Cannes 2013

[Boner M]

Competition:

ONLY GOD FORGIVES by Nicolas WINDING REFN
BORGMAN by Alex VAN WARMERDAM
LA GRANDE BELLEZZA by Paolo SORRENTINO
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA by Steven SODERBERGH
LA VENUS A LA FOURRURE by Roman POLANSKI
NEBRASKA by Alexander PAYNE
JEUNE ET JOLIE by François OZON
WARA NO TATE by Takashi MIIKE
LA VIE D’ADELE by Abdellatif KECHICHE
SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU by KORE-EDA Hirokazu
TIAN ZHU DING by JIA Zhangke
GRISGRIS by Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN
THE IMMIGRANT by James GRAY
LE PASSE by Asghar FARHADI
HELI by Amat ESCALANTE
JIMMY P. by Arnaud DESPLECHIN
MICHAEL KOHLHAAS by Arnaud DESPALLIERES
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS by Ethan COEN, Joel COEN
UN CHATEAU EN ITALIE by Valeria BRUNI-TEDESCHI

Un Certain Regard:

THE BLING RING by Sofia COPPOLA
GRAND CENTRAL by Rebecca ZLOTOWSKI
SARAH PRÉFÈRE LA COURSE by Chloé ROBICHAUD
ANONYMOUS by Mohammad RASOULOF
LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego QUEMADA-DIEZ
L’IMAGE MANQUANTE by Rithy PANH
BENDS by Flora LAU
L’INCONNU DU LAC by Alain GUIRAUDIE
MIELE by Valeria GOLINO
AS I LAY DYING by James FRANCO
NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN by Lav DIAZ
DEATH MARCH by Adolfo ALIX JR.
LES SALAUDS by Claire DENIS
FRUITVALE STATION by Ryan COOGLER
OMAR by Hany ABU-ASSAD

Special screenings
Weekend of a Champion, dir Roman Polanski
Seduced and Abandoned, dir James Toback
Otdat Konci, dir Taisia Igumentseva
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, dir Stephen Frears
Stop the Pounding Heart, dir Robero Minervini

Midnight screenings
MONSOON SHOOTOUT, dir Amit KUMAR
BLIND DETECTIVE, dir Johnnie TO

Homage to Jerry Lewis
MAX ROSE, dir Daniel NOAH

Out of Competiton
ALL IS LOST by J.C CHANDOR
BLOOD TIES by Guillaume CANET

[Ezee E]

Has he ever been the head of a jury before?

[baby doll]

Has he ever been the head of a jury before?He was on the jury that acquitted OJ--yet another reason why Academy voters hate this guy.

[Boner M]

Added the announced titles to the first post.

Lotsa big names in comp this year, but it looks a little middlebrow on paper; maybe to appease Spielberg & co? Nothing immediately strikes me as having potential to be this year's Holy Motors or Tree of Life (or Antichrist/Southland Tales/Brown Bunny), for instance. Maybe Miike, though I don't know what that one's about.

I'm most excited for Gray, Jia and Kechiche (187 mins!!). Refn, Farhadi and the Coens will surely be solid. And Payne's, for Will Forte + Bruce Dern.

Shocking that Denis is relegated to UCR (hasn't been in competition since Chocolat in '89); thought the backlash about an absence of women in last year's main comp would've changed that. Maybe it's her choosing? Either way, I think that sidebar looks more promising, with Lav Diaz (one of his shortest features to date at 4 hours, LOL), Rasoulof, Guiraudie, Coppola et al.

LOL @ Franco doing Faulkner.

[Boner M]

Oh, and Kore-eda is obviously going to win under a Spielberg journey:


Translated as And then I Become a Father, this sees Fukuyama Masaharu play an elite, unlikable, money-driven, businessman who works for a major corporation. He encounters the biggest crisis of his life when he finds out that he had unwittingly raised somebody else’s son for the past 6 years because his own son was accidentally switched at birth.

