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The 19 films in the Competition Officielle have just been announced
"Volver" Pedro Almodovar
"Red Road" Andrea Arnold
"La raison du plus faible" Lucas Belvaux
"Indigènes" Rachid Bouchareb
"Iklimker" (Les climats) Nuri Bilge Ceylan
"Marie-Antoinette" Sofia Coppola
"Juventude em marcha" Pedro Costa
"El labirinto del fauno" (Le labyrinthe de Pan) Guillermo del Toro
"Babel" Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
"Laitakaupungin Valot" (Les lumières du faubourg) Aki Kaurismki
"Southland Tales" Richard Kelly
"Fast Food Nation" Richard Linklater
"The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (Le vent se lève) Ken Loach
"Summer Palace" (Palais d'été) Lou Ye
"Il Caimano" (Le Caman) Nanni Moretti
"L'Amico di Famiglia" (L'ami de famille) Paolo Sorrentino
"Flandres" Bruno Dumont
"Selon Charlie" Nicole Garcia
"Quand j'étais chanteur" Xavier Giannoli

Wow, glad to see Babel will be ready in time. I'm really hoping Darren Aronofsky can finish The Fountain in time for Cannes - that's one of the best trailers I've seen in a long time; the film looks fantastic. Pan's Labrinyth has received some good early buzz while Laitakaupungin Valot has not. And it will be really interesting to see how Marie-Antoinette plays with the critics.

But really, it's not like I'm going to be able to see any of these for at least a year

Asian cinema lose...

Can't say I'm exactly excited for this lineup

Grimfarrow wrote:Asian cinema lose...

Can't say I'm exactly excited for this lineup

That was the first thing I though after reading the list.

dying to know if Lynch didn't get INLAND EMPIRE done in time or Cannes negged it. Ditto for the latest Coppola pere film, which had been tipped as a possibility.

Most exciting to me (after falling hard for THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE of love last year) is the new Sorrentino, followed closely by the Kaurismaki (despite the reported bad buzz, of which this is the first I've heard) and Almodovar films. I have no idea who Andrea Arnold, Rachid Bouchareb, Pedro Costa, or Xavier Giannoli are. (I know, IMDB, but I'm lazy and tired.)

Some notes (again on Asian cinema):

Kore-eda's HANA totally snubbed. Whoops.
On a losing streak: Kim Ki-duk's TIME and Mohsen Makhmalbaf's SCREAM OF THE ANTS
I guess they weren't thrilled about Bong Joon-ho's THE HOST (director of MEMORIES OF MURDER)
Where's Jia Zhangke with STILL LIFE?

Others:
A SCANNER DARKLY ended up in UN CERTAIN REGARD instead of Competition. Hmmm

Grimfarrow wrote:A SCANNER DARKLY ended up in UN CERTAIN REGARD instead of Competition. Hmmm

I think it would have been a scandal if Linklater had two films in the competition.

No, what I meant was that there was speculation that it would have been the other way round - FAST FOOD in UN CERTAIN REGARD and SCANNER DARKLY in Competition. Usually they put "riskier" films in the UCR sidebar.

Special screenings

United 93 (Paul Greengrass)
X-Men 3: The Last Stand(Brett Ratner)
Over The Hedge (Tim Johnson, Karey Kirkpatrick)
Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell)
Election 2 (Johnnie To)
Silk (Su Chao-pin)

On the other hand, this lot seems quite interesting. Especially the Cameron Mitchell one, that I'm dying to see.

If you like ELECTION, chances are you'll like the sequel. It's definitely better paced and even bloodier (!!), but there's also a certain lack of excitement somehow. Though the (admittedly obvious) allegory is quite delicious...

Oh, and here's the official poster, and if there was any doubt as to the jury president before...

I really like the line-up, though I haven't heard anything about some of these titles. And it has been reported that "Inland Empire" (along with "Scoop" and "The Black Dahlia") won't be ready for Cannes.

Lovely poster, very Wong Kar-Wai.

