightening, Bill Murray didn’t hesitate.
“I find Cannes frightening,” said Murray on Wednesday. When it was suggested that, at least, there hadn’t been any zombies on the Croisette, the festival’s main drag, so far, Murray replied, “Says you.”
“The Dead Don’t Die” did, in fact, bring zombies to Cannes. Staggering actors in full zombie makeup lined the entryway to the film’s after-party late Tuesday night shortly after Jarmusch’s latest — his ninth film in competition at Cannes — made its anticipated debut.
The film, which Focus Features will release in U.S. theaters on June 14, is Jarmusch’s George Romero-inspired take on the genre, both playfully postmodern (some characters are aware they’re in a movie) and pointedly political.
Murray plays the sheriff of a small town named Centerville where Adam Driver and Chloe Sevigny also play police officers. When the planet stops rotating, night never comes and the dead begin roaming Centerville’s streets while still clinging to their old habits (seeking Wi-Fi, chardonnay and coffee). Townspeople include Tilda Swinton as a funeral parlor director, Tom Waits as a local hermit and Steve Buscemi as a farmer with a MAGA-like hat reading “Keep America White Again” and a dog named Rumsfeld.
Addressing reporters Wednesday, Jarmusch downplayed the movie’s political overtones. Ecological disaster, he said, isn’t a political issue.
“Defining this as a political issue is very confusing and perplexing to me. It’s not about politics. So politics is essentially not of interest to me,” said Jarmusch. “I don’t understand how it can even be considered as such. Politics doesn’t seem to save anything. Politics is a kind of distraction. And now the politics is controlled on the planet by its corporate politics so this for me is the problem.”
Critics responded to “The Dead Don’t Die” with mixed reviews. Variety called it “a disappointing trifle.” The Los Angeles Times said it’s a “bleak, bone-dry shrug of a horror-comedy.”
But it did bring one of the starriest premieres set to hit Cannes this year, including co-star Selena Gomez, who plays a teenager visiting Centerville. Jarmusch was drawn to her by her performance in Harmony Korine’s 2013 “Spring Breakers.” Jarmusch spoke highly of the 26-year-old pop star on Wednesday, calling her “incredibly admirable” for “encouraging young people to have their own will.”
While the ills of social media play only a minor role in “The Dead Don’t Die,” Gomez went further on Wednesday, saying Instagram, where she has more than 150 million followers, is “pretty impossible” to make safe at this point.
“I would say for my generation specifically social media has really been terrible,” Gomez said. “It does scare me when you see how exposed these young boys and young girls are. They are not aware of the news. I think it’s dangerous for sure. I don’t think people are getting the right information sometimes.”
“The Dead Don’t Die” is aimed squarely at satirizing crass materialism along with inaction and disinformation in the face of climate change. But Jarmusch said his film was already being interpreted beyond his intentions.
“The zombies as metaphor is so laden,” said Jarmusch. “Some of the things I read this morning about our film were things that honestly hadn’t occurred to me. I think the metaphor is stronger than I was analyzing or aware of.”
Avengers: Endgame Conquers MTV Nominations
“Avengers: Endgame,” ″Game of Thrones” and “RBG” are the top nominees heading into next month’s MTV Movie & TV Awards. “Endgame” received four nominations while “Game of Thrones” tied in TV.
The network announced Tuesday that the three titles each garnered four nominations for the awards show, which will air June 17. The show will also introduce new categories including reality royalty, most meme-able moment and best real-life hero.
“Endgame” will compete for best movie against “BlacKkKlansman,” ″Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” ″Us” and “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” The Marvel superhero film also earned nods for stars Robert Downey Jr. and Josh Brolin.
The Oscar-nominated “RBG,” which focused on the life of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is nominated for best documentary, most meme-able moment and inaugural real-life hero. The film will also face “Endgame” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones” for best fight.
“Game of Thrones” is up for best show along with nominations for Maisie Williams and Emilia Clarke.
“Shazam” star Zachary Levi will host the show, which will be held in Santa Monica, California. The actor is also nominated for best hero and best comedic performance.
