Cannes 2011

[ianungstad]

Les Biens-Aimes directed by Christopher Honore has been selected as the closing night film. His track record has been more than a little spotty, so can't say the announcement excites me all that much.

[ianungstad]

These films are not completed but are being sold at the Cannes marketplace: Untitled (Terrance Malick), The Wettest County in the Word (John Hillcoat), Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia). We should see posters, teaser trailers, stills for these films and maybe even some tentative release dates?

The latest from Todd Solondz, Dark Horse is also screening at the marketplace. I'm still surprised that neither the Solondz or Linklater got at least an out of competition screening.

The festival has also created a new sidebar to celebrate the liberation of Egypt. The sidebar will spotlight a few new films as well as classics of Egyptian cinema.

[Jeff]

These films are not completed but are being sold at the Cannes marketplace...Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia). We should see posters...

Like so. I turned it upside down, but nothing happened.

[colinr0380]

The festival has also created a new sidebar to celebrate the liberation of Egypt. The sidebar will spotlight a few new films as well as classics of Egyptian cinema.

I'm only really familiar with Youssef Chahine (who nevertheless still requires greater exposure) so I guess there will be a few of his features included. Though hopefully there will be an opportunity taken to showcase a wider selection of classics.

[Duncan Hopper]

And the Palme d'Or goes to... Well, just maybe.

This is looking very good indeed.

[ellipsis7]

It would indeed be the right point in his career for Ceylan to win, given his consistent and progressing Cannes track record...

2011
• Nominated, Palme d'Or
for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2010).

2008
• Won, Best Director
for Three Monkeys (2008).
• Nominated, Palme d'Or
for Three Monkeys (2008).

2006
• Won, FIPRESCI Prize
Competition for Climates (2006).
• Nominated, Palme d'Or
for Climates (2006).

2004
• Won, France Culture Award
Foreign Cineaste of the Year for Distant (2002).

2003
• Won, Grand Prize of the Jury
for Distant (2002).
• Nominated, Palme d'Or
for Distant (2002).

1995
• Nominated, Palme d'Or - Best Short Film
for Koza (1995).

[Nothing]

Okay, so he knows how to plug in a wind machine, order his actors to look serious in a trenchcoat and stare... Looks way too male and way too niche, I'm still predicting Tree.

You know, folks always assume that a jury head will make an unpredictable choice, so as to appear impartial / broadminded, whereas, in fact, most folks on a jury see it as a sign of integrity simply to award the film they like the most - which is usually the one you would think. See: Huppert = Haneke, Lynch = Polanski, Tarantino = ex-girlfriend, Burton = men dressed in red-eyed monkey suits. Penn rewarding a left-leaning film about the challenges of public education, Frears, long-time head Tutor at the National FIlm & Television School, rewarding a young, conservative, deeply middlebrow director from a trendy ex-communist state... These things almost always make sense in a pretty straight forward way. And De Niro = Malick just looks like such a lock to me. They're both white Christian Democrats, born in the same year, veterans of the 1970s golden age of American filmmaking. Add that Malick has never won, that he's one of the last artistically uncompromising voices left in Hollywood (a position that De Niro will have empathy for), that the film is clearly incredibly ambitious, albeit not controversial in a way that would be likely to alienate other members of the jury... I dunno... I could make a case of sorts for Ramsay too, there are also bound to be some unknown quantities lurking in the selection, and obviously I'm now earnestly preparing the egg to rub into my face, but I find it hard to see this going any other way.

The last-minute appearance of Zvyaginstsev in Un Certain Regard isn't too surprising - punishment for the critical/commercial failure of The Banishment. My guess is they were shopping it out to Venice before accepting the slot.

Despite the plethora of heavy-hitters, there are actually a lot of new faces in Competition, so it should be an interesting year, regardless of who lucks out on the prize.

[matrixschmatrix]

You know, folks always assume that a jury head will make an unpredictable choice, so as to appear impartial / broadminded, whereas, in fact, most folks on a jury see it as a sign of integrity simply to award the film they like the most - which is usually the one you would think. See: Huppert = Haneke, Lynch = Polanski, Tarantino = ex-girlfriend, Burton = men dressed in red-eyed monkey suits. Penn rewarding a left-leaning film about the challenges of public education, Frears, long-time head Tutor at the National FIlm & Television School, rewarding a young, conservative, deeply middlebrow director from a trendy ex-communist state... These things almost always make sense in a pretty straight forward way. And De Niro = Malick just looks like such a lock to me. They're both white Christian Democrats, born in the same year, veterans of the 1970s golden age of American filmmaking. Add that Malick has never won, that he's one of the last artistically uncompromising voices left in Hollywood (a position that De Niro will have empathy for), that the film is clearly incredibly ambitious, albeit not controversial in a way that would be likely to alienate other members of the jury... I dunno... I could make a case of sorts for Ramsay too, there are also bound to be some unknown quantities lurking in the selection, and obviously I'm now earnestly preparing the egg to rub into my face, but I find it hard to see this going any other way.