[ledfloyd]

I am okay with that.

I didn't realize the new Denis and Desplechin were ready. I'm excited.

[Rowland]

A description and trailer for the Miike. (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-trailer-for-takashi-miikes-upcoming-cop-thriller-wara-no-tate-straw-shield-20130219)

It doesn't look like competition-level work, but it should be fun.

[Robby P]

AS I LAY DYING by James FRANCO

I did a spit take when I saw this one.

[baby doll]

The new movies by the Coen brothers, Sophia Coppola, Claire Denis, Arnaud Desplechin, Asghar Farhadi, James Gray, Alain Guiraudie, Jia Zhang-ke, Roman Polanski, Mahamat Saleh-Haroun, and Steven Soderbergh are all obvious must sees for me. I'm also interested in the films by Lav Diaz and Mohammad Rasoulof, even though I haven't seen any of their previous movies.

I liked Kechiche's La Graine et le mulet, though that might've been a fluke, and while I enjoyed Sorrentino's last movie, This Must Be the Place, I wouldn't see a film just because his name's attached to it. I haven't seen any of Ozon's movies since 5 x 2 (2004), though not because I have anything against him (I rather liked both 8 femmes and Swimming Pool) but simply because I don't go out of my way to see his work, and I've never been the biggest fan of Hirokazu's films (although I liked After Life at the time).

I can't say I have much interest in James Toback's remake of Seduced and Abandoned, seeing as the original is one of my all time favorites, although obviously I'm curious to see how he'll work in a Mike Tyson cameo. As for As I Lay Dying, I couldn't make heads or tails of that friggin' book. I know, I'm a philistine, but there it is.

Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Valeria Golino are both sexy MILFs, and I have fond memories of watching the latter in Hot Shots! Part Deux and Clean Slate when I was a child, but I haven't seen any of the movies they've directed.

After The Descendants I've decided it's time to finally give up on Alexander Payne, though I still love Election; I had to give up on Frears after Chéri and the one he made after that (I can't remember the title but it was dreadful); I gave up on Miike ages ago; and Ne le dit Ã* personne offered me little motivation to keep watching Guillaume Canet's films. I like some of Johnnie To's movies (notably Throw Down) but most of what I've seen bores me to tears. And seeing I wasn't as gay for Drive as everyone else around here, I can't say I have much desire to see Refn's followup, especially in light of its "badass" title which seems to promise more of the same juvenile, homoerotic bullshit.

[baby doll]

From last year's festival, I've just seen five competition titles (out of twenty-two). In order of preference:

1. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)
2. The Angels' Share (Ken Loach)
3. The Paperboy (Lee Daniels)
4. Amour (Michael Haneke)
5. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg)

2011 (twelve of twenty):
1. Le Gamin au vélo (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
2. Melancholia (Lars von Trier)
3. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynn Ramsay)
4. Footnote (Joseph Cedar)
5. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
6. Sleeping Beauty (Julia Leigh)
7. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
8. Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki)
9. Polisse (Maïwenn)
10. This Must Be the Place (Paolo Sorrentino)
11. The Skin I Live in (Pedro Almodóvar)
12. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn)
13. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)

[Watashi]

Oh, and Kore-eda is obviously going to win under a Spielberg journey:

Payne will win. Mark my words.


An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize.

[Raiders]

Not sure why Spielberg is automatically more middlebrow than say, Robert de Niro.

Competition line-up looks great to me. I mean, shit, I didn't even know Desplechin was working on a new film at all. Polanski taking on sadomasochism? Sounds awesome. I do think Payne's film would be so much more alluring if it was made by Jonathan Demme or Wim Wenders.

I have no idea what to make of Franco tackling that Faulkner book. The man is never boring.

[Boner M]

I mean, shit, I didn't even know Desplechin was working on a new film at all.
Starring Benicio Del Toro, no less. Also, Kent Jones allegedly had a part in the screenplay, or so I read somewhere.