Just looking at lineup, it will be a crime if Aki doesn`t win. If they give it to Dumont, I will lose the last 1% speck of faith I still have in Cannes after the last two years especially.

I didn't even know Nuri Bilge Ceylan's new movie were coming out so soon! I am absolutely thrilled.

Greencine Daily supplies links to other films.

bilge

Slang. Stupid talk or writing; nonsense.

How apt.

bilge

Slang. Stupid talk or writing; nonsense.

How apt.

Huh?

Antoine Doinel wrote:I'm really hoping Darren Aronofsky can finish The Fountain in time for Cannes - that's one of the best trailers I've seen in a long time; the film looks fantastic.

The Fountain's finished, lock, stock and barrel. It screened in LA a couple weeks ago, so the fact that it's not on the Cannes schedule now means it probably just isn't showing there. It's a bit ironic that Babel is screening there; it stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, who were both first cast as the leads in The Fountain before Pitt walked off and the plug got pulled.

cafeman wrote:Just looking at lineup, it will be a crime if Aki doesn`t win. If they give it to Dumont, I will lose the last 1% speck of faith I still have in Cannes after the last two years especially.

Luckily, the jury actually watches the films before making their decisions.

DDillaman wrote:dying to know if Lynch didn't get INLAND EMPIRE done in time or Cannes negged it. Ditto for the latest Coppola pere film, which had been tipped as a possibility.

Inland Empire is not ready yet, I believe.

DDillaman wrote:dying to know if Lynch didn't get INLAND EMPIRE done in time or Cannes negged it. Ditto for the latest Coppola pere film, which had been tipped as a possibility.

Most exciting to me (after falling hard for THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE of love last year) is the new Sorrentino, followed closely by the Kaurismaki (despite the reported bad buzz, of which this is the first I've heard) and Almodovar films. I have no idea who Andrea Arnold, Rachid Bouchareb, Pedro Costa, or Xavier Giannoli are. (I know, IMDB, but I'm lazy and tired.)

Giannoli made "Eager Bodies," a wonderful film that was shown at New Directors/New Films in New York in 2004 and introduced the mesmerizing Laura Smet (daughter of Johnny Halladay and Natalie Baye) to the world.
(She's in the recent Chabrol film "The Bridesmaid," which is finally opening in New York in June.)

What's with all the hate for Dumont? I'm pulling for Loach personally.

You guys can forget about Dumont and Aki winning the Palm D'Or. Given the recent winners I would put my money on either Coppola or Almodovar. I heard both of these films are great. Moretti won't win again either. There is nothing that Cannes loves more is getting the jump on Hollywood for hype so I wouldn't be surprised if Marie Antoinette won. I heard Southland Tales and Fast Food Nation are ok but not great. They then will award some "brave, smaller films" with acting and technical prizes.

tavernier wrote:

cafeman wrote:Just looking at lineup, it will be a crime if Aki doesn`t win. If they give it to Dumont, I will lose the last 1% speck of faith I still have in Cannes after the last two years especially.

Luckily, the jury actually watches the films before making their decisions.

None of us have seen any of these films, so I was just making an 'educated' guess, basing it on the directors` previous films. And Cannes rep.

My understanding of the 'bad buzz' on the new Aki is that it's simply 'not as good as The Man Without a Past.' Since I hold that up as one of the four or five best movies of the decade thus far, saying something isn't as good doesn't really mean all that much to me.

Adrián Israel Caetano's Crónica de una fuga has been added to the competition. Apparently whoever handles the festival's website knows even less about Caetano than I do, since they call him an "Israeli director" and he's referred to elsewhere as "Israel Adrian Caetano."

Looks like Summer Palace might be out of the festival, although the Cannes website still has it premiering tomorrow (the 18th). I think the last paragraph ("...it may be that China has narrowly dodged a bullet here - sending anything but a slick, polished exhibition piece to Cannes could betray the spirit of the festival and tarnish China's image in the process") is sarcasm. I sure hope so, anyway.