Cannes 2009: Set in Stone

T minus one and counting…I’ve narrowed it down to a “must see” 33 with about 7 spots open picking between films that I have little or not much interest in. I’ll spend the later portion of tonite contemplating what those holes in the sched might accomodate, but the best part of picking up the badge early this morning, is grabbing a slick copy of the official guide listing all the films playing at the festival (Director’s Fortnight edition will probably be waiting for me in my mailbox tomorrow) and I’ll then I can worry about the coverage and not what to cover.

I’ve sectioned off the list by section below — it looks like despite the huge number of films I want to see form the Main Comp, that I will be up and down the Croisette – the Espace Miramar has a trio of titles that I’m very interested in seeing. Cannes officially starts tomorrow, so a little R&R beforehand and you can expect a regular flow of updates: tomorrow is Pixar’s Up and a top five film of interest is Lou Ye‘s Spring Fever. I’m also going to add quick items to the IONCINEMA.com twitter feed – you can join the updates here. 

In the end, I’ll have caught about 70 percent of the Main Comp titles with prerequisite must see watches in the shape of Enter the Void, Maps of the Sounds of Tokyo, The White Ribbon, Broken Embraces, Visage, Thrist, Looking for Eric, Antichrist, Inglorious Basterds, Taking Woodstock, A Prophet, Bright Star, Fish Tank and Spring Fever. Non Comp stuff: Panic in the Village, Doctor Parnassus and Drag Me to Hell.

Will probably add more Un Certain Regard screenings to this already established list: Le Pere De Mes Enfants, Police, Adjective, Air Doll, Adrift, Nymph and Tales from the Golden Age.

I’m excited about FFC opening the section with Tetro – will be on hand for that and will check out the following: J’ai Tue Ma Mere, Daniel y Ana, Like You Know It All, Les Beaux Gosses and Go Get Some Rosemary.

I’ll be venturing out to the Miramar at the very beginning (Nothing Personal), in the middle Juan Antonio Bayona presents a new Spanish filmmaker (Hierro) and ending with a piece from a first time filmmaker (Adieu Gary).