Out of the several names in competition I haven't heard of, I now have Amat Escalante on my radar after a few reliable twitter folk have praised his prior features (Sangre and Los Bastardos) after the unveiling.

[Ezee E]

Seems like Gray's time to me.

[Grouchy]

What? Polanski has two movies coming out? One of them an adaptation of Venus in Furs, and the other... What is that? It doesn't even show on IMDb.

[Boner M]

Fandor's Keyframe blog (http://www.fandor.com/blog/daily-cannes-2013-lineup) is the place to go to for synopses, links & general info on the films playing.

On the Polanski:


A 1971 documentary. “Never heard of it?” asks Cain Rodriguez at the Playlist. “That may be because the film, which focuses on Formula 1 racing champion Jackie Stewart, never saw any kind of release in the United States. Produced after Rosemary’s Baby and a couple of years before Chinatown, this forgotten piece of his filmography occurred at the height of the filmmaker’s powers and follows Stewart on the weekend of his famed Monte Carlo Grand Prix victory. The two men were friends, and their relationship gave Polanski ‘a privileged insight into [Stewart’s] strategy and first-hand approach of how he planned to win the Monte Carlo Grand Prix.’ It seems to have won critics over back in the day, earning Special Recognition from the Berlin International Film Festival."

[Pop Trash]

Seems like Gray's time to me.

I did the same thing as Boner and was like "hmm WWSD?" I do think Gray and 'berg vibe. Two Jews with a sincere almost melodramatic tone to their work. I'm sure he digs Kore-eda as well. I would be shocked if Refn won, even if the movie gets great reviews.

[Grouchy]

I can't say I have much interest in James Toback's remake of Seduced and Abandoned, seeing as the original is one of my all time favorites
It's not a remake at all, apparently.


James Toback’s Seduced and Abandoned. Last October, Movieline‘s Frank DiGiacomo (http://movieline.com/2012/10/09/alec-baldwin-james-toback-cannes-documentary-seduced-and-abandoned-martin-scorsese-francis-ford-coppola-roman-polanski-bernardo-bertolucci-harvey-weinstein/)spoke with Alec Baldwin, who told him that “interviews he and Toback conducted [at Cannes in 2012] with venerable filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski and Bernardo Bertolucci will comprise the core of the project. ‘They are the pillars of the film,’ said Baldwin, who described Seduced and Abandoned as a ‘meta’ documentary about filmmakers who venture to the carnival-like South of France festival to raise funds for their latest projects.”

[Boner M]

Sounds awful and enticing at once.

[Ezee E]

Spielberg is a huge fan of Fellini, Kubrick... I don't think we're giving him credit.

Any source of a top ten for him anywhere?

[Boner M]

Spielberg is a huge fan of Fellini, Kubrick... I don't think we're giving him credit.

Any source of a top ten for him anywhere?
From IMDb:


His ten favourite films of all time are: Fantasia (1940); Citizen Kane (1941); A Guy Named Joe (1943); It's a Wonderful Life (1946); The War of the Worlds (1953); Psycho (1960); Lawrence of Arabia (1962); 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); The Godfather (1972) and Day for Night (1973).

[baby doll]

La Nuit américaine is pretty awesome. Yeah, it's super-middlebrow, but that's not such a terrible thing in of itself.

[Li Lili]

Le Passé by by Asghar Farhadi will be released here on May the 15th!
I'm pretty pleased to see there is a new Rithy Panh movie!

[Russ]

Alejandro Jodorowsky has two films (!) debuting at Cannes this year (technically speaking that is).