Below is the full list of MTV Movie & TV Nominees:
Best Movie
“Avengers: Endgame”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”
“Us”
Best Show
“Big Mouth”
“Game of Thrones”
“Riverdale”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“The Haunting of Hill House”
Best Performance in a
Movie
Amandla Stenberg (Starr Carter) – “The Hate U
Give”
Lady Gaga (Ally) – “A Star is Born”
Lupita Nyong’o (Red) – “Us”
Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury) – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Sandra Bullock (Malorie) – “Bird Box”
Best Performance in a Show
Elisabeth Moss (June Osborne/Offred) – “The
Handmaid’s Tale”
Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) – “Game of Thrones”
Gina Rodriguez (Jane Villanueva) – “Jane the Virgin”
Jason Mitchell (Brandon) – “The Chi”
Kiernan Shipka (Sabrina Spellman) – “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”
Best Hero
Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel) – “Captain
Marvel”
John David Washington (Ron Stallworth) – “BlacKkKlansman”
Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) – “Game of Thrones”
Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) – “Avengers: Endgame”
Zachary Levi (Billy Batson/Shazam) – “Shazam!”
Best Villain
Jodie Comer (Villanelle) – “Killing Eve”
Joseph Fiennes (Commander Fred Waterford) – “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Josh Brolin (Thanos) – “Avengers: Endgame”
Lupita Nyong’o (Red) – “Us”
Penn Badgley (Joe Goldberg) – “You”
Best Kiss
Camila Mendes & Charles Melton (Veronica
Lodge & Reggie Mantle) – “Riverdale”
Jason Momoa & Amber Heard (Aquaman & Mera) – “Aquaman”
Ncuti Gatwa & Connor Swindells (Eric Effiong & Adam Groff) – “Sex
Education”
Noah Centineo & Lana Condor (Peter Kavinsky & Lara Jean) – “To All the
Boys I’ve Loved Before”
Tom Hardy & Michelle Williams (Eddie Brock/Venom & Anne Weying) –
“Venom”
Reality Royalty
“Jersey Shore: Family Vacation”
“Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta”
“The Bachelor”
“The Challenge”
“Vanderpump Rules”
Best
Comedic Performance
Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh) – “Crazy Rich Asians”
Dan Levy (David Rose) – “Schitt’s Creek”
John Mulaney (Andrew Glouberman) – “Big Mouth”
Marsai Martin (Little Jordan Sanders) – “Little”
Zachary Levi (Billy Batson/Shazam) – “Shazam!”
Breakthrough Performance
Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh) – “Crazy Rich Asians”
Haley Lu Richardson (Stella) – “Five Feet Apart”
Mj Rodriguez (Blanca Rodriguez) – “Pose”
Ncuti Gatwa (Eric Effiong) – “Sex Education”
Noah Centineo (Peter Kavinsky) – “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”
Best Fight
“Avengers: Endgame” – Captain America vs. Thanos
“Captain Marvel” – Captain Marvel vs. Minn-Erva
“Game of Thrones” – Arya Stark vs. the White Walkers
“RBG” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs. Inequality
“WWE Wrestlemania” – Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair
Best
Real-Life Hero
Alex Honnold – “Free Solo”
Hannah Gadsby – “Nanette”
Roman Reigns – “WWE SmackDown”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg – “RBG”
Serena Williams – “Being Serena”
Most
Frightened Performance
Alex Wolff (Peter) – “Hereditary”
Linda Cardellini (Anna Tate-Garcia) – “The Curse of La Llorona”
Rhian Rees (Dana Haines) – “Halloween”
Sandra Bullock (Malorie) – “Bird Box”
Victoria Pedretti (Nell Crain) – “The Haunting of Hill House”
Best
Documentary
“At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal”
“McQueen”
“Minding the Gap”
“RBG”
“Surviving R. Kelly”
Best Host
Gayle King – “CBS This Morning”
Nick Cannon – “Wild ‘n Out”
Nick Cannon – “The Masked Singer”
RuPaul – “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Trevor Noah – “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
Most
Meme-able Moment
“Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club” – The Lilo Dance
“Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” – Ray J’s Hat
“RBG” – The Notorious RBG
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” – Asia O’Hara’s butterfly finale fail
“The Bachelor” – Colton Underwood jumps the fence