It's always fun to guess how the jury might end up voting and whether the head of juror will indeed sway the final vote. Last year The White Ribbon won and the wave of reactions obviously pointed to Huppert and Haneke's well-known rapport. The previous year, Sean Penn gave the Palme d'Or to The Class, not a politically-themed picture, but a social drama that represents a common pandemic. This year we have Tim Burton as the master of ceremonies -- knowing him he has a taste for noir and fantasy.
The 21st Gotham Awards ended with a hung jury: Mike Mills' “Beginners” and Terrence Malick's “The Tree of Life” are both crowned with Best Feature film beating out fellow noms “The Descendants”, “Meek’s Cutoff” and “Take Shelter”.
Some auteurs grace cinephiles with their gifts only about has frequently as there are national elections (or if you're Terrence Malick, with the election of each new pope), and then there are guys like Hong Sang-soo, whose personal agenda seems to be: appear in as many major film festivals as possible until they cease to exist. Having just debuted one of his very best features, The Day He Arrives, in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section last May, he's now back to work on a new feature - though who's to say that he doesn't already have another new one in the can?
In a very short amount of time, NYC/LA based Filmnation Ent. have padded themselves a hell of a slate including Terrence Malick's forthcoming film (not The Tree of Life...the other one - see pic above) John Hillcoat's Wettest County and in this year's Cannes they have the excellent Take Shelter (in my top 2 from Sundance) and Pedro Almodovar's huge Main Comp buzz title.