Here is the Director's Fortnight lineup:

Features

The Congress, dir: Ari Folman
A Strange Course Of Events, dir: Raphael Nadjari
Apres La Nuit, dir: Basil Da Cunha
The Apaches, dir: Thierry De Peretti
Blue Ruin, dir: Jeremy Saulnier
La Danza De La Realidad, dir: Alejandro Jodorowosky
Jodorowsky’s Dune, dir: Frank Pavich
L’Escale, dir: Kaveh Bakhtiari
Henri, dir: Yolande Moreau
La Fille Du 14 Juillet, dir: Antonin Peretjako
Ilo Ilo, dir: Anthony Chen
Last Day On Mars, dir: Ruairi Robinson
Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!, dir: Guillaume Gallienne
The Selfish Giant, dir: Clio Barnard
Magic Magic, dir: Sebastian Silva
On The Job, dir: Erik Matti
Tip Top, dir: Serge Bozon
Ugly, dir: Anurag Kashyap
Un Voyageur, dir: Marcel Ophuls
The Summer Of The Flying Fish, dir: Marcela Said
We Are What We Are, dir: Jim Mickle

Short Films

Gambozinos, dir: João Nicolau
Lágy Eső, dir: Dénes Nagy
Le Quepa Sur La Vilni!, dir: Yann Le Quellec
Man Kann Nicht Auf Einmal Alles Tun, Aber Man Kann Auf Einmal Alles Lassen, dir: Marie-Elsa Sgualdo
O Umbra De Nor, dir: Radu Jude
Pouco Mais De Um Mês, dir: André Novais Oliveira
Que Je Tombe Tout Le Temps, dir: Eduardo Williams
Solecito, dir: Oscar Ruiz Navia
Swimmer, dir: Lynne Ramsay


Link (http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/alejandro-jodorowsky-s-new-film-heads-to-cannes-directors-fortnight-alongside-lynne-ramsay-more-1.61439)

[Gamblor]

The new Jarmusch got added to Cannes, in competition.

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Awesome.

[baby doll]

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/assets/Image/2013/Communiques/accr_jurys_et_article.png

The jury, ranked according to hotness:

1. Nicole Kidman (to be fair, that photo's gotta be fifteen years old)
2. Christoph Waltz
3. Daniel Autueil
4. Vidya Balan
5. Naomi Kawase
6. Steven Spielberg
7. Ang Lee
8. Lynne Ramsay
9. Cristian Mungiu

[Irish]

Any Lee at number seven? C'mon, bd! Just, c'mon!

[NickGlass]

Any Lee at number seven? C'mon, bd! Just, c'mon!

I know! Check out 28 year old Ang Lee:

http://thefilmexperience.net/storage/anglee-at-28.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERS ION=1362093397671

[Boner M]

Lynne Ramsay's way too low. Scottish brogue +

http://www.blackbookmag.com/polopoly_fs/1.60081.1363720338!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_411/image.jpg

[Stay Puft]

Mike D'Angelo has seen quite a bit already, been tweeting reactions.

He loved The Past:


The Past (Farhadi): 82. Farhadi may be the best pure dramatist in the world right now. Theme's a bit blunt here (The Past!); still superb.

And was also rather positive on the new Jia, surprisingly (I don't think he's generally a fan):


A Touch of Sin (Jia): 59. Big chance of pace, 4-parter w/loads of explicit violence. Individual stories compel; juxtaposition a bit tract-y.

He also sort of loved the new Coen Bros. film, but thought it stumbled in the second half and never recovered:


Adam Driver's performance of "Please, Mr. Kennedy" in INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is the greatest thing in the history of things.

Inside Llewyn Davis (Coens): 57. A close cousin to O BROTHER, not just musically but in its picaresque semi-randomness (+ Goodman ogre).

Loved the first half hour or so, but at a certain point (let's blame Karpovsky!) it faltered for me and never fully recovered.

That's Ed, Oscar Isaac is terrific in the title role, and I think this is a Carey Mulligan performance even @nictate will enjoy.

Anyway, if you loved O BROTHER and think LEBOWSKI stays strong all the way to the end you should be pretty excited for this.

[Stay Puft]

And, of course, he's been super down on quite a bit...


Heli (Escalante): 44. When bad things happen to made-up people. Like his previous films, as formally impressive as it is pointless.


