One of the rare times where you’ll find me up at 6 in the morning is when Cannes Film Festival selections are announced. A flurry of trades rushed to get the details out, I waited until the chaos was over for the full list (some (THR) had/have Jaco Van Dormael listed in the longlist). For the most part, it appears that the festival is combining the old auteurs (Resnais) along with the new (Andrea Arnold), and have once again come to help out & support a filmmaker such as Lou Ye, who was banned from filmmaking in China for a couple of years for having come to Cannes with the uncensored Summer Palace (2006). This year he brings Spring Fever – about a young threesome overcome with erotic longings. Here are some thoughts on some of the announcements.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is… that Atom Egoyan (Chloe), Michael Moore, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Micmacs à tire-larigot), Fatih Akin (Soul Kitchen), and sadly, Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist aren’t close to being ready.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…we should be weary when a special status, non-competition screening is handed out to Terry Gilliam‘s The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…the official “new” title for the Lee Daniels film is simply called: Precious
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…”Gasp”ar Noe’s (Enter the Void) will run 2 hour and 30 minutes long.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…that the rule of thumb for a page equals one minute in film certainly does apply when you consider Inglorious Basterds. 165 Pages = 160 Minutes
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…France is extremely well represented this year with 16 films (in the comp categories alone).
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…the Philippines’ Brillante Mendoza survived after being critical panned for Serbis. The proof: he is the only filmmaker from last year’s batch to return with a film this year with Kinatay.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…Michel Gondry was on no sabbatical. He was making a doc film (about his Aunt) called L’epine Dans le coeur.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…it was probably Focus Features who made the decision to pull Jim Jarmusch’s latest from contention. They instead offered Taking Woodstock.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…the best eye candy among the jurors is hands down Shu Qi. That equals to 20 or so sexy dresses.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…that the “Coco” biopic to show up in Cannes was going to be Jan Kounen‘s film all along…and not the Anne Fontaine film.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…there are more chances that the Camera D’or (Best 1st Film) goes to a film in the other sections…UCR & Comp only have (3) Haim Tabakman‘s Eyes Wide Open, Warwick Thornton‘s Sasmon and Deliliah and Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s A Town Called Panic.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is…co-productions are the way to go. Almost all the main comp films are co-productions.
What Today’s List Tells Us Is… I was living in a pipe dream to think that Spike Jonze would present Where the Wild Things Are.