That's kind of specious, isn't it? The relationships you're describing are all over the place, from autobiographical to artistic to actual real-life relationship to 'one element in the one movie is similar to one element in one movie by the juror'- you could make a connection between De Niro and practically any movie with shifting standards like those.

[Nothing]

Yeah, well, I called it last year and this year... we'll see

[reno dakota]

See: Huppert = Haneke, Lynch = Polanski, Tarantino = ex-girlfriend, Burton = men dressed in red-eyed monkey suits. Penn rewarding a left-leaning film about the challenges of public education, Frears, long-time head Tutor at the National FIlm & Television School, rewarding a young, conservative, deeply middlebrow director from a trendy ex-communist state...

Wait, are you telling me that Michael Moore is Quentin Tarantino's ex-girlfriend?

[Jeff]

I want to hear about the connection between Wong Kar-wai and Ken Loach.

[zedz]

See: Huppert = Haneke, Lynch = Polanski, Tarantino = ex-girlfriend, Burton = men dressed in red-eyed monkey suits. Penn rewarding a left-leaning film about the challenges of public education, Frears, long-time head Tutor at the National FIlm & Television School, rewarding a young, conservative, deeply middlebrow director from a trendy ex-communist state...

Wait, are you telling me that Michael Moore is Quentin Tarantino's ex-girlfriend?

That would serve them both right.

[Cold Bishop]

Well to be fair, it's pretty clear that Tarantino wanted to award it to Oldboy, but was voted down.

[Nothing]

I want to hear about the connection between Wong Kar-wai and Ken Loach.... [Tarantino and Michael Moore]

It does also depend on how assertive / manipulative the jury head is. If Assayas was the head of the jury this year, I wouldn't be calling it for Tree - and if he manages to assert himself over De Niro then obviously we may see an upset. 2006 - Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Roth were both on the jury and they seem to have exerted an excessive influence (see also the jury prize for another British POS, Red Road). Tarantino in Cannes - his first (and predictable) preference was Old Boy, but there wasn't enough support on the jury for that, so Michael Moore became the consensus winner... Oh, Cold Bishop already said it.

Given these kinds of variables, and without seeing all of the films, it is of course impossible to predict with certainty, but the choices do usually fit the glove on final analysis.

[ianungstad]

Good Bye by Mohammad Rasoulof has been added to the Un Certain Regard competition. This Is Not a Film by Jafar Panahi will be a special screening out of competition.

[zedz]

Two rather pungent titles there.

[Cosmic Bus]

Trailer and an interview with some stills for Bonello's L'Apollonide.

[ianungstad]

Not a good year for the Italians.

Moretti's We Have a Pope has already opened in Italy to terrible reviews.

Sorrentino's This Must Be the Place released a clip today and the film looks like it's going to be a disaster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOgF4xrx_h0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[knives]

As a Sorrentino fan that hurt a lot. I really hope that will work better in context, but the aging queen routine does not seem to work with Penn.

[Tom Hagen]

Well to be fair, it's pretty clear that Tarantino wanted to award it to Oldboy, but was voted down.

Shrek 2 was fucking robbed that year.

[tajmahal]

Sorrentino's This Must Be the Place released a clip today and the film looks like it's going to be a disaster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOgF4xrx_h0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jesus! Sean Penn doing an Adam Sandler impersonation.

No good can come from this. No good at all.

[Roger Ryan]

Sorrentino's This Must Be the Place released a clip today and the film looks like it's going to be a disaster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOgF4xrx_h0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jesus! Sean Penn doing an Adam Sandler impersonation.

No good can come from this. No good at all.

Well, what he's doing is Robert Smith from The Cure (or an imagined approximation). I'm thinking the film could have some potential. Two friends of mine were in a crowd scene for this shot at an old theater in Detroit, and their description of it made it sound pleasantly surreal. For those who are wondering, David Byrne was present singing the titular track.

[rs98762001]

The Sorrentino film has to be a comedy, right?

[Anhedionisiac]

I don't know if comedy is the right word. His other movies are farces but this one, I dunno what the hell is it.
If it's a comedy, well, it's not funny. If it's serious, well, it looks terrible.

[Duncan Hopper]

I think it's meant to be 'kooky' which makes it even worse.