The Bling Ring (Coppola): 32. Two words: Who cares?


Fruitvale Station (Coogler): W/O. Because I was totally fine w/cops killing civilians until I saw what a super-nice guy the victim can be.


Like Father, Like Son (Kore-eda): 42. Imagine a film abt parents who learn they were given the wrong baby 6 yrs earlier. This is that film.


Jimmy P.: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (Desplechin): 35. I was not expecting to leave this film thinking fondly of GOOD WILL HUNTING.

[Stay Puft]

Also worth keeping an eye on The Selfish Giant, Clio Barnard's follow-up to The Arbor. According to D'Angelo (I'm also reading his A.V. Club reports, worth reading for sure), it's a straightforward kitchen sink drama but executed with such aplomb it resembles Ken Loach or Shane Meadows at the top of their game.

[Ezee E]

Walkout on Fruitvale. WTF

[Stay Puft]

Apparently it's getting trashed in the French press, too.

[Robby P]

Like Father, Like Son (Kore-eda): 42. Imagine a film abt parents who learn they were given the wrong baby 6 yrs earlier. This is that film.

I think that sounds like an interesting movie. This is awfully reductionist even for D'Angelo. I grow tired of his pithy twitter blurbs.

[Stay Puft]

Well like I said it's worth reading his actual Cannes coverage (though I forgot to link it):
http://www.avclub.com/articles/cannes-2013-day-three,97927/

His review, take it for what you will:


The high-concept plot simply asks what would happen if a couple suddenly learned that their six-year-old son isn’t actually their son, having been switched with another newborn at the hospital. Trouble is, the movie follows precisely the path you’d expect, given that scenario, with predictable agonizing over whether blood (or DNA, more accurately) matters more than a bond long since established. Kore-eda shamelessly engineers a huge class division between the two couples, so that the wealthier parents feel an additional compulsion to “rescue� their real son from his tacky, low-rent existence; even this aspect, however, ultimately feeds the maudlin primary story arc, in which the distant, disapproving rich dad (Fukuyama Masaharu) gradually learns the true importance of family and fatherhood. It’s nearly impossible not to respond on some level to material this emotionally freighted, and Kore-eda’s understanding of young children is typically astute (both boys take it in stride when informed they’ll be switching homes and parents, acting out later in more subtle ways), but Like Father, Like Son has the overall depth and tenor of a Lifetime movie

And he's just one guy, obviously (though the one I generally follow because he provides such thorough coverage); case in point, the film has been generally praised elsewhere and has one of the better screen ratings (2.5/4).

[Winston*]

The high-concept plot simply asks what would happen if a couple suddenly learned that their six-year-old son isn’t actually their son, having been switched with another newborn at the hospital.

Is that a high-concept plot?

[Qrazy]

Is that a high-concept plot?

"High-concept is a term used to refer to an artistic work that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise."

[Boner M]

The Dutch film Borgman appears to be this year's Spinal Movie. Or maybe Winston* Movie?


Shaun Munro ‏@ShaunMunroFilm 31
Borgman - 4/5. Demented, hilarious absurdist thriller dramedy tantalises, though oblique nature may irk some #Cannes2013

Peter Howell ‏@peterhowellfilm 30m
BORGMAN: Lynch meets Haneke in Dutch absurdist chiller that maintains a state of dread without fully tipping its hand. A

Jonathan Romney ‏@JonathanRomney 29m
First competition UFO today: BORGMAN. Lovely poker-faced black comedy. #cannes2013

Catherine Bray ‏@catherinebray 28m
REALLY enjoyed Borgman. Kind of Dogtoothy, 3-Iron-ish, Kill List-esque absurdist menace. Pinter's weasel under the cocktail cabinet bites.

Jesse Wente ‏@jessewente 28m
Borgman might be my fave of #Canne2013 so far. A bizarre thriller about the devil with a deadpan sense of humor. Nice way to start day.

