NEWS: Cannes Film Festival Awards...

The 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival has come to a close, and while I wasn't and probably will never be able to get out to the world renowned festival, many of the films that earn awards get huge buzz over in the states, even if it's only for Best Foriegn Film at our award shows. Well, the festival has issued it's awards, and at the top, there is a big surprise.

Palme d'Or (Golden Palm):
The White Ribbon directed by Michael Haneke

Grand Prize (Runner Up):
Un Prophète (A Prophet) directed by Jacques Audiard

Special Jury Prize:
Alain Resnais director of Wild Grass (Les Herbes Folles)

Best Director:
Brillante Mendoza for Kinatay

Best Screenplay:
Feng Mei for Lou Ye's Spring Fever

Jury Prize:
Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold
Thirst directed by Park Chan-wook

Camera d'Or (First-Time Filmmaker):
Samson and Delilah directed by Warwick Thornton

Best Leading Actor:
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

Best Leading Actress:
Charlotte Gainsbourg in Antichrist

Un Certain Regard Prize:
Dogtooth (Kynodntas) directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Jury Prize:
Police, Adjective (Politist, Adjectiv) directed by Corneliu Porumboiu

Special Jury Prize:
No One Knows About Persian Cats directed by Bahman Ghobadi
Father of My Children (Le Père de mes Enfants) directed by Mia Hansen-Løve

Congrats to controversial film maker Michael Haneke for his win, and in particular Charlotte Gainsbourg and Christoph Waltz for their big wins in best leading actor and actress. Can't wait to check these films out!

Go see something good!

NEWS: Cannes Line-Up Announced...

There are many film festival's I want to go to. Toronto, Sundance, Venice, Berlin, but none are at the top of my list. The festival that gets that conveted spot is Cannes, and now, the 2009 Cannes Film Festival's Line-Up has been announced, and it is full of must see films, and ones that I hope get to be released over here. Here's the list:

Opening Night Film:

Up, US., Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

In Competition:

Bright Star, Australia-UK.-France, Jane Campion
Spring Fever, China-France, Lou Ye
Antichrist, Denmark-Sweden-France-Italy, Lars von Trier
Enter the Void, France, Gaspar Noe
Face, France-Taiwan-Netherlands-Belgium, Tsai Ming-liang
Les Herbes Folles, France-Italy, Alain Resnais In the Beginning, France, Xavier Giannoli
A Prophet, France, Jacques Audiard
The White Ribbon, Germany-Austria-France, Michael Haneke
Vengeance, Hong Kong-France-US., Johnnie To
The Time That Remains, Israel-France-Belgium-Italy, Elia Suleiman
Vincere, Italy-France, Marco Bellocchio
Kinatay, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza
Thirst, South Korea-US., Park Chan-wook
Broken Embraces, Spain, Pedro Almodovar
Map of the Sounds of Tokyo, Spain, Isabel Coixet
Fish Tank, UK.-Netherlands, Andrea Arnold
Looking for Eric, UK.-France-Belgium-Italy, Ken Loach
Inglourious Basterds, US., Quentin Tarantino
Taking Woodstock, US., Ang Lee

A Certain Regard:

Mother - Bong Joon Ho
Irene - Alain Cavalier
Precious - Lee Daniels
Demain Des L’Aube - Denis Dercourt
Adrift - Heitor Dhalia
Nobody Knows About the Persian Cats - Bahman Ghobadi
The Wind Journeys - Ciro Guerra
Le Pere De Mes Enfants - Mia Hansen-Love
Tales From the Golden Age - Hanno Hofer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Propescu and Ioanna Uricaru
Tale in the Darkness - Nikolay Khomeriki
Dogtooth - Yorgos Lanthimos
Tzar - Pavel Lounguine
Independencia - Raya Martin
Police, Adjective - Corneliu Porumboiu
Nymph - Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
To Die Like a Man - Joao Pedro Rodrigues
Eyes Wide Open - Haim Tabakman
Samson & Deliah - Warwick Thornton
The Silent Army - Jean Van De Velde
Air Doll - Hirokazu Kore-Eda

Out of Competition:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Canada-France, Terry Gilliam
The Army of Crime, France, Robert Guediguian
Agora, Spain, Alejandro Amenabar

Midnight Screenings:

A Town Called Panic, Belgium, Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Ne te Retourne Pas, France-Belgium-Luxembourg-Italy, Marina de Van
Drag Me to Hell, US, Sam Raimi

Special Screenings:

Petition, China, Zhao Liang
L’epine dans le Coeur, France, Michel Gondry
Min Ye, France-Mali, Souleyumane Cisse
Jaffa, Israel-France-Germany, Keren Yedaya
Manila, Philippines, Adolfo Alix Jr., Raya Martin
My Neighbor, My Killer, US., Anne Aghion

Closing Night Film:

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, France, Jan Kounen


So, there is a lot to talk about here, but the big news is that Heath Ledgers true final performance, The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus will debut at the festival, albeit out of competition. There really are no huge surprises, but here are my top 10 films that, if I were at the festival, I would not miss.

10. Anticrhist
9. Enter The Void
8. Mother
7. The Map Of The Sounds Of Tokyo
6. L’epine dans le Coeur
5. Broken Embraces
4. The White Ribbon
3. Thirst
2. The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus
1. Inglourious Basterds

What films would you circle in your program as must sees? What films are you going to be hunting down when or if they get a release?

Go see something good!

NEWS: Cannes To Feature All Star Lineup...

I have a very tiny list of things I want to do before I die, that don't have to do with family/love/career. Amongst the list, there are a couple of film festivals I want to attain, three actually. Along side the Toronto Film Festival and SXSW, comes the Cannes Film Festival.

Most of you may ask why? Well besides the gorgeous area where it is held, South France, but it's lineups like the following that have me excited. Variety has the story...

The upcoming Cannes Film Festival will be swimming in top international filmmakers, as directors including Ang Lee, Jane Campion, Michael Haneke, Quentin Tarantino, Ken Loach, Pedro Almodovar, Bong Joon-ho, Marco Bellocchio, Lars von Trier and Johnnie To expect to square off for the Palme d'Or come May 13.

With one week to go before the April 23 announcement of the Official Selection, fest director Thierry Fremaux and his selection committee still have numerous films to watch, so this weekend will tell the tale as far as several titles are concerned. Unlike his predecessor Gilles Jacob, who tended to accept or reject films as he saw them over a period of months, Fremaux prefers to keep his options open to a certain extent until he's seen everything, leaving anxious filmmakers, distribs and sales companies in the dark until the final bell.

Wow, so here is what we know for sure. First off, Pete Docters new Pixar film, UP, is opening the festival in Digital 3-D. Also, it was confirmed a few weeks ago that Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds will be In Competition, something that, about 4 months ago, was deemend impossible.

Now onto the rumors. The big one is that Francis Ford Coppola's next film, Tetro, will be premiering at the festival. The most interesting thing about that film, aside from the story and cast (featuring Vincent Gallo), is that it will be released in Black and White, which as most of you do or should know, I'm a monster fan of.

Also in the Variety story, is the hint at the possibility of Werner Herzog's newest film, the Nic Cage fueled remake/reboot/sequel, Bad Lieutenant, will premiere in a special midnight slot. This may be one to hunt down reviews for, as it's sounding like a mixed bag of possibilities. Nic Cage in a remake directed by Herzog. Interesting? Yes. Possible mess? For sure.

What films are YOU looking forward to?

Go see something good!