Jill Lawless ‏@JillLawless 27m
BORGMAN is a dark Dutch pleasure, a deadpan comic chiller about something nasty in the lovely modernist woodshed. #cannes2013
There's also about a billion other reactions that compare it to Funny Games/Dogtooth.

[Winston*]

"High-concept is a term used to refer to an artistic work that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise."

I feel like it's more for something like 'What if dinosaurs came back to life?". Any movie can be reduced to a one sentence plot summary.

The high-concept plot of Secrets and Lies simply asks what would happen if a black woman found out her birth mother was white.

The high-concept plot of The Sweet Hereafter simply asks what would happen to a town if all its children died in a bus crash.

[Winston*]

Or maybe Winston* Movie?

You should write my top 5 films that define my taste.

[transmogrifier]

Fried Green Tomatoes
Mystic Pizza
Layer Cake
Ratatouille
Chocolat

[MarcusBrody]

Inside Llewyn Davis seems to have bene well received by the first audience.

From what I've read, it seems that it's a bit more comedic than I had imagined from the trailer (though watching it again, I see it more now). I'm glad. I love when people set out to seriously make a great movie, but don't think that great means serious. Some festival slates seem to get a bit bogged down in filmmakers showing their ability to portray pathos. I certainly appreciate it, but I like when there is variety in quality films.

[Qrazy]

I feel like it's more for something like 'What if dinosaurs came back to life?". Any movie can be reduced to a one sentence plot summary.

The high-concept plot of Secrets and Lies simply asks what would happen if a black woman found out her birth mother was white.

The high-concept plot of The Sweet Hereafter simply asks what would happen to a town if all its children died in a bus crash.

Yeah it's a fairly worthless term.

[lwilson85]

My Future Boyfriend is gonna win the Palme D'Or. Christ.

[Li Lili]

Some of the films in competition got released here, so far I saw The Past (for me a disappointment, seriously The Past is no way A Separation, and it lost a lot I found, really not as powerful for sure) and Only God Forgives (ok, but not that great as I wrote in the other thread).

[Boner M]

Seems to be a bit of a banner year for Cannes competition. Lots of films widely-praised so far (Soderbergh, Coens, Kore-eda, Farhadi, Kechiche, Sorrentino, Jia), and still with Jarmusch, Gray, Polanski and Payne yet to play.

Also, the Denis is apparently one of her most challenging films, both in form and content. Lots of comparisons to Trouble Every Day, which should excite some here (still need to revisit that one).

[Ezee E]

Immigrant hasn't played yet? Dang... I swore I saw buzz already...

I'll wait a couple days to make early predictions simply off buzz.

Bloggers are being pretty ridiculous this year. Complaints about the rain, following rules, and the amount of movies they see make me consider not following them anymore.

[angrycinephile]

Both Nebraska and The Immigrant seems to be getting good buzz.

[angrycinephile]

D'Angelo:


Only Lovers Left Alive (Jarmusch): 77. For close to an hour this was shaping up to be one of my favorite films ever. A bit heartbreaking.

[baby doll]

I guess it's time to try to predict the winners, give or take one or two prizes for films that most reviewers hated (a dual best actor prize for Jimmy P. or a best director prize for A Castle in Italy).

Palme d'Or: La grande bellezza by Paolo Sorrentino
Gran Prix: Nebraska by Alexander Payne
Prix d'interprétation masculine: A tie between Michael Douglas for Behind the Candelabra and Oscar Isaac for Inside Llewyn Davis
Prix d'interprétation féminine: Marion Cotillard for The Immigrant
Prix de la mise en scène: Roman Polanski for La Vénus Ã* la fourrure
Prix du scénario: Asghar Farhadi for Le Passé
Prixu du Jury: La Vie de Adèle, Chapitre 1 et 2 by Abdellatif Kechiche

[ledfloyd]

I feel like the Immigrant is going to take the Palme. I've read a lot of reviews trashing Nebraska, but it sounds like Spielberg bait. Blue is the Warmest Color has a ton of buzz as well.

[Ezee E]

Palme D'Or - Soshite Chichi Ni Naru
Runner-Up - Blue is the Warmest Color
Director - James Gray
Actor - Michael Douglas
Actress - Berenice Bejo
Screenplay - The Past

Somehow the Coens and Nebraska coming up empty? I feel like I'm already wrong.

[Izzy Black]

Why the hell is Mike D'Angelo such famous critic? I always see him in these threads. Granted, he's seen a lot and he writes a lot, but he's such a weak critic. He's an opinion man with not much intellect behind it. What's all the fuss? I can't stand the dude.

[ledfloyd]

Why the hell is Mike D'Angelo such famous critic? I always see him in these threads. Granted, he's seen a lot and he writes a lot, but he's such a weak critic. He's an opinion man with not much intellect behind it. What's all the fuss? I can't stand the dude.
Yeah, that line about Only Lovers Left Alive tells me absolutely nothing about the film aside from the fact that he really liked it until he didn't. Which isn't a very valuable criticism.

For contrast:

erickohn ‏@erickohn 22h
Surprised to find Jarmusch's ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE is a charming deadpan comedy that resurrects the spirit of his '80s movies. #cannes2013

Kenji Fujishima ‏@kenjfuj 20h
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (2013, Jarmusch): a slow, luxurious deadpan comedy about two snobbish old souls who refuse to change. #Cannes2013

Maybe not terribly deep (it's twitter), but they at least place the film within a context I can understand.

[Pop Trash]

Why the hell is Mike D'Angelo such famous critic? I always see him in these threads. Granted, he's seen a lot and he writes a lot, but he's such a weak critic. He's an opinion man with not much intellect behind it. What's all the fuss? I can't stand the dude.

I agree he isn't the greatest writer around, but he is very...critical so that's good for separating the wheat from the chaff when lots of films are to be quickly judged at a festival. I think he knows lots of angles and filmmaking tropes esp. of the indie/foreign variety. Of course, snapshot reactions at festivals are notoriously lousy but I still read them.

[transmogrifier]

Why the hell is Mike D'Angelo such famous critic? I always see him in these threads. Granted, he's seen a lot and he writes a lot, but he's such a weak critic. He's an opinion man with not much intellect behind it. What's all the fuss? I can't stand the dude.

Maybe don't use Twitter as a method of establishing the worth of a reviewer? Just a thought....

http://www.avclub.com/features/scenic-routes/

[Li Lili]

ahhh! I said I was pleased to hear about a new Rithy Panh film. And it is his film, The Missing Picture, that received the Prize of Certain Regard !
For those who haven't seen his films, I highly recommend S21!

[ledfloyd]

ahhh! I said I was pleased to hear about a new Rithy Panh film. And it is his film, The Missing Picture, that received the Prize of Certain Regard !
For those who haven't seen his films, I highly recommend S21!
Thanks, the buzz surrounding The Missing Picture has me curious.

Most anticipated from the fest:
1. The Immigrant
2. The Bastards
3. A Touch of Sin
4. Only Lovers Left Alive
5. Inside Llewyn Davis
6. Blue is the Warmest Color
7. Stranger by the Lake
8. The Past
9. Behind the Candelabra
10. The Bling Ring/Jimmy P (both despite the negative buzz)

[baby doll]

Most anticipated from the fest:Limiting myself to the official selection:

The Immigrant (James Gray) because We Own the Night rocks.

L'Innoconu du lac (Alain Guiraudie) because Pas de repos pour les braves rocks.

Jeune et jolie (François Ozon) because hot teenage sluts are awesome.

Manuscripts Don't Burn (Mohammad Rasoulof) because of the subject matter and because I've read good things about Rasoulof's other films.

The Missing Picture (Rithy Panh) for the same reason.

Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch) because duh.

Le Passé (Asghar Farhadi) because A Separation rocks.

Les Salauds (Claire Denis) because duh.

A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhang-ke) is another duh.

La Vie de Adèle, Chapitre 1 et 2 (Abdellatif Kechiche) because hot teenage sluts are awesome.

[Stay Puft]

Guy Lodge has a good rundown of yesterday's awards:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/early-cannes-awards-for-blue-is-the-warmest-color-the-past-fruitvale-station

The list:

UN CERTAIN REGARD
Prix Un Certain Regard: "The Missing Picture," Rithy Panh
Jury Prize: "Omar," Hany Abu-Assad
Best Director: Alain Guiraudie, "Stranger by the Lake"
Talent Award: Ensemble cast of "La Jaula de Oro"
Avenir Future Award: "Fruitvale Station," Ryan Coogler

FIPRESCI AWARDS
Competition: "Blue is the Warmest Colour," Abdellatif Kechiche
Un Certain Regard: "Manuscripts Don't Burn," Mohammad Rasoulof
Directors' Fortnight or Critics' Week: "Blue Ruin," Jeremie Saulnier

ECUMENICAL JURY AWARDS
Ecumenical Jury Prize: "The Past," Asghar Farhadi
Honorable Mentions: "Like Father, Like Son," Hirokazu Kore-eda; "Miele," Valeria Golino

DIRECTORS' FORTNIGHT
Art Cinema Award: "Me, Myelf and Mum," Guillaume Gallienne
SACD Award: "Me, Myelf and Mum," Guillaume Gallienne
SACD Special Mention: "Tip Top," Serge Bozon
European Cinemas Label Award (Best European Film): "The Selfish Giant," Cio Barnard

CRITICS' WEEK
Grand Prize: "Salvo," Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza
Special Mention: "Los Duenos," Agustin Toscano, Ezequiel Radusky
Visionary Award: "Salvo," Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza
Best Screenplay: "Le Demantlement," Sebastien Pilote

QUEER PALME
"Stranger by the Lake," Alain Guiraudie

[baby doll]

Palme d'Or: La Vie de Adèle, Chapitre 1 et 2 by Abdellatif Kechiche
Grand Prix: Inside Llewyn Davis by Ethand and Joel Coen
Prix du Jury: Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Prix d'interprétation masculine: Bruce Dern for Nebraska
Prix d'interprétation féminine: Bérénice Bejo for Le Passé
Prix de la mise en scène: Amat Escalante for Heli
Prix du scénario: Jia Zhang-ke for A Touch of Sin
Camera d'Or: Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen

[Stay Puft]

Oh and I guess the Competition prizes were already going down, thought that was later today.

Blue is the Warmest Colour wins the Palme d'Or.
Has one of the highest screen ratings in the history of the festival, too.

[baby doll]

Although I failed to correctly predict any of the winners, the most surprising win for me is Amat Escalante getting best director, since that was screened on the first or second day of the festival and got kind of a mixed response. The most surprising snubs are La grande bellezza not winning anything and Michael Douglas for best actor.

[ledfloyd]

Although I failed to correctly predict any of the winners, the most surprising win for me is Amat Escalante getting best director, since that was screened on the first or second day of the festival and got kind of a mixed response.
Mixed is generous.

Kind of surprised to see Gray walk away empty handed. The Immigrant seemed to be a favorite among critics. Too American perhaps?

[Ezee E]

Are there Spielberg comments anywhere? Can't find any.

[ledfloyd]

Are there Spielberg comments anywhere? Can't find any.

Press conference: http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/mediaPlayer/13503.html

[Yxklyx]

Yeah, that line about Only Lovers Left Alive tells me absolutely nothing about the film aside from the fact that he really liked it until he didn't. Which isn't a very valuable criticism.....

Actually, that's exactly the kind of review I look for. I prefer going into a film not knowing anything about it, other than there's a strong possibility that I'll like it. I trust his judgement based on previous reviews and ratings he's given. I prefer reading actual reviews AFTER I've seen a film.